SCDES announces recipients of DERA grant funding to support clean air projects

The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) has announced the winners of this year’s grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that supports South Carolina’s State Diesel Emissions Reductions Act (DERA) program. DERA grants are used to fund projects that help reduce diesel emissions and provide cleaner air.

The following are recipients of the FY 2023 state DERA program:

• South Carolina Department of Education: awarded $140,000 to replace four diesel school buses with four new propane-run school buses. New buses will operate in the Fort Mill School District.
• City of West Columbia: awarded $71,900 to replace a 2004 diesel garbage collection truck with a 2024 garbage collection truck with an EPA-certified engine.
• Palmetto Propane, Fuels, and Ice: awarded $93,000 to replace two diesel trucks with two 2024 trucks primarily fueled on propane. These trucks will primarily operate in Lexington County.
• Providence Enviornmental Concepts and Services, LLC: awarded $37,500 to replace a 2002 grease haul truck with a new 2024 haul collection truck. This truck will operate throughout South Carolina.
• Waste Management of Carolinas, Inc.: awarded to replace two diesel trucks with two new trucks fueled on compressed natural gas. These trucks will primarily operate in the Elgin and Wellford areas of Kershaw and Spartanburg counties.

“We always look forward to partnering with individuals and companies throughout South Carolina on the state DERA grants, as their projects benefit the communities where they’re located,” said Rhonda Thompson, Chief of SCDES’s Bureau of Air Quality. “DERA-funded projects can help improve air quality by reducing the emissions from aging diesel engines and equipment while at the same time supporting local businesses and entities in their environmental efforts.”

Diesel engines produce numerous pollutants that are harmful to human and environmental health. Performing upgrades to older-style diesel engines – such as engine repowers, equipment and exhaust retrofits, or equipment replacements – can help greatly reduce the amount of pollutants released into the air.

DERA grants make funding for these types of upgrades available for county, city, or other local government entities, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and colleges or universities. SCDES is able to fund between 25-100% of project costs an eligible applicant proposes, depending on the type of project.

SCDES expects to receive another DERA allocation from the EPA in fall 2024, at which time another Request for Proposals will be announced. Learn more about DERA grant opportunities and previous projects funded by these grants in South Carolina on SCDES’s DERA webpage.