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Funds OK’d to replace 10 Coaster engines

REGION — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors members are also the board of the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, and on Nov. 15 the county supervisors voted 5-0 to allocate $12,920,659 of Carl Moyer Program grants including $10 million to the North County Transit District to replace 10 Coaster engines.

The NCTD board is comprised of city council members from each of the eight North County cities it serves plus the Fifth District member of the Board of Supervisors who represents the unincorporated areas served by NCTD.

Because he did not have a personal conflict of interest, Supervisor Bill Horn was allowed to vote for the grant to NCTD but disclosed his status as an NCTD board member while also utilizing the opportunity to note the impact of the grant.

“Our trains are 22 years old, require frequent repair and are huge polluters,” Horn said.

In 1998, the California Air Resources Board implemented the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program, which is named after a former technical advisor to California air quality agencies and provides grants to accelerate the retirement of older diesel engines.

The emission reduction projects include retrofits, engine replacements and complete vehicle replacements. 

Carl Moyer Program grant requests are evaluated for emissions reductions and cost effectiveness and are competitively awarded each year to local businesses and public entities.

The projects providing the greatest emissions reductions for the lowest cost are prioritized for funding.

The grants approved Nov. 15 are expected to remove 148.33 tons of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), 14.93 tons of volatile organic compounds (also known as reactive organic gases) and 8.11 tons of particulate matter annually from San Diego County’s air.

The replacement of the 10 North County Transit District engines is expected to provide an annual reduction of 124.30 tons of NOx, 12.58 tons of reactive organic gases and 6.926 tons of particulate matter.

1 comment

John Eldon December 1, 2017 at 3:15 pm

The original 16 Coaster coaches and control cabs, 22xx and 23xx, are 22 years old, but the original 5 locomotives, 21xx, are much older, since they were already used/reconditioned when NCTD bought them. They are definitely due for replacement.

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