Congress Approves DERA Reauthorization

In other lame duck action, Congress gave final approval to legislation reauthorizing the Diesel Emission Reduction Act of 2010 (DERA), which established a voluntary national and state-level grant and loan program for retrofitting diesel equipment. AGC has been working through a broad coalition effort in support of the bill. The five-year authorization provides $100 million in grant funding for diesel retrofits, which is a 50 percent reduction from the funding provided over the past five years. The bill makes two significant changes advocated by AGC that will make the grants more available to construction contractors. First the bill eliminates a requirement that 50 percent of the funds be made eligible only for public sector vehicles. The second change allows individual companies to apply directly for the grants rather than through a third party non-profit organization. Other changes in the program will streamline the application process and provide more transparency. President Obama is expected to sign the measure. For more information, contact Brian Deery at (703) 837-5319 or deeryb@agc.org.