AGC Calls on Congress to Restore Funding to Diesel Retrofit Program

AGC this week signed a letter with more than 400 organizations to call on Congress to restore funding for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA).  The letter specifically requests Congress to fund the DERA program at a level of at least $50 million in fiscal year 2012. Enacted in 2005, DERA is a voluntary national and state-level grant and loan program to reduce diesel emissions.  Congress reauthorized the program for another five years in late 2010. Seventeen AGC Chapters have applied for DERA grants on behalf of their members to help them retrofit their construction equipment, with roughly $9 million in grants having been awarded to five chapters. President Obama’s budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2012 recommends terminating the DERA program.  AGC is working with a broad coalition of industry and environmental groups to ensure that Congressional and Administration support for the DERA program is renewed and that federal funding is continued. For more information, contact Karen Lapsevic at 202-547-4733 or lapsevick@agc.org.