If you were thinking you might want to apply for some of the $300 million the EPA is making available for diesel equipment emissions retrofits but didn’t know where to start, the Association of Equipment Management Professionals has stepped up to help.
The EPA set a tight deadline for applications (April 28) and created a lot of hoops you have to jump though, but the AEMP has a fleet information spreadsheet you can download and fill out and has made available a list of resources to answer any questions you may have. There is no cost and you don’t have to be an AEMP member to participate–but you need to act quickly. if you’re interested, the details of the AEMPs initiative are spelled out in a letter below.
Dear members:
Reducing emissions from diesel engines and improving health is one of the most important air quality challenges facing the country today. That’s why the EPA established the National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) to promote diesel emission reduction strategies.
More than 11 million diesel engines in operation do not meet EPA’s new clean diesel standards, yet these engines can continue to operate for 20 to 30 years. The EPA has established programs to accelerate emission reductions from older diesel engines to provide more immediate air quality benefits. The goal of these innovative programs is to address in-use diesel engines by promoting a variety of cost-effective emission reduction strategies, including: switching to cleaner fuels; retrofitting, repairing, repowering, and replacing equipment; and reducing idling.
As you know, stricter emissions regulations are going to take effect in the future…now is the time to take advantage of EPA grants created to help offset the cost for retrofitting heavy-duty vehicles. By taking advantage of this opportunity, your company can improve its emission profile andyour overall fleet asset value. In air quality sensitive areas where emissions reductions are coming or a way of life, applying for government funds on 75% parts and labor for new engine repowers or 100% for diesel particulate filter or emissions upgrade group may be of value.
As you might suspect, demand for these funds will be high, so before you send EPA the invoice for those retrofits, there are a few points to keep in mind:
- Approximately 70% of the funding will be distributed by diesel collaboratives affiliated with EPA regional offices through a competitive grant application process with the remaining 30% going to fund state retrofit programs.
- Although 50% of the funds must go to public fleets, this includes independently-operated private fleets under contract to a public entity. Private entities must apply in partnership with either a government or a non-profit organization. [AEMP Foundation, a 501c3 organization]
- Projects which provide the most cost-effective reductions, affect the greatest number of people, and leverage additional resources will be given priority.
If you’re interested in applying for these funds, the AEMP Foundation would like to help you. First, you will need to fill out the fleet information spreadsheet. This step is rather straight-forward – simply fill out the spreadsheet with all of your fleet information. The document contains 4 tabs– “read me,” example AFD, the actual AFD, and a references page. We encourage you to refer to the example tab and especially the “read me” tab to properly fill out the required AFD page.
Be absolutely sure to send it back to Sara by Wednesday, April 1st, 2:00 CST.
Please keep in mind that we at the AEMP Foundation are not EPA experts, and specific EPA questions should still go through EPA personnel. [For a list of regional contacts, click on the RFA link below] However, we do have experience writing grants and would like to help our membership with this grant opportunity.
Here are some pages that may be of help:
Regional Information: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/diesel/whereyoulive.htm [find out which EPA region you’re located in]
The RFA: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/eparecovery/documents/recovery-act-national-clean-diesel-rfa.pdf [Regional EPA contacts can be found on page 23 and 24]
FAQ’s: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/eparecovery/documents/faq-national-rfa.pdf
The Clean Diesel Grant Program has but a very short window of opportunity. Final application submissions are due to the EPA regional offices by April 28th—which is why we need your fleet information spreadsheets by next Wednesday.
When we receive your fleet information, we will send your fleet information to our friends at Caterpillar, who have volunteered do a fleet analysis [looking for retrofit opportunities, etc.] and run that information through an EPA Quantifier. The AEMP Foundation will then take this information and work it into our grants—showing the expected benefits from applying emission- reducing technology.
We hope you will consider taking advantage of this brief opportunity.
Sincerely,
Sara Sanderman
AEMP Foundation
970-384-0510 x 205
[email protected]
