The nearly $490,000 grant the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade their municipal fleet is "only the beginning," the agency's administrator said in a March 17 news release.
The nation received the $489,155 grant to establish lower-emission diesel projects in their fleet upgrade, according to the March 17 EPA news release announcing the grant. The money comes from President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan
| epa.gov/
"The Biden administration continues to work with tribal nations across the country to replace or upgrade older, higher-polluting diesel engines, making important progress in reducing pollution and advancing environmental justice across the country," EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said. "With an unprecedented $5 billion investment in low- and zero-emission school buses from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law coming soon for communities across the country, this is only the beginning."
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation reportedly plans to replace two of its inefficient larger engine vehicles, a municipal short-haul dump truck and a fire department water tanker.
Twelve tribal and insular area assistance agreements across the nation are expected to receive $5.4 million in grants under the Diesel Emissions Reduction program, intended to clean up the nation's legacy fleet of diesel engines, the news release reported.
The Diesel Emissions Reduction grants are intended to fund projects that clean up fleets of old diesel engines, a key to combating air pollution. Old diesel engines emit more air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, than newer diesel engines. Air pollutants from older diesel engines have been linked to serious health problems, including lung and heart disease, asthma, other respiratory ailments and premature death.
EPA has funded projects that have significantly improved air quality and provided critical health benefits since 2008 through the Diesel Emissions Reduction grant, reducing air pollution by hundreds of thousands of tons and saving millions of gallons of fuel, according to the news release.
EPA also plans to offer $5 billion in clean school bus funding, also through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, spanning five years starting this spring, according to the announcement. The Clean School Bus rebate program aims to replace existing school buses with low- or zero-emission school buses, and EPA may prioritize replacement school buses in high-need local educational agencies, low-income and rural areas and tribal schools.
