GRANTS TO SUPPORT CLEANER VEHICLES, IMPROVE AIR QUALITY

RALEIGH - State environmental officials have awarded $798,398 in grants for projects to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles, such as retrofitting school buses with controls to curb diesel emissions, expanding biodiesel storage and distribution equipment, and repowering construction equipment.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) awarded the grants through the Mobile Source Emissions Reduction Grants program, which is administered through the Division of Air Quality. This year's grant winners include 14 projects from 11 counties:

• Blue Ridge Biofuels, Buncombe County, $28,000 to purchase biodiesel equipment.
• Metrolina Biofuels, Gaston County, $9,000 to purchase biodiesel equipment.
• Green Transit, Madison County, $40,750 to purchase equipment and convert vehicles to biodiesel.
• Town of Black Mountain, Buncombe County, $10,504 to purchase an electric vehicle.
• Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County School System, Forsyth County, $37,920 to retrofit school buses with diesel emissions control devices.
• City of Raleigh, Wake County, $68,000 to retrofit solid waste vehicles with diesel emissions control devices.
• Gaston County Landfill, Gaston County, $13,000 to purchase biodiesel equipment.
• Haywood Community College, Haywood County, $9,648.75 to purchase an electric vehicle.
• Mecklenburg County Air Quality, Mecklenburg County, $230,000 to repower construction equipment.
• Piedmont Biofuels, Chatham County, $40,000 to purchase a biodiesel tank truck.
• Public Schools of Robeson County, Robeson County, $200,000 to retrofit school buses with diesel emissions control devices and closed crankcase ventilation systems.
• Pitt County Schools, Pitt County, $68,400 to retrofit school buses with diesel emissions control devices.
• Caldwell County, $30,000 to increase biodiesel distribution.
• Old Salem Museum, Forsyth County, $13,175 to purchase an electric vehicle.

"These projects should help reduce air pollution problems caused by buses, trucks and other vehicles," DAQ Director Keith Overcash said. "Exhaust from motor vehicles contributes to many air quality problems, including ozone, haze and particle pollution."

The mobile grants program is funded by a 1/64-cent per gallon tax on gasoline sold in North Carolina. It awards grants for projects and equipment that limit air pollution from cars, trucks and other motor vehicles. The program has awarded 102 grants totaling more than $7.2 million statewide since 1995.

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. The grants can be used for equipment, such as alternative fuel vehicles, that directly reduce the levels of air pollutants generated by motor vehicles or for projects that indirectly reduce mobile emissions, such as car-pooling and mass transit. For more information about the mobile grants program, call Heather Hildebrandt at (919) 733-1498 or visit the DAQ Web site: www.ncair.org.

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