The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week its clean diesel efforts have produced $500 million to $1.4 billion in public health benefits.
EPA said in a report to Congress that for the $50 million spent in 2008 to implement the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, the agency funded the purchase or retrofit “of 14,000 diesel-powered vehicles and pieces of equipment, preventing respiratory illnesses and saving money in communities nationwide.”
The result was 46,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and 2,200 tons of particulate matter saved over the lifetime of the vehicles.
In addition, EPA and its partners conserved 3.2 million gallons of fuel last year under the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program, according to the report.
Overall, the reduction in NOx, particulate matter and fuel use generated “public health benefits [of] between $500 million to $1.4 billion,” EPA concluded.
“ATA is proud to have been a part of the Clean Diesel Program and to have just received its second SmartWay award from the EPA,” said Clayton Boyce, spokesman for American Trucking Associations.
Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, said the report “underscores why the clean diesel retrofit program is the nation’s best example of how public investment leverage in a voluntary way can yield significant and proven cost-effective emissions benefits and real fuel savings.”
