Diesel Emissions Reduction Act passed by the House

The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) just needs President Obama’s signature for the bipartisan legislation to be reauthorized for five more years as the House of Representatives approved DERA by a voice vote.

The Senate had unanimously approved the legislation in December. President Obama is expected to sign the reauthorization into law.

DERA (H.R. 5809) is a five-year reauthorization of the highly-successful program created in 2005 to establish voluntary national and state-level grant and loan programs to reduce diesel emissions by upgrading and modernizing older diesel engines and equipment. The bipartisan legislation was introduced on November 18th by Senators George Voinovich (R-OH) and Tom Carper (D-DE) and cosponsored by several of their colleagues including Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-OK).