Even as corporations such as Westport-based Terex Corp. push ahead with diesel-emission reduction programs in advance of coming federal regulations, Connecticut is doing so as well ”“ mainly through federal grants received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
In January, President Obama signed the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act into law, continuing federal funding another five years that was first authorized under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
That was also the year Connecticut passed a law directing the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to establish a clean diesel plan for reducing emissions.
Under the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program, the town of Fairfield in 2008 received more than $800,000 to retrofit nearly 40 public works vehicles with diesel particulate filters.
Along with other states under the ARRA, Connecticut received $1.7 million in funding to create grants and loans for clean diesel projects that aid in job creation. The federal government allowed the money to be disbursed to private companies to reduce diesel emissions in their fleets.
Connecticut is spending its ARRA funding on:
”¢Â a retrofit program to reduce diesel emissions from highway construction and maintenance;
Ӣ an electrified truck stop in New Haven to reduce the impact of truck idling at the cityӪs port; and
Ӣ additional projects to emerge from a June 2010 request for proposals that have yet to be revealed.
Connecticut also benefited separately from $1 million in ARRA funding to the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, which used the money to convert a locomotive to cleaner-emission technologies. And an Oregon company called Cascade Sierra Solutions received $1.1 million to upgrade trucks that frequent the Northeast corridor to reduce emissions, including attachments to reduce their air resistance as they motor down highways.
In 2009, the Connecticut Department of Transportation applied for funding to create an electrification stopover off Interstate 95 in Milford from EPA”™s National Transportation Idle Free Corridor program, but never revealed any funding from the program.
Connecticut already has a law on the books that limits bus and truck idling to three minutes ”“ if a police officer witnesses a vehicle idling longer, a ticket can be issued. DEP also encourages residents to report any idling abuses to its air management bureau in Hartford.
A Bloomfield company called LiquidPiston Inc. is selling an auxiliary engine for truckers that uses fluids as “pistons” to generate electricity, in hopes of selling them to run various appliances at stops rather than having drivers idle their engines to do so, which can consume a gallon of diesel an hour at a cost of some $2,500 annually. In January, the company received $5 million in funding from angel investors and venture capitalists.
