Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2010

Floor Speech

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Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of legislation that I introduced, along with Congresswoman RICHARDSON, which would reauthorize the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, DERA, to fund the modernization of diesel engines through retrofits.

Countless studies have shown that diesel emissions are one of the most significant health risks to Americans. More specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, has linked these emissions to premature death, aggravation of symptoms associated with asthma, and numerous other health impacts every year.

To address this problem, in 2005, Congress enacted the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, which established a five-year voluntary national and state-level grant and loan program to reduce diesel emissions, protect public health, and help states meet air quality standards of the Clean Air Act.

Retrofitting diesel engines provides enormous environmental benefits, yet before this program was implemented, there were few direct economic incentives for vehicle and equipment owners to do so. The financial incentives provided by DERA support voluntary rather than regulatory efforts to assist states meet current air quality standards. Reauthorization of this critical program, which cleans up more than 14,000 diesel-powered vehicles and equipment annually, would strengthen our ongoing efforts to reduce pollution, create additional demand for clean diesel technology, and employ thousands of workers who manufacture, sell or repair diesel vehicles and their components.

It is for these reasons that the DERA program, which averages more than $13 in health and economic benefits for every $1 invested according to the EPA, needs to be reauthorized.

I would be remiss if I did not recognize Senators VOINOVICH and CARPER for authoring the DERA reauthorization program in the Senate, and to commend them for their outstanding leadership on this important issue. Their legislation served as the counterpart to the measure we introduced in the House of Representatives.

H.R. 5089, which was unanimously approved by the other chamber, has garnered the support of a broad coalition of more than 530 environmental, public health, industry and labor stakeholders.

In closing, I urge my colleagues to join me in improving America's air quality by upgrading and modernizing older diesel engines by voting in favor of H.R. 5089.

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