AQ_GEN_PIO_20230217_MISC_PressRls

Website: www.deq.nc.gov
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ncdeq
Twitter: @NCDEQ
1601 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1601

Roy Cooper, Governor Elizabeth S. Biser, Secretary

Release: IMMEDIATE Contact: Shawn Taylor Date: Feb. 17, 2023 Phone: [phone]
State Awards $1.4M in Grants to Reduce Air Pollution from Diesel Vehicles
RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has
awarded $1.369 million in grants for projects that will reduce air pollution from diesel-powered mobile sources.
Mobile sources are any type of vehicle that can pollute the air, including automobiles, trucks, buses, locomotives,
motorcycles, off-road vehicles, construction equipment and lawnmowers. DEQ awards Mobile Source Emissions
Reduction Grants every year for projects to replace, retrofit or repair diesel vehicles and reduce emissions.
This year’s awarded projects will replace 10 diesel vehicles with cleaner alternatives. Most of the funding, more
than $909,000, will go toward new electric vehicles. Electrification projects, projects in historically under-
resourced counties, and projects submitted by minority-owned or women-owned businesses received bonus
points during the scoring of applications.
Together, this year’s awards will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2,656 tons over their lifetimes.
They will also eliminate more than 40 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and 2 tons of particulate matter.
Applications for the 2022 Mobile Source Emissions Reduction grants opened last September and closed in
November. After reviewing the proposals, the Division awarded grants to the following projects:
Applicant: SMM Southeast, LLC
County: Craven
Grant Award: $406,000
Project Summary: Replaces one diesel material handler with an electric material handler and funds associated
infrastructure. This project eliminates the greenhouse gas emissions and 4.45 tons of lifetime NOx emissions
associated with an internal combustion engine.
Applicant: Town of Chapel Hill
County: Orange
Grant Award: $297,400
Project Summary: Replaces one diesel refuse truck with a new electric refuse truck and funds associated
infrastructure. This project eliminates the greenhouse gas emissions and 0.3 tons of lifetime NOx emissions
associated with an internal combustion engine.
Applicant: Hirschbach Motor Lines, Inc.
County: Bladen
Grant Award: $140,800
Project Summary: Replaces one diesel yard spotter with one electric yard spotter. This project eliminates the
greenhouse gas emissions and 0.64 tons of lifetime NOx emissions associated with internal combustion engines.
Applicant: County of Hyde
County: Hyde
Website: www.deq.nc.gov
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ncdeq
Twitter: @NCDEQ
1601 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1601
Grant Award: $65,250
Project Summary: Replaces one diesel waste-water pump with an electric stationary pump and funds associated
infrastructure. This project eliminates the greenhouse gas emissions and 1.6 tons of lifetime NOx emissions
associated with an internal combustion engine.
Applicant: Bald Head Transportation, Inc.
County: Brunswick
Grant Award: $185,600
Project Summary: Replaces two marine diesel propulsion engines trucks with new, cleaner technology. This
project reduces lifetime NOx emissions by 23.9 tons.
Applicant: Cumberland County Solid Waste
County: Cumberland
Grant Award: $183,950
Project Summary: Replaces one diesel excavator and one diesel grader with new, cleaner equipment. This
project reduces lifetime NOx emissions by 4.43 tons.
Applicant: Waste Management of Carolinas
County: New Hanover and Lee
Grant Award: $90,000
Project Summary: Replaces three diesel refuse trucks with three low-NOx compressed natural gas (CNG)
refuse trucks. This project reduces 4.69 tons of lifetime NOx emissions associated with diesel combustion
engines.
These grants are funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Diesel Emissions Reduction Act
(DERA) program. The purpose of the DERA program is to support projects designed to achieve significant diesel
emissions reductions.
Awards from the 2021 Diesel Emission Reduction grant program funded the replacement of 11 vehicles,
reducing estimated emissions of NOx by 23.5 tons over their lifetimes.
For more information about the Mobile Sources Emissions Reduction grant program, visit the Division of Air
Quality’s website at https://deq.nc.gov/DERA or email [e-mail].
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