HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett has awarded $7.3 million in Act 13 funding to 18 companies, organizations and partnerships making the switch to natural gas for their heavy-duty fleet vehicles.
“Act 13 not only strengthened oversight of the drilling industry, it allows us to continue growing jobs while cleaning the air at the same time,” Corbett said. “Natural gas, particularly from the shale formations here in Pennsylvania, is an abundant, affordable, domestic fuel that is putting this country on a path to energy independence.”
Act 13 of 2012 was the single largest step in modernizing the state’s Oil and Gas Law in nearly three decades. It increased protections for private water supplies, empowered the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue larger fines and included one of the most progressive hydraulic fracturing fluid disclosure laws in the nation.
The Act also authorized DEP to develop and implement the Natural Gas Energy Development program, funded by impact fees paid by natural gas operators. The program distributed up to $20 million in grants over three years, to help pay for the incremental purchase and conversion costs of heavy-duty natural gas fleet vehicles.
For this third round of the program, DEP received applications from 37 applicants requesting more than $10 million in grants. The first two rounds awarded a total $14.4 million to 43 companies and organizations making the switch to natural gas.
Eligible vehicles for all three rounds of the Natural Gas Energy Development program included those fueled with compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) or bi-fuel vehicles weighing 14,000 pounds or more.
Grant requests could not exceed 50 percent of the incremental purchase or retrofit cost per vehicle or a maximum total of $25,000 per vehicle.
To learn more about Act 13 grant programs, visit www.dep.state.pa.us and click on the “Natural Gas Vehicle Grant Program” button on the homepage.
Media contact:
Jay Pagni, Governor’s Office; 717-783-1116
Lynda Rebarchak, DEP; 484-250-5820
Editor’s note: The 18 companies, organizations and partnerships that were awarded grants are listed below, alphabetically by county, with a brief project description and funding amount.
Allegheny
Giant Eagle, purchase 16 CNG vehicles – $400,000
Penske Truck Leasing, purchase 20 CNG trucks – $500,000
Beaver
Beemac Trucking, purchase 15 CNG trucks – $375,000
Bucks
Constructural Dynamics, towards the purchase of 20 CNG concrete mixer trucks – $500,000
Cumberland
NFI Interactive Logistics, purchase 15 CNG trucks- $375,000
New Era Logistics, towards the purchase of 10 LNG trucks – $250,000
Dauphin
Ryder Truck Rental with partner Modern Transportation, purchase 10 CNG trucks – $250,000
Lackawanna
Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities with partners Road Scholar Trucking, DeNaples Auto Parts, and DeNaples Sanitation, convert 19 vehicles to CNG – $475,000
Northampton
Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities with partner W.W. Transport, purchase and convert 30 trucks to CNG – $500,000
Northumberland
Sheehy Mail Contractors, purchase 20 CNG trucks – $500,000
Potter
REV Hoopes Trucking, purchase 20 LNG trucks – $500,000
REV LNG, purchase 16 LNG trucks – $400,000
Schuylkill
Penske Truck Leasing, purchase 20 CNG trucks – $500,000
Westmoreland
Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities with partner United Parcel Service, purchase 20 CNG trucks – $500,000
Multiple locations
Penske Truck Leasing, purchase 20 CNG trucks for deployment in Dauphin and York counties – $500,000
CR England, towards the purchase of 10 LNG trucks that will travel through Lancaster, Chester, Delaware, Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery counties – $239,197
Waste Management of Pennsylvania, purchase 25 CNG refuse vehicles to be used in Pen Argyl, Northampton County, as well as Erie and Washington counties – $500,000
Northeast Associates, convert five trucks to CNG, traveling through Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Fayette, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties – $125,000
