Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant

Below are brief summaries of the projects that have been awarded grants through the second round of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program:

  • City of Dublin, in partnership with City of Westerville - Replacing eight model year 1999/2000 short haul diesel trucks.
  • Columbus City Schools - Replacing 15 model year 1990 school buses with new school buses.
  • CSX Transportation, Inc. - Repowering four Switcher Locomotives with GENSET diesel engines.
  • Great Lakes Construction - Repowering two model year 1987/1988 track type bulldozers.
  • Industrial Railway Switching & Services - Retrofitting three switcher locomotives with the private vendor's "Lean and Green Locomotive Package" technology to reduce overall vehicle emissions.
  • John R. Jurgensen - Replacing two track type bulldozers and four hydraulic excavators with new vehicles.
  • Kenston Local School District - Replacing one model year 1998 school bus with a new plug-in hybrid school bus.
  • Manchester Local School District - Replacing one model year 1991 school bus with a new plug-in hybrid school bus.
  • Osnaburg Local Schools, in partnership with Massillon Local Schools and North Canton Local Schools – Retrofitting six school buses with DPF/CCFS applications and replacing three school buses with new model year buses.
  • Portage County Solid Waste Management District - Replacing one model year 1999 diesel truck used for the collection of recyclables.
  • Ross Local School District - Replacing five model year 1988/1990/1991 school buses with new buses.
  • Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority - Repowering 50 model year 2001/2002 public transit buses.
  • Stark County Commissioners, in partnership with Stark County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities - Replacing seven model year 1993/1995 school buses with new model year buses.
  • Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority - Replacing an existing diesel generator set on port facility gantry crane.
  • Wood County Commissioners, in partnership with Wood County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities - Replacing five model year 1998/2001/2002 diesel powered school buses with new liquid propane- injected (LPI) engines
  • Wood County Engineer’s Office – Replacing two model year 1990/1996 diesel powered dump trucks with new trucks

Click here to see applications for projects that were awarded grants through the first round of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program. 

Since Summer 2007, the Ohio Department of Development has been working with an inter-agency team to develop a program that would have the greatest impact on air quality in the transportation sector, maximizing flexibility to applicants and making participation simple and efficient. The product of this team was the Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program.

The Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program was conceived in state budget bill H.B. 66 earmarking $19.8 million over the biennium of Ohio Department of Transportation’s federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds authorized through the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users to reduce diesel emissions.

Truck Stop Electrification   The program was available for all public diesel engine fleets and private diesel engine fleets (with public sponsor) that have at least 20 percent matching funds and who are committed to operating their updated equipment in Ohio non-attainment-and-maintenance counties at least 65 percent of the time.

Public Fleets  include but are not limited to, school buses, mass transit vehicles, trash trucks, and government fleets. 

Private Fleets include but are not limited to long and short haul trucks, switcher locomotives and non-road construction equipment.  Non-road vehicles or construction equipment must be working on a surface transportation construction project (title 23) within an Ohio non-attainment or maintenance area to be eligible.

The Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program leveraged private investment in equipment with public resources to ensure that equipment has the best available technology to manage emissions and keep the state of Ohio and its many regions in compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.  The goals of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program were to:

  • Provide both public and private heavy diesel equipment owners operating within Ohio’s maintenance and non-attainment counties an opportunity to control vehicle emissions through retrofit, engine replacement, vehicle/machinery replacement, or anti-idling technologies;
  • Improve the air quality performance of Ohio’s transportation sector, especially in  non-attainment counties, by reducing barriers to acquiring emission reduction technology;
  • Advance incentives, instead of mandates for cleaning up diesel fleets in Ohio maintenance and non-attainment counties; and
  • Encourage the use of alternative and cleaner burning fuels.    

The Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program Committee managed the guidelines for project selection and determines funding levels.  The Committee consisted of selected staff from the Ohio Department of Development, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and the  Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.  

The program has helped Ohio to move to the forefront of managing transportation related emissions, removing harmful toxins from our air for the health of future generations.