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U.S. EPA’s Region 10 Awards Over $1.6 million in Recovery Funding to City of Portland to Reduce Diesel Emissions and Create Jobs

Release Date: 07/20/2009
Contact Information: Wayne Elson, EPA Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, 206-553-1463, elson.wayne@epa.gov Hanady Kader, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-0454, kader.hanady@epa.gov

(Portland, Ore.) - In a move that stands to create jobs, boost local economies, reduce diesel emissions and protect human health and the environment for the people of Oregon, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded over $1.6 million to reduce emissions from Portland municipal fleet vehicles and construction contractor equipment. This clean diesel project will create jobs while protecting Portland and Multnomah County’s air quality.

“Investing in projects to reduce diesel pollution is essential to air quality and our quality of life in the Northwest,” said Michelle Pirzadeh, Acting Regional Administrator for EPA's Region 10. "This investment will pay off now and in the future by reducing health care costs, putting people to work in green jobs and making the air healthier for future generations."

The funds are provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009 National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. Under this funding competition, EPA Region 10 alone received over 49 grant applications requesting over $80 million to help fund clean diesel emissions projects. The award announced today was chosen to both maximize economic impact and emissions reductions.

In addition to reducing diesel emissions from municipal fleet vehicles and construction contractor equipment, this project will fund installation of fuel operated heaters—an idle reduction technology—on 237 vehicles in Portland and Multnomah County diesel fleets as a strategy for reducing diesel emissions while also decreasing fuel costs and climate pollution.

This project, through the West Coast Collaborative, will create or sustain an estimated 34 manufacturing and local installation jobs and will help Oregon municipalities and their contractors decrease operating costs by achieving substantial fuel savings.

In addition to helping create and retain jobs, the clean diesel projects would help to reduce premature deaths, asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments, lost work days, and many other health impacts every year.

The Recovery Act allotted the National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) a total of $300 million, of which the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program received $156 million to fund competitive grants across the nation. The Recovery Act also included $20 million for the National Clean Diesel Emerging Technology Program grants and $30 million for the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program grants.

In addition, under the Act’s State Clean Diesel Grant program, a total of $88.2 million has been provided to States for clean diesel projects through a noncompetitive allocation process.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009 and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov.

For information on EPA’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in the Pacific Northwest, visit: https://www.epa.gov/recovery

For information about EPA’s clean diesel initiatives, visit: https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel

For information about:
City of Portland: www.portlandonline.com
Multnomah County: www.multco.us

For more information about the West Coast Collaborative, visit: http://www.westcoastcollaborative.org