EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality 2020 Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) National Grants

EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality is soliciting applications nationwide for projects that achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions.

Eligible diesel vehicles, engines and equipment may include buses, Class 5 – Class 8 heavy-duty highway vehicles, marine engines, locomotives and nonroad engines, equipment or vehicles such as those used in construction, handling of cargo, agriculture, mining or energy production.

Eligible diesel emissions reduction solutions include verified retrofit technologies such as exhaust after-treatment technologies, engine upgrades, and cleaner fuels and additives, verified idle reduction technologies, verified aerodynamic technologies, verified low rolling resistance tires, certified engine replacements and conversions, and certified vehicle or equipment replacement.

Eligible entities include regional, state, or local agencies; tribal governments (or intertribal consortia) and native villages; or port authorities, which have jurisdiction over transportation or air quality, and nonprofit organizations or institutions that: a) represent or provide pollution reduction or educational services to diesel fleets or b) have, as their principal purpose, the promotion of transportation or air quality. Although private fleet owners are not eligible to apply directly to EPA for DERA funding, both public and private fleets can benefit from the programs implemented by DERA national grant recipients.

Priority for funding is given to fleets operating in areas designated as having poor air quality and fleets which service goods movement facilities. Further priority for funding is given to projects with outcomes that benefit affected communities, those that engage affected communities in the design and performance of the project, and those which demonstrate the ability to promote and continue efforts to reduce emissions after the project has ended.