Portland’s 1,000 truck garbage haulers are considering a three-year, $7 million plan to retrofit the truck fleet with filters that would reduce dangerous diesel particulate emissions.  Details of the plan have not been finalized, but it could be a significant step for the area.  Garbage trucks are responsible for about seven percent of the diesel emissions created by on-road vehicles in the region, and about four percent of particulates produced by diesels of all types.

Click here to read Eric Mortenson’s article in The Oregonian, Filters proposed to clean up garbage-truck exhaust.

South Jersey Port Corp. in South Camden has received a $550,000 grant from the federal and New Jersey governments to retrofit its dockside equipment.  The port, like most of the maritime industry, is rife with diesel engines on ships, cranes, and other dockside equipment spewing carbon emissions.

South Jersey Port Corp. has built a new $40 million pier for the St. Lawrence Cement Co. at Broadway with direct highway access, which will help eliminate truck traffic in Camden’s city streets, further reducing emissions in the area. 

Click here to read more details from Eileen Stilwell’s article in the Courier-Post about NJ Port Corporation Tries to Go Green.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association received a $127,000 grant from the EPA that will be used for a pilot project to cut emissions from Pittsburgh’s heavy-duty diesel waste trucks.  The City of Pittsburgh is implementing the project along with two non-profit partners, Clean Water Action and the Group Against Smog and Pollution.

The grant will allow eight to 12 diesel trash trucks in the city to be retrofitted with filters that will help reduce emissions.  Monies may also be used to purchase equipment to clean and maintain the filters.

For the first time in 2008, Congress appropriated funds to help reduce harmful emissions from heavy duty diesel engines.  The EPA’s Mid-Atlantic region is soliciting proposals for additional projects to reduce diesel emissions in the region.  An estimated $3.1 million is available for the deployment of EPA-verified and certified technologies.  The deadline for proposals is June 13, 2008. 

Click here to read the article in the Environment News Service, Pittsburgh Diesel Trash Trucks Upgraded for Cleaner Air

The Tennessee DOT has offered grants to provide $1 million to retrofit diesel engines in older school buses.  Hamilton County is one county that is seeking the grants.  Most of Hamilton County School’s 250-bus fleet is already equipped with the newest, most environmentally friendly engines on the market.  Still, Wayne Hendrix, the district’s director of transportation, is hoping that independent contractors will apply for grants.  There are 50 or so such contractors who would be eligible.

One contractor, Jerry Green, drives three buses between seven and 14 years old for Hamilton County.  While updating them on his own would be prohibitive, he is interested in the grant. 

Click here to read Kelli Gauthier’s article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press Tennessee’s Hamilton County Eyes Funds to Turn Yellow Buses Green.

Seven of the U.S. EPA’s 38 New England award winners are from Maine, agency officials have said.  The Maine Clean School Bus Team was one of the Environmental Merit Award winners.  This group, made up of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Association of Pupil Transportation, established the nation’s first program with an $500,000 EPA grant to retrofit 266 school buses to reduce diesel emissions.  Maine education officials matched the effort by replacing 180 buses and retrofitting more than 400 other buses.

Click here to read the full Kennebec Journal article about EPA hands out awards to Maine winners.