The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has announced the allocation of $1.14 million in grants aimed at reducing air pollution from diesel-powered vehicles and equipment. The funding, provided through the Mobile Sources Emissions Reductions Grants program, will support projects that replace or retrofit older diesel engines with cleaner alternatives.
This year’s grants will enable the replacement or retrofitting of 20 older diesel vehicles and pieces of equipment. Over $270,000 of the total funding is dedicated to new electric vehicles. According to DAQ, these initiatives are expected to eliminate 3,483 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over their operational lifetimes. Additionally, they are projected to reduce more than 57 tons of nitrogen oxides and 7,700 pounds of fine particulate matter across all supported projects.
Mobile sources include a range of vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, buses, locomotives, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, construction equipment and lawnmowers. The DAQ awards these grants annually for efforts that replace, retrofit or repair diesel-powered mobile sources to cut emissions.
Applications for the 2024 grant cycle opened last November and closed in February. After reviewing submissions, DAQ awarded funds to several applicants:
– Cumberland County received $289,380 to replace one international box truck and two dozers with modern equipment. This project is estimated to eliminate 20.04 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions.
– Delta Air Lines was awarded $268,248 for replacing six diesel belt loaders at Wake County facilities with zero-emission electric models.
– Espinoza Hauling and Trucking Co Inc., based in Swain County, received $185,991 for upgrading a cold milling machine.
– Fortner Contracting Inc., also in Swain County, was granted $62,039 for replacing an off-road wheel loader.
– The HMC Paving and Construction Co Inc., again in Swain County, obtained $19,913 for updating a diesel truck.
– Nancy Lee III Fishing Charters LLC in Onslow County received $88,000 for replacing two old propulsion engines on its vessels.
– Progress Freight Lines Inc., located in Wake County, was awarded $100,000 for updating two Class 8 trucks.
– The Town of Carrboro in Orange County secured $6,951 for switching a utility terrain vehicle to an electric model.
– Waste Management of Carolinas Inc., operating in Buncombe County, received $120,000 to upgrade four diesel vehicles with compressed natural gas models.
Funding comes from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program. DERA supports projects designed to achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions.
Diesel engines—especially those manufactured before current emission standards—are known contributors to health issues such as asthma and heart disease. Their exhaust can also harm crops and vegetation and contribute to acid rain formation as well as climate change impacts. Communities of color and low-income populations may be disproportionately affected by pollution from mobile sources.
In the previous grant cycle (2023), awards funded the replacement of 18 vehicles and led to reductions exceeding 43 tons of nitrogen oxides emissions and more than 3,044 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over their lifetimes.
For further details about the Mobile Sources Emissions Reduction grant program visit https://deq.nc.gov/DERA or contact daq.mscb.ncdaqgrants@deq.nc.gov.
