Funding is starting to flow from the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, reports the American Trucking Associations.


The funding consists of $156 million allocated to the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program, which was part of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA). So far, seven of the 10 EPA Regions have announced 41 awards, primarily to government entities, for a total of more than $73 million.

Projects benefiting the trucking industry, according to ATA, include:

• $1.9 million to the Chelsea Collaborative, a portion of which will be used to re-power 79 unregulated Tier 0 diesel-fired transport refrigeration units operating at the New England Produce Market with all-electric refrigeration units;

• $1.2 million to the Maine Turnpike Authority to electrify 30 truck parking spaces at the West Gardiner truckstop facility at the confluence of 1-295 and 1-95;

• $7 million to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to replace up to 636 model year 1993 and older drayage trucks with cleaner 2004 and newer model year trucks by offering truckers 25 percent off the cost of the newer truck;

• $1.9 million to the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest to either replace older trucks with vehicles using cleaner diesel technologies or install battery-powered air conditioners in existing trucks to reduce engine idling on approximately 180 vehicles;

• $1.7 million to the University of Georgia Research Foundation to retrofit 239 on-highway diesel vehicles;

• $750,000 to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to provide truckstop electrification technology for diesel trucks at three locations;

• $1.9 million to the South Carolina State Ports Authority, a portion of which will support the installation of diesel filters on 40 local drayage trucks;

• $2 million to the Tennessee Department of Transportation to install a network of 175 to 200 electrified parking spaces at selected interstate highway truck stops in Tennessee;

• $3.7 million to the North Central Texas Council of Governments to upgrade and replace diesel vehicles, fund verified SmartWay emission reducing technologies on long-haul trucks, and replace or repower heavy-duty diesel vehicles operating in North Texas; and

• $2 million to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to retrofit 81 trucks with diesel particulate filters and replace 22 older trucks with newer ones that operate at and around the Port of Oakland.