News Releases from Region 10

EPA provides over $1 million for diesel reductions from Portland-area trucks and equipment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing two Portland-area organizations with over $1 million to reduce harmful diesel emissions from trucks and construction equipment in the Portland metro region.

"Clean diesel technologies not only improve air quality, but advance innovation and support jobs,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. "These projects will significantly reduce harmful emissions and directly benefit the health of residents.”

Through the EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act program, the Columbia Corridor Association will receive $353,584 to partner with the Pacific Coast Fruit Company to replace 10 of the company’s higher emitting and inefficient heavy-duty diesel trucks used in goods movement to and from port facilities, warehouses, and retail locations. The company will scrap two additional trucks, and significantly reduce the use of 10 of its other trucks through efficiencies achieved with the new trucks. This project is anticipated to produce additional benefits due to the early retirement of additional vehicles.

The Pacific Coast project will reduce lifetime emissions of

• NOx by 35.97 tons;
• PM2.5 by 1.73 tons;
• Hydrocarbons by 2.26 tons;
• CO by 9.23 tons;
• CO2 by 1,634.5 tons;
• 2,641.1 tons CO2e of black carbon.

Columbia Corridor Association and Pacific Coast Fruit Company are providing a mandatory match of $938,735 for a total project cost of $1,292,319.

In addition, the Metropolitan Contractor Improvement Partnership will receive $648,097 in grant funds and to scrap and replace seven diesel powered trucks (five dray trucks and two dump trucks), two loaders, and one piece of non-road diesel construction equipment. MCIP will also install diesel particulate filters on two diesel trucks.

Combined with the $911,715 in matching funds required of MCIP, the total project cost is $1,559,812.

MCIP works with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Portland-area community stakeholders to assist minority and women-owned construction and transportation related businesses improve their commercial vehicles and reduce emissions. Residents in the communities where these businesses are based and operate have higher risks of infant mortality, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Diesel exhaust emissions are implicated in increasing risk for most of the adverse health risks reported, and emissions reductions associated with this project will help to lower these risks.

The MCIP project will reduce lifetime emissions of

• NOx by 36.4 tons;
• PM2.5 by 1.7 tons;
• hydrocarbons by 1.9 tons;
• carbon monoxide by 10.9 tons;
• CO2 by 381.5 tons; and
• 2,760 CO2e of black carbon.

Part of the National Clean Diesel Campaign, the West Coast Collaborative is a partnership among federal, state, and local governments, the private sector, and environmental groups committed to reducing diesel emissions along the West Coast. Partners come from all over Western North America, including California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico.

For more information on the National Clean Diesel Campaign go to www.epa.gov/cleandiesel)

For more information on the West Coast Collaborative go to www.westcoastcollaborative.org.

                                                                                                                                                                             ###