Anti-Pollution Grants Available

The federal government is providing millions of dollars in stimulus funding for transportation projects that create jobs and reduce pollution, but applicants must move quickly in order to qualify for one of the programs.

A total of $300 million in stimulus funding is available this year to fund projects such as retrofitting cargo-handling equipment at ports, installing truck or locomotive idling devices or replacing old, polluting trucks with new vehicles, said Francisco Donez, ports and maritime sector lead staff member for the West Coast Collaborative and a staff member of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Donez emphasized at the Faster Freight-Cleaner Air conference in Long Beach March 25 that applicants must submit projects soon in order to qualify for federal EPA assistance under the Diesel Emission Reduction Act. Submissions are due by April 28. The grants will be awarded this summer.

The detailed requirements in the federal program specify that the projects must reduce pollution and create jobs, preferably in areas that already experience high levels of pollution, such as around container ports.

Private sector companies can not apply directly for the grants, but they can partner with eligible applicants such as a port authority or a public clean-air agency.

The ports of Seattle and Tacoma received EPA grant money under the 2008 version of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act. The ports used the money to replace or retrofit yard tractors, cranes, forklifts and similar cargo-handling equipment. Seattle cleaned up 10 percent of the yard equipment in its fleet and Tacoma improved 14 percent of its fleet.

The ports worked with their marine terminal operators and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. The clean-air agency actually filed the application with EPA, said Sarah Flagg, seaport air quality program manager at the Port of Seattle.

One tip for becoming more competitive in the federal bidding process is to make the application regional in nature, Flagg said. "There is strength in joint applications," she said.

The environment in Washington under the President Obama administration is especially favorable for transportation projects that combine job creation with pollution reduction, and there are other programs as well that provide stimulus funding, the speakers noted.