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Smartway Clean Diesel Finance Program
EPA’s SmartWay Clean Diesel Program issues competitive grants to establish national low-cost revolving loans or other financing programs that help fleets reduce diesel emissions.
On this page
- Request For Proposals
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Information Sessions
- Background
- Eligible Applicants
- Eligible Use of Funding
- Vehicles and Equipment Eligible for Financing
Assistance in application preparation, including tips for successful projects and previously funded projects.
Request For Proposals
| Activity | Date |
|---|---|
| RFP published (PDF) (47 pp, 295K, About PDF) | October 9, 2009 |
| RFP closes | December 8, 2009 |
| Notification of results to applicants | February 2010 (estimated) |
| Awards distributed | April 2010 (estimated) |
Frequently Asked Questions
All applicants are encouraged to review the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (PDF) (64 pp; 372K; November 18, 2009; About PDF) document for further clarification of this Request for Proposals.
In accordance with EPA’s Assistance Agreement Competition Policy (EPA Order 5700.5A1), EPA staff will not meet with individual applicants to discuss draft proposals, provide informal comments on draft proposals, or provide advice to applicants on how to respond to ranking criteria. Applicants are responsible for the content of their proposals.
EPA will respond to questions in writing from individual applicants regarding threshold eligibility criteria, administrative issues related to the submission of the proposal, and requests for clarification about the announcement.
Please email written questions to cleandiesel@epa.gov. Please type "Finance RFP Question" in the subject line of your email. All questions and answers will be posted in the FAQ document. All questions submitted via email by 5:00 pm EST each Friday during the RFP open period will be answered and posted in the FAQ document by 5:00 pm EST on the following Wednesday. The deadline for submitting questions via email is Friday, November 27, 2009 at 5:00 pm EST. The final posting of the FAQ document will be Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 5:00 pm EST.
Information Sessions
EPA hosted an information session on October 20, 2009. To view a recording of this webinar, please visit the Past Webinars with Recordings on the Smartway Webinar Series page. The webinar title is: "SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance FY 2009/2010 RFP".
Background
In 2009, EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign is distributing funding for the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program through two separate funding sources:
- EPA’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Appropriations (see above)
- the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) *CLOSED*
Note: Any funding received by the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program from the FY 2010 Appropriations will be awarded in conjunction with the FY 2009 funding under the current open RFP.
EPA’s SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program uses cooperative agreements to establish innovative finance programs for buyers of eligible diesel vehicles and equipment. Innovative finance projects include those where the loan recipient receives a specific financial incentive (i.e., better than current market rates or conditions) for the purchase of eligible vehicles or equipment. Particular emphasis is on establishing low cost loan programs for the retrofit of used pre-2007 highway vehicles and nonroad equipment with EPA or California Air Resources Board verified emission control technologies.
Eligible Applicants
- U.S. regional, state, local or tribal agencies or port authorities with jurisdiction over transportation or air quality
- Nonprofit organizations or institutions that:
- represent or provide pollution reduction or educational services to persons or organizations that own or operate diesel fleets; or
- have, as their principal purpose, the promotion of transportation or air quality
School districts, municipalities, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), cities and counties are all eligible entities under this assistance agreement program to the extent that they fall within the definition above.
Eligible Use of Funding
Finance Program cooperative agreements are used to establish innovative financing. The financing must:
- Lower costs to the buyer by providing lower interest rates, longer repayment terms, greater likelihood of loan approval, or some other financial incentive where the loan recipient receives a specific financial incentive (i.e. better than current market rates or conditions) for the eligible vehicle or equipment.
Finance proposals may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Issuance of loan guarantees
- Issuance of tax exempt or taxable bonds to create a low-cost loan program
- Revolving loan funds
Vehicles and Equipment Eligible for Financing
Applicants for the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program may propose innovative financing programs for the purchase or retrofit of the following types of vehicles and equipment:
- Buses
- Medium or heavy duty trucks
- Marine engines
- Locomotives
- Non-road engines or vehicles used in:
- construction
- handling of cargo (including at a port or airport)
- agriculture
- mining
- energy production (including stationary generators and pumps)
Particular emphasis is on establishing low cost loan programs for the retrofit of used pre-2007 highway vehicles and nonroad equipment with EPA or California Air Resources Board verified emission control technologies.