SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded a $126,421 grant to the Nevada Division
of Environmental Protection (NDEP) for a clean diesel project in Clark County.
This was part of the agency’s ongoing national campaign with $30 million being
awarded to reduce harmful diesel exhaust that can lead to asthma attacks and
premature deaths.
“Awarding these important diesel emission
reduction projects is another example of how collaboration amongst public and
private partners can benefit everyone – most importantly the communities in
which these projects are located” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional
Administrator for the Pacific Southwest Region. “Residents, employees and
visitors in Clark County will be able to breathe cleaner, healthier
air.”
NDEP received the grant to replace a Clark
County public works street sweeper with a 2010 or newer vehicle. This project is
expected to reduce 0.6 tons of particulate matter, 11.5 tons of nitrogen oxides,
1.3 tons of hydrocarbons, 5.6 tons of carbon monoxide, and 1,165 tons of carbon
dioxide emissions over its operational life.
The West Coast Collaborative administers the
Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) program in Nevada. The DERA program is
designed to help owners and operators replace, retrofit or repower older medium
and heavy-duty diesel-powered engines like those that operate in marine vessels,
port equipment, locomotives, construction and agriculture equipment, trucks and
buses.
Diesel engines are durable, fuel-efficient
workhorses in the American economy. However, older diesel engines that predate
newer, cleaner standards emit large amounts of air pollutants, such as nitrogen
oxides and particulate matter. These pollutants are linked to health problems,
including asthma, lung and heart disease and even premature death. Clean diesel
projects funded through these grants will work to address the more than 11
million older diesel engines that continue to emit higher levels of
pollution.
In this year’s competition, winners were
selected based on a proposal’s potential for maximizing health and environmental
benefits by targeting areas that have significant air quality issues. Reduced
air pollution from diesel engines in these areas can have a direct and
significant impact on community health.
DERA was enacted in 2005 and since it was
first funded in fiscal year 2008, EPA has awarded over 500 grants nationwide.
These projects have reduced hundreds of thousands of tons of air pollution and
saved millions of gallons of fuel. More on the grants and the National Clean
Diesel Campaign may be found at: http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel
.
These
projects are part of the West Coast Collaborative. The Collaborative is part of
the National Clean Diesel Campaign. On the West Coast, it is a an ambitious
partnership between leaders from federal, state, and local government, the
private sector and environmental groups committed to reducing diesel emissions.
Partners come from all over the Western North America, including Alaska,
Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the Pacific
Island Territories of American Samoa, the Common Wealth of the Northern Marianas
Islands, and Guam, and Canada and Mexico.
More information about the West Coast
Collaborative may be found at:
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