News Releases from Region 09

EPA awards Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grants for clean air projects in Arizona

SAN FRANCISCO – As part of the West Coast Collaborative, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $1,064,324 in Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grants to Arizona to curb harmful pollution from large diesel sources, such as trucks, buses, and agriculture equipment.

"Clean diesel technologies not only improve air quality, but advance innovation and support jobs,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. "These projects will significantly reduce harmful emissions and directly benefit the health of residents.”

"By promoting clean diesel technologies, we can improve air quality and human health, advance American innovation and support green jobs in economically disadvantaged communities, while growing our economy," said Alexis Strauss, Acting Regional Administrator for EPA's Pacific Southwest Region. "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 EPA's West Coast Collaborative, a clean air public-private partnership that leverages public and private funds to reduce emissions from the most polluting diesel sources in impacted communities in West Coast states and U.S. Territories.

Award recipients in Arizona:

City of Phoenix, Arizona was awarded a $692,252 grant to replace seventeen old diesel city vehicles with new vehicles with cleaner engines. The project will also involve the installation of emission control devices.

Maricopa County Air Quality Department, Arizona was awarded a $372,072 grant to replace five old diesel public works vehicles and six old diesel school buses with new vehicles.

Including the grant award to Arizona, EPA has awarded nearly $12.5 million in DERA funding to recipients in Alaska, American Samoa, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington to reduce diesel emissions from large diesel sources, such as trucks, buses, agriculture and port equipment. These projects will improve air quality by reducing over 3,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and 200 tons of particulate matter from over 350 medium and heavy duty diesel engines.

Reducing particulate matter emissions has important public health and air quality benefits and reduces black carbon.

To learn more about all of this year's West Coast Collaborative DERA projects, 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.

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