Diesel Emission Reduction Act Grants
To address diesel emissions and protect public health and air quality, the EPA offers funding assistance under the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) to accelerate the upgrade and turnover of older diesel fleets. Since 2008, the EPA has awarded over $749 million for 790 grant projects and 420 rebate projects to reduce diesel emissions. Eligible activities include the retrofit or replacement of existing diesel engines, vehicles, and equipment with EPA and California Air Resources Board (CARB) certified engine configurations and verified retrofit and idle reduction technologies. DERA grants cannot fund research and development and DERA grants cannot fund technology demonstration, commercialization, certification, or verification. There are a number of funding opportunities from DERA including: a National Program, a State Grants Program, a Tribal Grants Program, and a School Bus Rebate Program.
National DERA
The National DERA Program is a competitive request for applications. For more information on the National DERA Program and future requests for applications, click on the link below:
DERA State Grants Program
The DERA State Grants Program is an allocation process in which eligible states and territories administer diesel emission reduction programs. For more information on funding opportunities in your state, click on the links below:
DERA Tribal Grants Program
The DERA Tribal Grants Program is a competitive request for applications. This funding opportunity is open to federally recognized tribal governments and Alaskan native villages, which have jurisdiction over transportation or air quality. For more information on the DERA Tribal Grants Program and future requests for applications, click on the link below:
DERA School Bus Rebate Program
School buses collectively travel over four billion miles each year, providing the safest transportation to and from school for more than 25 million American children every day. However, diesel exhaust from these buses has a negative impact on human health, especially for children who have faster breathing rates than adults and whose lungs are not yet fully developed. EPA designed this rebate program to encourage school bus fleet turnover so more children can ride buses meeting the cleanest emissions standards. These new buses can reduce pollution like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) by over 90% compared to older diesel buses. This results in cleaner air on the bus, in bus loading areas, and throughout the communities in which they operate.
In this funding opportunity, eligible applicants include public schools and private fleets serving public schools. Applicants selected in the lottery will be awarded rebates for replacing old diesel school buses powered by model year 2006 or older engines with new buses powered by 2017 or newer model year engines. Eligible replacement school buses may operate on diesel, gasoline, battery, or alternative fuels such as natural gas or propane.
For more information on the DERA School Bus Rebate Program, click on the link below:
American Rescue Plan Electric School Bus Rebate Program
In this funding opportunity, eligibility is limited to (1) high-poverty public school districts, (2) tribal governments and (3) private school bus fleets serving these public schools. Applicants selected in the lottery will be awarded rebates for replacing old Type C or D diesel school buses powered by model year 2006 or older engines with new Type C or D electric school buses. EPA will offer $300,000 per bus, for up to 4 buses, to fleets scrapping and replacing their old diesel buses. Scrapping old buses is necessary to ensure that the older, dirty buses will not be put back on the road.