The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has awarded $1.14 million in grants for projects that will reduce air pollution from diesel-powered mobile sources.
Mobile sources are any type of vehicle that can pollute the air, including automobiles, trucks, buses, locomotives, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, construction equipment and lawnmowers. DAQ awards Mobile Sources Emissions Reductions Grants every year to projects that will replace, retrofit or repair diesel-powered mobile sources to reduce emissions.
This year’s awarded projects will replace or retrofit 20 older diesel vehicles and equipment with cleaner alternatives. More than $270,000 in funding will go toward new electric vehicles.
Together, this year’s awards are projected to eliminate 3,483 tons of greenhouse gas (CO₂) emissions over their lifetimes. They are also expected to reduce more than 57 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 7,700 pounds of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) across all projects.
Applications for the 2024 Mobile Source Emissions Reduction grants opened last November and closed in February. After reviewing the proposals, DAQ awarded grants to the following projects:
Applicant: Cumberland County
County: Cumberland
Grant Award: $289,380
Project Summary: Replaces one international box truck, one crawler dozer, and one rubber tire dozer with new, modern equipment of the same types, enhancing operational efficiency and sustainability. This project eliminates 20.04 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 21.37 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 3,240 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
Applicant: Delta Air Lines, Inc.
County: Wake
Grant Award: $268,248
Project Summary: Replaces six Tier 1 and Tier 2 diesel belt loaders with six zero-emission electric belt loaders. This project eliminates 1,316.4 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 3.36 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 560 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
Applicant: Espinoza Hauling and Trucking Co Inc.
County: Swain
Grant Award: $185,991
Project Summary: Replaces one 1999 Tier 1 Cold Milling Machine with a 2025 CARB-certified Tier 4 Cold Milling Machine. This project eliminates 216 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 7.33 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 480 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
Applicant: Fortner Contracting Inc.
County: Swain
Grant Award: $62,039
Project Summary: Replaces a 1992 Tier 0 off-road wheel loader with a 2025 Tier 4 Rubber Tire Loader. This project eliminates 94.5 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 20.04 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 3,060 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
Applicant: The HMC Paving and Construction Co Inc.
County: Swain
Grant Award: $19,913
Project Summary: Replaces one 2008 Tier 0 diesel truck with a new CARB-certified, EPA Tier 4 2024 ULSD truck. This project eliminates 377.98 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 1.06 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 10 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
Applicant: Nancy Lee III Fishing Charters LLC
County: Onslow
Grant Award: $88,000
Project Summary: Replaces two tier-0 1978 model diesel propulsion engines with two new tier-3 low-emission diesel engines. This project eliminates 1,100.16 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 1.56 tons of lifetime NOx emissions.
Applicant: Progress Freight Lines Inc.
County: Wake
Grant Award: $100,000
Project Summary: Replaces two older diesel Class 8 trucks with new, cleaner technology. This project eliminates 337.16 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 0.72 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 2 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
Applicant: Town of Carrboro
County: Orange
Grant Award: $6,951
Project Summary: Replaces a 2005 Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) with electric model. This project eliminates 20.7 tons of lifetime CO₂ emissions and reduces 0.16 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 38 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
Applicant: Waste Management of Carolinas, Inc.
County: Buncombe
Grant Award: $120,000
Project Summary: Replaces four diesel vehicles with four heavy duty near-zero emission compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. This project reduces 2.29 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 310 pounds of lifetime PM2.5 emissions.
These grants are funded by the Environmental Protection Agency's Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program. The purpose of the DERA program is to support projects designed to achieve significant diesel emissions reductions.
Diesel engines, particularly those manufactured before the stringent standards required from today’s vehicles, emit pollution that can contribute to health conditions like asthma and heart and lung disease. Diesel exhaust can also damage crops and other vegetation, contribute to the formation of acid rain, impair visibility and further climate change and global warming. Many communities of color and low-income communities may be disproportionately impacted by pollution from mobile sources.
Awards from the 2023 Mobile Sources Emissions Reductions Grant funded the replacement of 18 vehicles and reduced more than 43 tons of lifetime NOx emissions and 3,044 tons of lifetime CO2 emissions.
For more information about the Mobile Sources Emissions Reduction grant program, visit DAQ’s website at https://deq.nc.gov/DERA or email daq.mscb.ncdaqgrants@deq.nc.gov.