Showing posts with label Bay Area. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bay Area. Show all posts

Friday, December 18, 2020

$40 Million in Grant Money Available in the Bay Area to Reduce Diesel Engine Pollution

This story was sent to us the other day regarding funds available to upgrade older diesel trucks with state-of-the-art clean diesel engines. The primary aim of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is to reduce toxic emissions from older diesels. Vehicles being considered include medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses, mobile construction and industrial equipment, agricultural equipment, marine vessels, locomotives and school buses. 

I'm imagining that school districts with nimble leadership will try to take advantage of this offering. Those whose decision-making apparatus is tangled in tape will be less able. 

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If you've ever wondered why air quality is such an issue in California, a visit to Los Angeles in person might answer part of that question. This city, and most of the coastal cities on the Pacific, are situated in basins with mountains stretching up on the East and an incoming breeze from the ocean. It's like a bowl that cataches and holds all the smog, zone and particulate matter. An atmospheric inversion occurs which causes it all to form a "pollution dome" over the city. 

Most major cities have a slightly discolored dome hovering over them, but wind and weather usually cleanses this cloud in most places. The cities on the West Coast, being hedged by mountains, find themselves with a unique drawback. 

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California has been wrestling with air quality issues for a century now and San Francisco has not been exempt. Jack Broadbent, the Bay district’s executive officer, said the grants would pay for “cleaner-than-required equipment to improve air quality in neighborhoods that need our help most." The funding comes from the Carl Moyer Program and Community Health Protection Program.

NOTEWORTHY

The announcement was made on December 11, and these funds will be distributed on a first come first serve basis. 

To apply or for more information, go to www.baaqmd.gov/AB617grants or call (415) 749-4994. Applications will be evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis until funds run out.

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Story Source: The Independent News


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