EPA Grant to bolster environmental monitoring, permitting and enforcement
DALLAS, TX, Feb. 17, 2009 -- The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $18,609,238 to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) to assist in administering Texas’s environmental quality programs.
PPGs are a powerful funding tool that the EPA offers to eligible States. A PPG is a multi-program grant awarded to a state from funds otherwise available for categorical grant programs.
A state can combine funds from 2 or more of 17 eligible grant programs into 1 or more PPGs. Recipients may then use PPGs to fund activities that are within the stated purpose of the 17 eligible grant programs.
According to the EPA, the grants enable states to better direct their funding toward their most critical environmental problems while continuing to address core program requirements. Using the funds, states can implement multi-media high priority strategies such as community-based environmental protection, pollution prevention, and environmental justice, and reduce administrative burdens and costs by reducing the numbers of grants applications, budget, workplans, and reports
TCEQ’s environmental programs aim to prevent, reduce, and eliminate water, solid waste, air, and pesticide pollution through standard-setting, monitoring, permitting and enforcement activities.
Read More...
Summary only...
TCEQ awarded $2 million for clean diesel projects
DALLAS, TX Jan 9, 2009 -- The North Central Texas Council of Governments has been awarded $1.5 million, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will receive $500,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency to help reduce diesel emissions.
EPA and the Blue Skyways Collaborative awarded the grants as part of the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program.
“Blue Skyways and the EPA clean diesel program are delivering cleaner engines and cleaner air for America’s heartland,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “This program gives communities another effective tool to improve air quality and public health.”
Communities will use the grants for clean diesel projects that significantly reduce emissions through the use of retrofit technologies, engine replacements, and idle reduction technologies.
Reducing emissions from diesel engines is one of the most important air quality challenges facing the country. Even with EPA's more stringent heavy-duty highway and non-road engine standards set to take effect over the next decade, millions of diesel engines already in use will continue to emit large amounts of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and air toxics, which contribute to serious public health problems. EPA and the Blue Skyways Collaborative provide funding for projects to help reduce these heavy-duty diesel emissions.
The Blue Skyways Collaborative is a group of businesses, communities and government agencies spanning 10 states that work together voluntarily to reduce air pollution in North America's central corridor. With its 183 partners, the collaborative is implementing about $1.1 billion in projects that use innovations in diesel engines, alternative fuels and renewable energy technologies to reduce air emissions along major transportation corridors. These innovations save 76 million gallons of fuel per year, cut 1.6 million tons per year in greenhouse gases and reduce toxic air pollutants by 51,626 tons per year.
Read More...
Summary only...
ISD's will receive grants to install equipment that will reduce emissions from school bus diesel engines.
Students riding New Diana or Ore City buses will soon get a bit of fresh(er) air. Both ISD's have asked for, and will receive money to retrofit school buses from the Texas Clean School Bus Program.
The program, offered by the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality, is aimed at improving student and bus driver health by reducing the amount of pollutants they breath in while boarding and riding the bus.
According to information provided by the TCEQ, diesel exhaust contains small particles, known as fine particulate matter (PM). PM can easily pass through the nose and throat, penetrate deep into the lungs and pose serious health risks, including aggravated asthma and allergies. Some studies suggest that long-term exposure can increase the risk of lung cancer.
The information also says that children may be more susceptible to this pollution because they breathe more air per pound of body weight when compared to adults. In addition, as children’s respiratory systems are still developing, they are more susceptible than adults to environmental pollution.
To counter the risks, the grant money is to be used for the installation of any combination of the following devices:
* Diesel Particulate Filters - devices that collect particulate matter in the exhaust stream. Used with the correct fuel, these filters can reduce organic compounds, and carbon monoxide in the exhaust gases by 60 to 90 percent.
* Closed Crankcase Filtration Systems - devices that allow a diesel engine’s crankcase to be closed and use an air filter to trap oil droplets, carbon, traces of wear debris, and particles that are smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter. Blow-by gas emissions can be as much as 25 percent of the total emissions from a diesel engine. These systems may be more effective at reducing children’s in-cabin exposures to pollutants than control systems fitted into the exhaust systems alone.
* Diesel Oxidation Catalysts - devices that use a chemical process to break down pollutants in the exhaust stream into less harmful components. Diesel oxidation catalysts can reduce emissions of particulates by 20 to 40 percent, hydrocarbons by 50 percent and carbon monoxide by 40 percent.
* Partial Flow-Through Filters - tailpipe filters that can lower diesel particulate matter emissions by 70 to 75 percent. These can also reduce total vehicle emissions by up to 80 percent when paired with a closed crankcase filtration system.
The program does place limits on funding, based on the devices the ISD elects to install, and how many buses will be retrofitted. Closed crankcase filtration systems may receive up to $800, diesel oxidation catalysts up to $1,500, partial flow-through filters up to $6,000, and diesel particulate filters up to $8,250. These caps are per device and include installation costs.
Read More...
Summary only...
