Diesel Emissions Reduction Act Grants

(DERA)

Environmental Protection Agency

Proposed Cut

$90M

% Reduction

100.0%

Action Type

elimination

Who Is Served

Diesel fleet operators; 73,700 engines upgraded; $8B in health benefits; 850 premature deaths prevented

Summary

The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program gives EPA grants to help fleet owners—like school districts, ports, and trucking companies—replace or retrofit old, dirty diesel engines with cleaner technology. The FY2027 budget proposes eliminating DERA entirely, cutting its full $90 million in funding, a 100% reduction, because the administration says it prefers market-based approaches to reducing emissions.

Who Is Affected

DERA has funded upgrades to roughly 73,700 older diesel engines used by school bus fleets, port and rail-yard operators, trucking companies, and construction and marine fleets, with priority historically given to communities near ports, rail yards, and distribution centers that get more than their share of diesel pollution. State and local governments and fleet operators who apply for these competitive grants would lose access to this funding source entirely, and EPA has noted that in past years requests for DERA funding exceeded available money by as much as 35 to 1 for rebates and 7 to 1 for the national grant competition, meaning many communities already couldn't get funded even before this cut.

What this cut would actually mean

Without DERA, fewer old diesel engines will be replaced or retrofitted with cleaner technology, so trucks, buses, locomotives, and construction equipment in service longer will keep emitting soot and smog-forming pollutants tied to asthma attacks, heart and lung disease, and early death, especially in neighborhoods near ports and freight corridors. EPA's own program data attributes about $8 billion in health benefits and roughly 850 avoided premature deaths to past DERA investments, so eliminating the program removes a funding source that has directly reduced these health harms, particularly for children and families living closest to diesel traffic.

Sources

Diesel Emissions Reduction Act Funding | US EPA — EPA's official DERA program page describing how the grants and rebates fund upgrades of older diesel engines to cleaner or zero-emission technology.
The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) Program | Congress.gov CRS Report — Congressional Research Service brief noting that DERA funding requests have historically exceeded available funding by up to 35:1 for rebates and 7:1 for national grants.
Trump's EPA Budget Plan Dismantles Health & Community Protections While Bankrolling Polluters - CEED — Policy analysis describing the FY2027 proposal to eliminate DERA grants, which support pollution reduction for communities near ports, rail yards, and distribution centers.
FY 2027 EPA Budget in Brief — EPA's official FY2027 budget justification document listing DERA among programs proposed for elimination as part of an overall 52% cut to the EPA budget.