Industry Beat
Industry Beat October 2009 Construction Equipment Distribution www.cedmag.com 17 Dealers Join Forces with AGC Chapters to Secure Emissions Reduction Grant Persistence paid off, and it's a win-win for dealerships and their customers. Kentucky and Western-Pennsyl-vania-based chapters belonging to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) will invest nearly $3.7 million this year to cut diesel emissions. The groups were awarded almost $3 million in new federal grants under the EPA's National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. The Associated General Contrac-tors of Kentucky will use $2 million in federal funds, as well as an additional $466,000 in matching and in-kind contributions. Monies will be used to help AGC members in Kentucky retrofit and repower 87 off-road diesel machines with exhaust control tech-nologies designed to reduce particu-late emissions as well as promote adoption of anti-idling practices at 100 construction sites statewide. The result will be an estimated combined reduction of 72.55 tons per year of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. Similarly, the Constructors Associa-tion of Western Pennsylvania will use $925,000 in federal funds, as well as an additional $260,833 in local contribu-tions, to help construction contractor members in western Pennsylvania retrofit more than 20 pieces of off-road diesel equipment with cleaner engines and exhaust control technologies. According to John Brazel, assis-tant executive director for AGC of Kentucky, their dealer members played a key role in developing the grant proposal, along with the national AGC association, and key manufacturers. I would not have been able to go through all the fleet lists without the dealers' valuable help in selecting the best EPA-approved technology and determining the cost per ton of emissions, said Brazel. Whayne Supply, Holt Equipment and Leslie Equipment all assisted the AGC Chapter by locating approved retrofit solutions, calculating the emissions reductions data and then submit-ting costs for the retrofit work. Scott Daubenmire, corporate service manager for Leslie Equipment, a John Deere dealer with locations in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, pursued nonprofit contractor organi-zations aggressively in Ohio and West Virginia before he was able to connect with AGC of Kentucky. We struggled to find a partner, said Daubenmire. Organizations simply did not have the manpower or resources to undertake the complicated grant process in the short 38-day timeframe. Daubenmire estimates he spent 200-250 hours researching solutions and calculating the emissions savings. We had the view that `the money is going to be awarded, we might as well get it for our customers,' said Daubenmire. Persistence on behalf of all the dealers, manufacturers, AGC of Kentucky and the national AGC organization paid off. Out of 98 proposals submitted in the EPA Region, AGC of Kentucky was just one of nine to be awarded a grant. For Leslie Equipment, the grant should translate to 48 retrofits and $745,000 in revenue. For two of the dealer's largest customers, C. J. Hughes and ST Pipeline, it means substantial savings on work that they would most likely be funding themselves in 2010. Daubenmire says he learned a lot in the process of working on the grant proposal, but above all, he advises: Don't give up. At an Aug. 13 press event hosted by the Contractors Association of Western Pennsyl-vania (CAWP), U.S. EPA awarded Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato $3.49 million in funding to reduce diesel emissions in the region. CAWP will receive $925,000 of this federal grant to support its diesel retrofit project.