The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act reported favorably out of committee to reauthorize the federal law for an additional five years at $100 million per year.
The National School Transportation Association, a member of a coalition of manufacturers, end users and public interest organization in supporting a DERA extension, said the House and Senate are expected this week to go to conference in an attempt to resolve differences between their two energy bills.
Earlier this year in a report to Congress, EPA said DERA has saved 450 million gallons of fuel and prevented 4.8 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions from more than 900,000 cars. EPA also estimates that clean diesel funding generates up to $13 of public health benefit for every $1 spent on diesel projects.
First enacted in 2005 and reauthorized in 2010, the current iteration of DERA is set to expire at the end of this September. To date it has provided approximately $700 million in funding of grants and rebates for vehicle replacements, retrofits, emission-control devices and idle-reduction technologies through the EPA’s National Clean Diesel program.
This year, EPA is awarding $26 million in DERA funds. Notification of selected applicants is scheduled for next month with award funds being released in October. This fall, EPA said it will also announce the latest school bus rebate program.
