Funding Programs Available for Clean Truck Technology and Fuels to Reduce Diesel Exhaust Impacts in New York City

by Lidia Henderson (ACT News) ... The webinar focused on renewable natural gas (RNG) and its benefits as a vehicle fuel. RNG is essentially biogas made by capturing and extracting methane emissions from our waste in landfills, large animal agricultural operations and wastewater treatment plants. It is also the lowest carbon fuel available today. RNG is currently available for public and private fleets in New York City from a fueling station in Hunts Point, the Bronx operated by Clean Energy Fuels. Manhattan Beer Distributors is a private beverage distribution company with a warehouse in the South Bronx. They currently operate approximately 200 natural gas vehicles in New York City and are prepared to continue their transition to an alternative fuel fleet. During the webinar, Manhattan Beer Distributors provided a testimonial on the feasibility of switching to alternative fuels in day to day business operations, and the resulting cost savings and public health benefits.

Luckily for fleets such as Manhattan Beer Distributors, the New York City (NYC) Clean Trucks Program officially launched on June 3, 2020 and is now accepting applications. The program is administered by the NYC Department of Transportation using New York State Volkswagen Settlement Funds. The program makes $12,000 to $185,000 available for fleet applicants in Industrial Business Zones (IBZs) to replace older, diesel trucks with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emission compliant electric, alternative fuel (natural gas, diesel-electric hybrid, and plug-in hybrid electric) or new diesel trucks. Local commercial fleet operators are encouraged to apply for the rebate incentive funding to assist in their transition to clean trucks and technologies. For more detailed information on the NYC Clean Trucks Program, visit the program website, or read Empire Clean Cities recent article in ACT News.

Funding opportunities such as the NYC Clean Trucks Program offer immense benefit to communities that are burdened with heavy traffic congestion from diesel trucks and suffer from the resulting poor air quality. By prioritizing truck replacement projects in IBZ areas such as Hunts Point and the South Bronx, the NYC Clean Trucks Program ensures that available Volkswagen Settlement funding addresses health and race disparities related to our transportation industry. Cecil Corbin-Mark, Deputy Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, drew a connection between recent weeks of protest and the environmental justice movement in New York City. According to Corbin-Mark, “These events are not only talking about the issues of policing which have to be addressed in our country, but for those of us in the environmental justice movement, we’ve been talking about air quality as it relates to health, climate and our communities. And it is time that we stop avoiding dealing with the heart of these issues, and the systemic racism that has pervaded this country for far too long.”

In addition to public funding sources, Clean Energy Fuels announced its Zero Now program that provides financing for fleet owners to convert to RNG. According to Mark Riley, the Vice President for Canada and the Eastern US, Clean Energy Fuels is offering up to $40,000 towards the purchase of new natural gas trucks. The funding can be combined with the NYC Clean Trucks Program funding for fleets looking to make a large transition and impact. READ MORE