Companies and public entities that own diesel vehicles have until March 30th to submit an application for grant funding to pay for engine repower, retrofit and/or installation of idle technology.  Ohio EPA released its request for proposal to solicit applications for $10 million in grant funding in 2012 under its Diesel Emission Reduction Grant (DERG) program.

 

See Ohio EPA’s Map- You must be in one of the highlighted counties or townships to qualify

The $10 million in funding was made available in the last state budget by accessing federal highway Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding.  Another $10 million will be available in 2013.

The State funding comes at a time when the federal diesel grant program- DERA- is likely to see reduced funding.  These state and federal diesel grant programs are a great way to leverage voluntary emission reductions which takes pressure off businesses to reduce emissions with the tightening of federal air quality standards.

Projects that are eligible for funding include replacement, repower, retrofit, and/or installation of anti-idle technology, of diesel-power public fleets, and public-private partnership (PPP) fleets.  PPP fleets means that a private company must partner with an eligible local government to do the project.  However, it is possible for private companies to access the grant funding. 

Ohio EPA will host two conference calls to answer questions about the DERG program on March 8 at 10:00am and March 14 at 1:00pm. These are not mandatory for grant applicants. They are optional for anyone who would like to hear questions being asked and answered.  For more information regarding the conference calls click here.