NEWS
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NEW FLEET VEHICLES BURN CLEAN FUEL, REDUCE EMISSIONS
Sunnyvale, CA – The City of Sunnyvale and Specialty Solid Waste & Recycling Company, a contractor with the City, announce the arrival of a fleet of 24 new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles for refuse collection, and a new publicly-available natural gas fueling station. The CNG fuel is considered one of the cleanest burning, and will help lower emissions in the City which contribute to air pollution.
“This is a very significant project in helping us to improve our air quality by replacing diesel trucks with clean air fuels, such as natural gas,” said Mayor Fred Fowler. “Conversion of these vehicles is consistent with our shift to alternative fuels in the City’s own fleet vehicles in recent years.”
Since January, 2000, City staff and Specialty have worked to implement a program of converting recycling and refuse truck fleets to alternative fuels, specifically natural gas. Tighter air emission standards for diesel engines are also being considered by the State, based on concern over diesel exhaust particulates.
“I am especially pleased that the residents of our city will be spared from further exposure to toxic diesel particulate emissions,” said Vice Mayor Julia Miller, who is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District), and helped spearhead the project. “The impact from using 20 new CNG trucks instead of 20 new diesel trucks equals emission reductions of 36 tons per year of smog-forming and particulate pollution over the life of the project,” Miller added.
The Air District provided grant funding of $1.2 million from its Transportation Fund for Clean Air to offset the cost of the new trucks, and an additional $200,000 to partially fund the new CNG fueling station at Specialty’s site in Santa Clara.
“The fueling station will refuel the refuse and recycling fleet and is also being made available to the public,” said Jerry Nabhan, Operations Officer at Specialty Solid Waste & Recycling, a division of Bay Counties Waste Services, which collects garbage, yard trimmings, and recyclable materials under a long-term contact with the City. “Some vehicles from the San Jose International Airport, local school buses that run on natural gas, as well as privately-owned natural gas vehicles will use the new station.”
The Air District’s Transportation Fund for Clean Air is funded by the $4 sur charge on vehicle registration fees to award grants for project that reduce emissions from motor vehicles. Grants are made available to government agencies that purchase vehicles for their own use, and for private vehicles that are used for “public purposes,” a category that includes solid waste and recycling collection contracted through a city.
“We are very pleased to help Sunnyvale and Specialty Solid Waste & Recycling take this step forward. The Sunnyvale project complements efforts currently underway in other Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, Oakland, Napa, Richmond, and Santa Rosa, to help reduce air emissions throughout the region,” stated William C. Norton, Executive Officer of the Air District.
Specialty plans to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony with City and other elected officials, representatives of the Air District, Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the American Lung Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and many others, on July 24 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at Specialty’s facilities in Santa Clara. Please call Rebecca Buldo, Operations Manager, at (408) 566-1802 for further information.