As part of ongoing efforts to improve air quality, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality today announced recipients of $8.1 million in funding for projects designed to reduce diesel emissions across the state and among vulnerable populations. Under the Diesel Emissions Mitigation Grant Program, 12 projects will help eliminate air contaminants affecting public health and climate by retrofitting or replacing older medium- and heavy-duty diesel equipment with new, cleaner alternatives.
“Diesel pollution is a hazard to public health, especially for our most vulnerable community members, and today’s action will permanently remove tons of toxic emissions from our air,” said Oregon State Representative Rob Nosse. “DEQ’s grant program provides valuable support for diesel equipment owners to replace their older, more polluting equipment. I am excited to see this support go out to these businesses.”
The selected projects will remove more than 200 tons of harmful air pollution, including nitrogen oxide and fine particulate matter, from Oregon’s air. They range from installing diesel particulate filters in heavy-duty truck fleets based in the Portland Metro area to replacing diesel-powered street sweepers with new, zero emissions electric equipment in the Willamette Valley, to converting waste and freight hauling trucks to zero emissions electric transportation across the state.
“These grants represent our commitment to reducing diesel emissions and supporting the transition of Oregon’s medium- and heavy-duty truck fleets to zero emissions in the future.
DEQ Air Quality Division Administrator Ali Mirzakhalili.
Recipients and awards include:
Recipient: Aramark Uniform & Career Apparel Group, Inc.
Primary Location: Portland
Project Upgrade Type: Four (4) Electric Equipment Replacements
Grant Amount: $600,000
Recipient: Bedrock Concrete Cutting
Primary Location: Portland
Project Upgrade Type: Three (3) Electric Equipment Replacements
Grant Amount: $201,475.51
Recipient: Cadman/Lehigh Hanson
Primary Location: Portland
Project Upgrade Type: Sixty-Three (63) Exhaust Control Retrofits
Grant Amount: $1,216,972.89
Recipient: City of Newberg
Primary Location: Newberg
Project Upgrade Type: One (1) Electric Equipment Replacement
Grant Amount: $293,066
Recipient: City of Portland
Primary Location: Portland
Project Upgrade Type: Eight (8) Electric Equipment Replacements
Grant Amount: $2,660,234
Recipient: City of Roses Disposal & Recycling
Primary Location: Portland
Project Upgrade Type: One (1) Electric Equipment Replacement
Grant Amount: $238,046.50
Recipient: DeVry Construction LLC
Primary Location: Medford
Project Upgrade Type: One (1) Diesel Equipment Replacement
Grant Amount: $25,994.80
Recipient: DMH Inc.
Primary Location: Forest Grove
Project Upgrade Type: One (1) Exhaust Control Retrofit
Grant Amount: $14,006.63
Recipient: Estes Express Lines
Primary Location: Portland
Project Upgrade Type: Thirteen (13) Diesel Equipment Replacements
Grant Amount: $316,783.75
Recipient: Morgan Industrial, Inc.
Primary Location: Hillsboro
Project Upgrade Type: Sixteen (16) Diesel Equipment Replacements
Grant Amount: $704,606.09
Recipient: Sysco Portland
Primary Location: Wilsonville
Project Upgrade Type: Twenty-One (21) Diesel Equipment Replacements
Grant Amount: $551,250
Recipient: TITAN Freight Systems
Primary Location: Portland
Project Upgrade Type: Six (6) Electric Equipment Replacements
Grant Amount: $1,288,579.50
2021 Total Grant Amount: $8,111,015.67
“These grants represent our commitment to reducing diesel emissions and supporting the transition of Oregon’s medium- and heavy-duty truck fleets to zero emissions in the future,” said DEQ Air Quality Division Administrator Ali Mirzakhalili. “Combined with the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission’s recent decision to adopt the Advanced Clean Truck rules, we are leading the way to cleaner air in Oregon.”
DEQ’s Air Quality Program staff reviewed 71 grant applications, totaling more than $53 million in funding, and applied specific criteria from the Oregon Legislature and related administrative rules to evaluate proposed projects according to a point system. The 55 total points broke down as follows:
• Project summary and approach (5 points)
• Project eligibility and type (15 points)
• Project cost and air quality benefits (5 points)
• Project location (10 points)
• Applicant and fleet profile (20 points)
Project location criterion included a GIS evaluation against a vulnerable population map . The review considered how a proposed project would improve air quality in areas with the highest diesel emissions, most vulnerable populations and highest population densities.
Starting this month, DEQ will work with grant recipients to finalize project details and agreements. Funding will not be released until the process is complete. Project work should begin by mid-February 2022.
DEQ has approximately $40 million from the Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund established after Volkswagen was found to have cheated on emissions standards. The agency will award approximately $8 million in grants per year for five consecutive calendar years, beginning in 2021 and ending in 2025.
-Susan C. Mills