An official website of the United States government.

News Releases from Region 09

EPA awards Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant for clean air projects in American Samoa

11/20/2018
Contact Information: 
Dean Higuchi (higuchi.dean@epa.gov)
808-541-2711

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $102,708 in Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) grants to American Samoa to curb harmful pollution from diesel vehicle sources.

"By promoting clean diesel technologies, we can improve air quality and human health, advance American innovation and support green jobs in American Samoa," said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker. "Public-private partnerships like the West Coast Collaborative are leading the way on reducing harmful diesel emissions and creating jobs.”

The DERA program is administered by the EPA's West Coast Collaborative, a partnership comprised of EPA’s Pacific Southwest and Pacific Northwest Regions, which leverages public and private funds to reduce emissions from the most polluting diesel sources.

The American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) will replace four diesel trucks with four battery-powered Electric Vehicle (EV) utility trucks and install three electric vehicle charging stations.

Replacing diesel engines with EVs will reduce diesel fuel use, emissions and associated diesel particulate matter as well as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. One EV will be used for the islands of Tau and Ofu in Manua, while the other three will be used on the island of Tutuila.

"In American Samoa, these four EV utility trucks will reduce lifetime emissions of carbon dioxide by 405 tons and reduce use of approximately 3,600 gallons of diesel fuel annually," said Acting American Samoa EPA Director Fa'amao Asalele Jr.  "This is great news for the air quality and health of our community, and we thank the U.S. EPA for this award."  

ASPA aims to have 50 percent of its electric energy supplied by renewable sources by 2025. ASPA has 4.9 megawatts of photovoltaic generation connected to the power grid and an additional 10 megawatts are planned by 2019.

This project will bring cleaner diesel engines to economically disadvantaged communities whose residents suffer from higher-than-average instances of asthma, heart, and lung disease.

To learn more about all of this year's West Coast Collaborative DERA projects, including those awarded in the Pacific Southwest, please visit: http://www.westcoastcollaborative.org.

For more information about EPA's National Clean Diesel campaign and the national DERA awards, visit www.epa.gov/cleandiesel.

Learn more about EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. Connect with us on Facebook and on Twitter.

# # #