News Release 581

DEPARTMENT RECEIVES $55,000 TO FUND
DIESEL EMISSION REDUCTION CAMPAIGN IN ST. LOUIS

Volume 35-581

Contact: Renee Bungart

(For immediate release)

573-751-4465

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, DEC. 20, 2007 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has received a $55,000 grant to reduce diesel emissions through a diesel equipment retrofitting pilot project in St. Louis.  The Central States Air Resources Agency and Blue Skyways Collaborative awarded the grant.

The department will partner with the Grace Hill Clean Air Program in St. Louis and use a portion of the grant to retrofit five trucks, in five different trucking fleets in the St. Louis area. The trucks will be equipped with SmartWay packages that consist of diesel oxidation catalysts and diesel particulate filters that have been developed to reduce diesel emissions. Idle-free zones will also be established by participating companies.

Studies have shown that SmartWay packages pay for themselves in terms of fuel savings, over and above the diesel emissions reductions that they are designed to achieve. Fuel cost savings of up to 40 percent are estimated, and an equivalent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is expected.

"This grant money will provide a positive step toward reducing harmful air emission that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone in the St. Louis area," said Leanne Tippett Mosby, deputy director for the department's Division of Environmental Quality. "It is our hope these companies will discover how this equipment can increase their fuel savings by retrofitting their entire fleet, which has the added benefit of protecting our air resources."

The project is a collaboration between the Department of Natural Resources, Grace Hill Clean Air Program, Blue Skyways Collaborative, St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium, newly recruited Blue Skyways/SmartWay trucking companies, industries, partners and independent truckers.

The Blue Skyways Collaborative was created to encourage voluntary air emissions reduction in North America's heartland. Through partnership with non-profit and environmental groups, private industries and international, federal, state and local governments, Blue Skyways strives to improve air quality. Working together allows members to share technology and professional expertise.

For more information about the SmartWay Transport Partnership, see http://www.epa.gov/smartway/.  For more information on the grant and pilot project, contact the Department of Natural Resources' Air Pollution Control Program at
573-751-4817 or 800-361-4827.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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