Annual Carl Moyer Program to Launch in October

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2016
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Contact:
Lyz Hoffman, Public Information Officer, (805) 961-8819

Annual Carl Moyer Program to Launch in October

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District announced today that it will soon begin accepting applications for its Year 18 Carl Moyer Program, which provides grant funding to help reduce emissions from diesel engines and off-road equipment.

This year’s application period for the Carl Moyer Program will run October 4-November 4, 2016. A total of $472,000 will be awarded based on cost-effectiveness and public health benefits, and funding will be limited to one grant per company.

Under the program, the District seeks proposals from private and public entities in Santa Barbara County for projects that reduce air pollution from diesel engines; typical projects involve marine diesel engine repowers and off-road equipment replacements. The District receives the grant funds for the program through the California Air Resources Board. Grants are available for sources that aren’t already required by regulation to clean up their engines.

Carl Moyer, who passed away in 1997, advised California regulatory agencies and helped shape the state’s leadership in air quality. His namesake program started in 1998 and has created tremendous benefits for our air in California. Between its inception and 2014, the program has provided $980 million to clean up 46,000 engines statewide, reducing 174,000 tons of smog-forming emissions and 6,400 tons of particulate matter. In Santa Barbara County, the program has contributed $7.7 million — awarded through the District — for 138 projects that have cut 1,300 tons of smog-form pollution and particulate matter.

In recent years, through the Carl Moyer Program, the District has helped replace — among many other projects — two 1953 diesel engines with modern models in a boat used to harvest kelp for the Cultured Abalone Farm, a decades-old Santa Barbara County business; an old diesel engine with a much cleaner engine in the popular Lil’ Toot water taxi, which operates in the Santa Barbara Harbor; and an old agricultural tractor used by Main Street Produce in Santa Maria.

“I often hear that the operational- and fuel efficiency is much better with the newer and cleaner engines,” said Jim Fredrickson, the program’s administrator at the District, who checks in with grant recipients regularly. “This grant program can help local businesses take that next step to being cleaner and can also improve their bottom line.”

Find details on the Year 18 Carl Moyer Program