MoDOT uses DNR grant to cut fleet's diesel emissions

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is using a $726,227 grant to help the Missouri Department of Transportation upgrade its Springfield fleet to reduce diesel emissions.

Springfield, Kansas City and St. Louis will see MoDOT fleet upgrades during the next two years, according to a MoDOT news release. The upgrades are expected to cut diesel emissions by about 288 tons per year.

DNR will administer the grant, issued through the Diesel Emission Reduction Act last September, by reimbursing MoDOT for some of the costs.

MoDOT will install emission control devices or idle reduction technology in dozens of fleet equipment, upgrade engines in 17 dump trucks and replace five dump trucks with models that meet Environmental Protection Agency standards. In total, the DNR grant grant will impact 135 pieces of diesel equipment, the release said.

"Installing emission control and idle reducing devices in our equipment will improve the quality of life, and it is a step in the right direction toward reducing the amount of fuel our fleet consumes," MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said in the release. "We will put the savings we generate right back into our roads and bridges."[[In-content Ad]]