Florida Gets $300,000 EPA Grant to Cut Diesel Emissions

The Idling Reduction Rule establishes a five-minute limit on idling for heavy-duty diesel vehicles weighing 8,500 pounds or more, in order to reduce concentrations of at least 40 harmful chemicals in diesel exhaust as well as greenhouse gas emissions.

Affected vehicles include commercial and government trucks, school buses, transit and excursion buses, all of which account for 16 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in Florida's transportation sector.

"The Idling Reduction Rule plays an important role in protecting Florida's air quality," said DEP Secretary Michael Sole. "Receipt of this grant reinforces that role by enabling us to help owners and operators of heavy-duty diesel trucks install technology that reduces harmful emissions, conserves resources and minimizes fuel costs."

Part of the grant will allow commercial truck drivers to apply for a rebate to purchase auxiliary power units - technology that reduces engine idling, resulting in reduced emissions.

This auxiliary power unit by Delphi operates with a solid oxide fuel cell. (Photo courtesy Delphi)

The department is offering the Clean Diesel Rebate Program, which allows truck owners to apply for a rebate up to $1,500 to help install auxiliary power units.

Vehicles that install auxiliary power units use on average only 20 percent of the diesel fuel that a truck would otherwise burn if idling.

Auxiliary power units provide a less expensive and dependable source of energy for equipment used by resting or parked truckers, and virtually eliminate the need for idling. For more information on the rebate program or to download the rebate application, click here.

Another portion of the grant will be used to retrofit school buses in rural counties in the Florida Panhandle as part of the Clean School Bus Program.

The grant is expected to allow up to 250 buses to be retrofitted with diesel oxidation catalysts - devices designed to reduce harmful pollutants in tailpipe emissions.

The retrofit project aims to upgrade 2003 or older buses that will remain in the fleet for at least five years. This improved emission-control technology will help reduce children's exposure to diesel exhaust and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution created by diesel school buses.

"Diesel emissions can worsen symptoms of asthma," said Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros, State Surgeon General at the Department of Health. "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 4.8 million U.S. children have asthma. This figure includes the nearly 600,000 children in Florida diagnosed with the illness, and many of these children ride the bus to school."

The U.S. EPA has determined that breathing diesel exhaust over the long-term is "likely to pose a lung cancer hazard to humans."

Diesel exhaust contains what the EPA calls "significant levels" of small particles, known as fine particulate matter. Fine particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.

These fine particles can pass through the nose and throat and lodge themselves in the lungs, aggravating conditions such as asthma and bronchitis, and causing lung damage and premature death.

"Nationwide," says the EPA, "particulate matter, especially fine particles, is responsible for thousands of premature deaths every year."

The federal agency also warns that diesel exhaust contains pollutants that contribute to smog formation, acid rain, and global climate change.

The goal of the EPA's national program is to save fuel and lower greenhouse gas and diesel exhaust emissions from the country's existing fleet of 11 million diesel engines. Click here for more on the EPA's State Clean Diesel Program.

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