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August 18, 2009 (Arlington, Texas) – Public and private entities looking to clean up their heavy-duty machinery may find help from an effort involving the NCTCOG Transportation Department, Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

A total of $10.7 million in state and federal grants is now available to aid organizations with clean-vehicle and equipment projects.

Grant funding is available for the following categories of projects:

1. Construction equipment: Open to public and private entities; funding is available for the replacement, repower and retrofit of construction equipment.
2. Idle-reduction technology: Open to public and private fleets; funding is available to individual commercial truck owners and companies that wish to install and/or maintain on-board or on-site idle-reduction systems.
3. Local government projects: Open only to public entities in the North Central Texas region; a minimum of $5 million is available for the replacement, repower, and retrofit of on-road vehicles and non-road and stationary equipment, and locomotive projects as well as on-board and on-site idle reduction.

To be eligible for funding for construction and local government projects, 75 percent of usage must be within the counties designated as part of the Dallas-Fort Worth ozone nonattainment area, as classified by the EPA. This includes Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall and Tarrant counties. To be eligible for idle reduction funding, vehicles must idle a minimum of 25 percent of the time within the nine-county nonattainment area and 75 percent of the time within the 10-state EPA Blue Skyways Collaborative corridor. This includes Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico and areas along the Canadian and Mexican borders. Project proposals will be scored and selected in one-week intervals, with applications due each Friday by 5 p.m. This process will continue through March 2010 or until all grant program funds are fully awarded.

Visit www.nctcog.org/aqfunding for grant applications and details about eligible projects and applicants, maximum funding thresholds and scoring criteria.
                                               
About the North Central Texas Council of Governments:
NCTCOG is a voluntary association of local governments established in 1966 to assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit and coordinating for sound regional development. NCTCOG's purpose is to strengthen both the individual and collective power of local governments and to help them recognize regional opportunities, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and make joint decisions. NCTCOG serves a 16-county region of North Central Texas, which includes and surrounds the two urban centers of Dallas and Fort Worth. Currently, NCTCOG has 233 member governments including 16 counties, 165 cities, 23 school districts and 29 special districts.