Puget Sound Agency Gets $850,000 for Diesel Emissions Project
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency was awarded an $850,000 grant on Jan. 27 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The grant will be used to bolster the "Puget Sound Ports Cargo-Handling Equipment Replacement and Retrofit Program" aimed at reducing diesel emissions at the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma. The Clean Air Agency is investing an additional $118,000 in the program, and the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma are together kicking in $200,000 in leveraged funds.
The grant will help reduce harmful diesel emissions through a combination of replacing off-highway truck engines and retrofitting cargo-handling equipment at both Puget Sound ports. Approximately 350 pieces of cargo handling equipment operate at each port, emitting tons of harmful diesel pollutants. This project will enable both facilities to retrofit more than 10 percent of their fleets.
The project will help the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma meet specific pollution reduction targets they have set for themselves via commitments in the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy – a voluntary emissions reduction strategy developed with the support of the Clean Air Agency, EPA, and Washington State Department of Ecology and adopted by both Puget Sound ports and Port Metro Vancouver in British Columbia last year.
The grant program making the award is part of the highly successful West Coast Collaborative (WCC), a public-private partnership to reduce diesel emissions in the West, boasting more than 1,000 partners, including the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and both ports. The collaborative is part of EPA's National Clean Diesel Campaign – a nationwide partnership between leaders from federal, state, and local governments, the private sector and environmental groups.