The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has opened up funding of $4 million for new emission-reduction proposals through its Technology Advancement Program.
The Air District is offering $4 million to fund eight to 12 projects focusing on renewable energy, waste solutions or mobile sources.
"We've had a very encouraging response to the previous two funding cycles so we know there's a sizeable pool of interested applicants for this important incentive," said Seyed Sadredin, the District's executive director and air pollution control officer.
To date, the program has funded 11 active demonstration projects, including solar thermal agricultural water pumping, advanced hybrid vehicle technology, advanced composting processes and clean dairy biogas systems.
"There's a lot of talent in the Valley and in order to reach our clean-air goals, we need to identify and support it," Sadredin said.
The current cycle is funded by the District with contributions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Clean Air Technology Initiative.
"This clean air funding will help speed the development of low-emission technologies, creating jobs in the San Joaquin Valley," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.
Proposals will be accepted until 5 p.m. Oct. 18 and competitively scored based on objective criteria.
The District will also hold a free RFP workshop to answer questions about proposal requirements at 10 a.m. Sept. 25 at the Fresno office (video teleconferenced to the Modesto and Bakersfield offices, as well as to EPA offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles).
Interested parties can find out more about TAP and the RFP process at www.valleyair.org/TAP or by calling the grants department at 559-230-6000.