Ambulances, fire trucks, tugboats and streetsweepers often run on diesel engines, and the exhaust from diesel can cause health problems like asthma and cancer. But a new $25 million ‘Rails, Keels and Wheels’ grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology will fund new electric vehicles to lower diesel pollution across the state.
The grant funding will help replace diesel-powered fleet vehicles with electric ones, said Pete Siefer, who leads the diesel reduction unit at Ecology.
“All of our grants focus on reducing these emissions through these scrap and replace projects, and we’ve designed our project guidelines to prioritize communities that are highly impacted by air pollution,” Siefer said.
The grant is open to both public and private organizations and will focus on areas that cluster around transportation, he said.
The grant is funded by a past settlement from Volkswagen, settling with the federal government over violating the Clean Air Act with illegal emissions. Washington received $112.7 million from the federal settlement and an additional $28 million in penalties paid to the state for Volkswagen’s violation of the Washington Clean Air Act. That money has been used for several different grant programs, with ‘Rails, Keels and Wheels’ being the latest.
“Each region of the state has seen really unique projects stemming from this program,” said Taylor Van Cise, a communications manager at Ecology, who said he recently visited the Husky Terminal port electrification project at the Port of Tacoma.
Vessels can now plug into the power grid and turn off diesel engines that normally generate power when the ship is docked, according to a press release from the Port of Tacoma.
There’s space for two vessels to be plugged in at once, said Graham Vanderschelden, an environmental project manager with the Northwest Seaport Alliance.
“We have a goal of bringing these capabilities to all five of the major container ship terminals across Seattle and Tacoma,” he said. With the Husky Terminal done, he said they have two of the five completed.
About half the vessels coming into port are capable of plugging into the electric terminals, said Vandershelden, and most of them are on trade routes with Asia.
Funding from the Volkswagen settlement, but also Washington state’s Climate Commitment Act, help make these projects possible because the costs are so high, he said.
One of the biggest projects, funded by $35 million in settlement money, was Wenatchee’s hybrid diesel-electric ferry, said Van Cise.
“We’re incentivizing organizations that are in their upgrade phase or replacement phase to replace with electric,” Siefer said.
Electric school and transit buses have been a popular choice for grantees to purchase, he said. The Pullman School District and the Republic School District each bought an electric school bus and charging infrastructure.
Spokane is another area rife with diesel pollution that Siefer said Ecology is hoping to help with the grants, and they want to focus on areas that cluster around transportation. Spokane Transit Authority and the city of Spokane have both purchased vehicles and charging equipment with the grant program before, Van Cise said.
“We want to invest in these areas and help organizations and businesses clean up their emissions in ways that still support thriving businesses in Washington state,” Siefer said.
Reducing diesel pollution not only reduces air pollutants, which have damaging impacts on human health, but also greenhouse gas emissions, which impact climate change, Van Cise said.
“If it seems like small potatoes with one small company getting an electric ambulance or an electric fire truck, it’s part of a much bigger global goal that is going to provide positive impacts to lives across the world for years to come,” Van Cise said.
Washington leads the nation in green energy, with 25 percent of America’s hydropower coming from the Evergreen state, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Renewable resources make up 80% of Washington’s total energy production when biofuels and thermal energy are included, making it the third “greenest” state after Vermont and South Dakota.
Applications for the grant are open until January.
