RALEIGH – State environmental officials have awarded nearly $1.2 million in grants for 24 projects aimed at reducing air pollution from diesel-powered vehicles, equipment and ships, with funds provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allocated ARRA funding to the states as part of the national economic stimulus plan, and the N.C. Division of Air Quality coordinated the grants program in North Carolina.
The grants cover a range of projects, such as retrofitting school buses with controls to curb diesel emissions, repowering trucks and ships with cleaner-burning engines, and offsetting costs for using biodiesel fuel. A complete list of project recipients, locations and amounts of grants is attached.
The ARRA funds are directed at older vehicles and equipment with diesel engines, which often lack the most up-to-date air pollution controls. Older diesel engines contribute significantly to air pollution in North Carolina and other states.
“North Carolina has a number of efforts underway to reduce ozone and particle-forming emissions from industry, power plants and gasoline-powered highway vehicles,” DAQ Director Keith Overcash said. “These grants will target diesel buses, trucks, ships and equipment that lack modern emissions controls.”
Mobile sources such as cars, trucks, ships and construction equipment contribute about 69 percent of the nitrogen oxides (NOx), 63 percent of the man-made volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and 8 percent of the direct fine-particle emissions (PM 2.5) in North Carolina. NOx and VOCs are the main contributors to ozone, which is unhealthy to breathe and is the state’s most widespread air quality problem in the summer months. Particle pollution is unhealthy to breathe and contributes to haze.
For further information on the ARRA diesel emissions reductions project funds, visit the Division of Air Quality Web site at: http://www.daq.state.nc.us/motor/NCDEER/ . For further information on economic recovery funding for environmental efforts, please visit http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/arra/home.
For more information about air quality issues in North Carolina, visit the DAQ Web site at www.ncair.org.
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ARRA Grants for Diesel Emissions Reduction Projects in North Carolina
Motor Vehicles
• City of Asheville, Buncombe County, biodiesel offsets, $30,000
• DPI/Piedmont/Potter, Wake County, biodiesel offsets, $50,000
• Western NC Regional Air Quality Agency, Buncombe County, diesel controls on fire trucks, $31,500
• City of Raleigh, Wake County, diesel particulate filters and repowering, $80,000
• City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, diesel particulate filters, $80,000
• City of Thomasville, Davidson County, replacement vehicle, $51,250
• Triangle J County of Governments, Triangle metro area, replacement trucks, $50,000
• Craven County Schools, diesel retrofits, $50,000
• Cumberland County Schools, diesel retrofits, $50,000
• Currituck County Schools, diesel retrofits, $24,000
• Edenton-Chowan County Schools, diesel retrofits, $24,000
• Jackson County Schools, diesel retrofits, $48,000
• Martin County Schools, diesel retrofits, $48,000
• Stokes County Schools, diesel retrofits, $50,000
• Vance County Schools, diesel retrofits, $50,000
Ships and Marine Equipment
• Perry W. Beasley, Perry W. Beasley & Son Commercial Fishing, Tyrrell County, $13,150
• Brian Todd, Big Daddy, Pender County, $15,643
• Jay Kavanagh, Bite Me Sportfishing, Dare County, $65,886
• Myron G. Harris, Harris Charters, Carteret County, $47,500
• Bradley C. Gilliam, BUDDGilliam Adventures Inc., Hertford County, $42,100
• W.W. Winner, The Skeets Winner Corp., New Hanover County, $102,381
• Mayhew C. Williams Jr., Mayhew Clafton Williams Jr., Hyde County, $51,550
• Mike Daniels, Fisherman’s Wharf Fillet, Dare County, $92,000
• Brent Fulcher, Tammy & Tracey Inc., Craven County, $28,300