AGC Works to Preserve National Diesel Grant Funding Program

Looking ahead to 2012, it is unclear whether Congress will continue to fund the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. National AGC has helped its interested chapters win millions in federal funds to support AGC members’ voluntary “retrofit” projects.  Most recently, AGC played a key part in the reauthorization of the federal law that governs EPA’s competitive clean-diesel grant program and successfully modified the law to give contractors even greater access to future funding.  The EPA has openly praised AGC for its leadership on clean-diesel over the last decade.  Despite these successes, the current push to remove billions of dollars from next year’s annual budget has landed AGC on the front lines again; this time fighting to ensure that the EPA’s clean-diesel grant program does not lose out in the battle over every appropriations dollar. When President Obama sent his fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget to Congress for consideration earlier this year, it did not include any funding for diesel retrofit.  This caught a lot of attention from AGC and many prominent industry and environmental groups (hereafter diesel coalition) that had worked hard to secure Congressional reauthorization of the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) – which gives EPA the authority to run its grant program – for five more years and at a total of $500 million for FY2012 through FY2016.  This summer, the Energy and Commerce Committee considered reducing the authorized level of DERA funding to $50 million a year through FY2016 as an offset for costs related to its consideration of the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act of 2011 (TRAIN Act).  Thanks to a vigorous effort by AGC and other diesel coalition members, authorization levels for FY2013-16 were maintained at $100 million.  The authorized funding for FY2012was cut to $46 million. In terms of actual appropriated funds for FY2012, the House Appropriations Committee passed U.S. Department of Interior-EPA appropriations legislation (H.R. 2584) that would give DERA $30 million next year (despite the fact that the President’s proposed budget included zero dollars for DERA).  AGC joined forces with the diesel coalition to defeat a recent amendment to the appropriations bill that would have eliminated all funding under DERA.  AGC continues to work with the diesel collation in hopes of gaining support in the Senate for a higher level of funding. Many in Congress expect both the EPA and the Interior Department to absorb deep cuts in FY2012 and beyond. It appears unlikely that Congress will revisit H.R. 2584 when it returns to Washington, DC in September from a month-long recess.  Sources predict that the House instead will begin work on an omnibus funding package or a stopgap continuing resolution in September.  It may be necessary to pass a temporary spending bill to cover the first part of the year to allow time for further negotiations. AGC Efforts to Support Voluntarily Diesel Retrofit Projects AGC of America and its chapters have done much more than any other construction association to persuade the EPA to allocate available retrofit funds to off-road construction equipment. Over the last five years, the EPA’s National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program has distributed funding provided by DERA and awarded via a competitive grant program – approximately $531 million appropriated from FY2007 to FY2011, including $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – to incentivize and support many clean-diesel projects. AGC chapters and members have joined forces with other industry partners to voluntarily apply for and win millions in EPA diesel retrofit grants, and to leverage millions more in matching and in-kind contributions, to help their members afford the high cost of reducing emissions from construction equipment that is currently out in the field.  In addition, many AGC members have benefited from funds awarded by EPA to state/local agencies – indicating many public-private partnerships at play. To build on this success, AGC worked with a broad diesel coalition to attain reauthorization of federal DERA funding through 2016 and to amend certain provisions of DERA to help Chapters and members compete for EPA grants.  Specifically, AGC worked to eliminate the provision that had required at least half the national program funds to be used for the “benefit of public fleets.”  Another significant change to the program will allow individual companies under contract with public agencies to apply on their own for the grants, rather than submitting an application under the signature of a  third-party, non-profit organization or government agency. The EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign has provided financial and technical assistance to the many equipment owners who seek a fair and effective way to reduce emissions from existing fleets of off-road diesel equipment. However, more dedicated and innovative funding is needed. The Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association (MECA) recently released information showing that the number of “retrofit” devices sold in the United States each year appears to be relatively low compared to the overall number of diesel engines currently operating across the nation. (See sidebar in this story.)  AGC will continue to play a lead role in securing federal funding to help member companies retrofit their equipment on a voluntary basis and earn positive national recognition. For more information, contact AGC’s Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org.