January 2016
Midway City Sanitary District (MCSD) celebrated the opening of its new compressed natural gas (CNG) station this summer. Thanks, in part, to receiving $250,000 in Clean Transportation Funding from the MSRC for the new station and maintenance facility modifications, MCSD was able to offset the construction cost of about $3 million for the new 15 time-fill dispensers and two fast-fill dispensers without putting a financial strain on its resources. The MCSD Board of Directors, elected officials and their representatives, District staff and community members were all on-hand for the grand opening and station tour in August.
The next six months will prove to be a busy time for the development of California’s Sustainable Freight Action Plan. In July, Governor Brown’s Executive Order B-32-15 directed state agencies to develop an integrated action plan by July 2016 that establishes clear targets to improve freight efficiency, transition to zero emission technologies, and increase the competitiveness of California’s freight system. The process to develop the plan is in midstream, and agencies are seeking stakeholder input to formulate actions and projects that will carry out the goals outlined in the Governor’s Executive Order.
Thanks to an innovative public-private sector partnership, Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI) has successfully developed the first mid-range engine in North America to gain a new “near-zero” emissions certification from both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). That means the new ISL G natural gas engine meets the 0.02 grams/brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr) optional near-zero NOx emissions standards for medium-duty trucks, urban buses, school buses and refuse trucks
