Working Together for Cleaner Air
DERA SmartWay Finance Projects
SmartWay Finance Projects (2008-2010)
EPA’s Clean Diesel SmartWay Finance Program issues competitive grants to establish national low-cost revolving loans or other financing programs that help fleets reduce diesel emissions. Particular emphasis is on retrofitting pre-2007 highway vehicles and nonroad equipment with emission control technologies that have been verified or certified by EPA or California Air Resources Board (CARB) .
These projects were funded by Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
| Year | State | Fleet(s) | Recipient | Description | EPA Funding |
| DERA 09-10 | DC | Freight, Ports | Community Development Transportation Lending Services Loan Program | Provides incentives to replace older trucks with newer, cleaner trucks equipped with verified emission control and applicable idle reduction technologies. Program focuses on fleet owners who operate in poor air quality areas, including ports and rail yards. | $2.6 million |
| DERA 09-10 | MD | Freight, Ports | Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association Lease/Loan Project | Provides incentives to replace drayage trucks operating in the Mid-Atlantic Region by providing a down payment to complement a lease/loan program. | $3.92 million |
| DERA 09-10 | OR | Freight, Ports | Cascade Sierra Solutions Lease Program | Creates revolving lease-to-own finance program, focusing on heavy-duty diesel trucks in long-haul, short-haul and drayage applications. Funding can be used to replace older trucks with newer, cleaner trucks, as well as to retrofit existing vehicles with verified emission control and idle reduction technologies. | $2 million |
| DERA 09-10 | TN | Freight | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Loan Guarantee | Creates "Clean Trucks Make Cents" program, providing loan guarantees for the purchase of used pre-2007 on-highway vehicles that have been retrofitted with verified emission control and idle reduction technologies. | $5 million |
| ARRA 2009 | CA | Agriculture, Construction, Ports | California Air Resources Board (CARB) | Offers an innovative finance program for nonroad small fleet retrofits. This program uses EPA funding as a loan guarantee to leverage loan funds via California’s Providing Loan Assistance for California Equipment (PLACE) finance program. | $5 million |
| ARRA 2009 | KY | Agriculture, Construction, Ports | Louisville Jefferson County Metro Government | Offers low-interest loans for nonroad diesel equipment retrofits, repowers and replacements. Targets businesses within Jefferson County; equipment can be commercial, construction or industrial. | $2 million |
| ARRA 2009 | NY | School Bus | National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) | Reduces local school districts’ monthly lease payments for the repowering of 175 or more school buses with compressed natural gas (CNG) engines. | $5 million |
| ARRA 2009 | OR | Freight | Cascade Sierra Solutions (CSS) | Creates a national revolving loan program for heavy-duty diesel trucks to save fuel and reduce emissions. The program includes leases for truck replacements, retrofits, repowers, idle reduction technology, aerodynamic technology, and/or low rolling resistance tires | $9 million |
| ARRA 2009 | TX | Freight | Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) | Establishes a Bridge Loan (revolving loan) program to help drayage (regional and short haul) owner-operators and related small businesses purchase and operate cleaner more fuel efficient trucks at the Port of Houston and Greater Houston-Galveston area. | $9 million |
| DERA 2008 | DC | Freight | Community Development Transportation Lending Services (CDTLS) | This project will create a revolving loan program. CDTLS will work with truck dealerships to offer low interest loans, ranging from 5.5% - 8.5%, and longer loan payback periods, ranging from three to six years, to qualified applicants who wish to purchase used trucks that are upgraded with SmartWay fuel savings idle reduction and/or emission reduction technology. The goal is to lend funds for the purchase of over 200 used trucks with complete SmartWay upgrades. | $1.13M |
| DERA 2008 | MO | Freight | Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) | The association will offer a financing package that includes below-market financing and rebates for emission reduction and idle reduction equipment on their trucks. OOIDA will also use the EPA funds as a security interest for their line of credit, which will allow them to offer loans to applications with lower FICO scores. | $1.13M |
| DERA 2008 | OR | Freight | Cascade Sierra Solutions | The EPA funds will serve as a security interest allowing Cascade Sierra Solutions to substantially expand its line of credit to $17.1 million that it will use to provide below-market interest rates loans. These loans will allow truck owners to install and lease SmartWay fuel saving technologies or EPA or CARB-verified emission reduction technologies. The goal is to install emission reduction technology and idle reduction technology on 1,700 trucks. | $1.13M |
This information is based on each grant recipient's proposed loan/lease program and is subject to change.