NDEE to provide rebates for replacing diesel vehicles and irrigation engines
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy Director Jim Macy announced on Feb. 23, 2022, that the 2021 Nebraska Clean Diesel Program is awarding approximately $1.3 million in rebates to schools, refuse companies and farmers across the state to aid in the replacement of older diesel vehicles and engines.
Rebates were awarded in three project categories:· 30 farmers will replace diesel irrigation engines with electric motors.
· 12 school districts and one school bus contractor will replace older diesel school buses with cleaner diesel, propane or gasoline buses.
· Three refuse companies will replace five older diesel trucks with cleaner diesel or compressed natural gas trucks.
The diesel vehicles and engines being replaced must be scrapped in order to eliminate their harmful pollutant emissions. Nitrogen oxides emitted by diesel engines can have direct adverse effects on respiratory health as well as contributing to the formation of harmful ground-level ozone. The projects in this year’s program are expected to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by over 19 tons annually.
“The Clean Diesel Program funds allow the department to provide financial assistance to reduce harmful diesel emissions across the state,” Macy said. “We received more applications than we had available funds, so we balanced the funding across all three project categories while prioritizing projects that would achieve the greatest emissions reductions.”
Nebraska’s Clean Diesel Program is funded by an annual grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, supplemented by funds from Nebraska’s share of the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Mitigation Trust for State Beneficiaries, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia (VW State Trust). Applications for this year’s program were accepted from October 1, 2021, through January 13, 2022. NDEE’s web page for the Clean Diesel Program is at http://dee.ne.gov/NDEQProg.nsf/OnWeb/NCDGP.
Below are lists of 2021 Clean Diesel Rebates in each of the three categories.
2021 School Bus Rebate Recipients
| Recipient | New Bus Fuel | Rebate |
| Arlington Public School | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Bloomfield Community School | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Broken Bow Public Schools | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Doc Holiday Express (Grand Island) | Propane | $33,000 |
| Elmwood-Murdock Public Schools | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Falls City Public Schools District 56 | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Maywood Public Schools | Propane | $33,000 |
| Palmyra Schools District OR-1 | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Pleasanton Public Schools | Propane | $33,000 |
| South Central USD #5 (Fairfield) | Gasoline | $16,569 |
| Wakefield Community Schools | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Wausa Public Schools | Propane | $33,000 |
| Waverly Public Schools #145 | Diesel | $21,000 |
| Total |
| $337,559 |
|
2021 Refuse Truck Rebate Recipients
| Recipient | County | Replacement | Rebate |
| Abe’s Trash Service | Washington | 2 Diesel Trucks | $138,600 |
| Gretna Sanitation | Sarpy, Douglas | 1 CNG Truck | $120,000 |
| Papillion Sanitation (Waste Connections of NE) | Sarpy | 2 Diesel Trucks | $140,000 |
| Total |
|
| $398,600 |
|
2021 Irrigation Engine Electric Replacement Rebate Recipients
| Recipient | County | Rebate |
| CKS Farms Inc. | Hall | $12,908 |
| Clark, Rod | Wheeler | $20,000 |
| CLM Enterprises - Paul Troyer | Holt | $20,000 |
| Fanning, Craig | Chase | $20,000 |
| Goertz Family Farms LLC | Keith | $20,000 |
| Goertzen, Danny | Perkins | $20,000 |
| Goertzen, Wendel | Perkins | $20,000 |
| Kallhoff, Alice Rev. Trust | Antelope | $20,000 |
| Kerkman Sandhills Farms | Holt | $20,000 |
| Krieger, Lowell | Holt | $19,997 |
| Laird, Barbara E. | Wheeler | $20,000 |
| Larson, Tamara | Wheeler | $20,000 |
| LDP Inc. | Perkins | $20,000 |
| MTC Properties | Lincoln | $20,000 |
| Nelson Agri Corp | Keith | $20,000 |
| O & W Dairy Farm | Antelope | $20,000 |
| OBrien, Dale | Hayes | $20,000 |
| Oeltjen, Charles | Greeley | $19,238 |
| Olson, L.R. and Sons Inc | Jefferson | $20,000 |
| Olson, Ron | Jefferson | $19,995 |
| Peaster, Bruce L | Perkins | $20,000 |
| Plejdrup, Harold | Hall | $20,000 |
| Reiman, James B. Farms Inc. | Boyd | $20,000 |
| Riley, James | Buffalo | $20,000 |
| Schrader, David | Antelope | $16,317 |
| Sehi Farms Inc. | Antelope | $18,969 |
| Williby, Neil | Antelope | $14,840 |
| Z Brothers LLC | Antelope | $9,248 |
| Zuhlke, Derek | Antelope | $13,943 |
| Zuhlke, Dillan | Antelope | $13,754 |
| Total |
| $559,209 |
|
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