Seaport Truck Scrappage and Retrofits for Air in Puget Sound (ScRAPS)

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has recently launched its Seaport Truck Scrappage and Retrofits for Air in Puget Sound (ScRAPS) Program.   This program will help replace the oldest, dirtiest heavy-duty diesel trucks that haul containers to and from our major regional ports.   With approximately $5 million in funds available, up to 400 of the oldest trucks could be scrapped by the end of 2011, and the replacement trucks could have pollution-reducing retrofit devices installed.

ScRAPped: 114 Goal: 400

Under this program, late-model used trucks will be offered for sale through local truck retailers and through our non-profit program partner, Cascade Sierra Solutions, as replacement trucks for owners that elect to scrap their qualifying old heavy-duty truck.   The replacement trucks will not only emit up to 90% less fine particle pollution than the old trucks being scrapped, they will also provide improved fuel economy and reduced maintenance costs to their new owners.

Owners can further reduce the emissions from their new trucks by participating in the retrofit component of the ScRAPS program - eligible trucks receive a pollution-reducing exhaust retrofit that reduces their emissions another 60%.

Truck owners that operate older trucks have a good reason to participate in this program - the Port of Seattle’s terminal operators are prohibiting access to their terminals by pre-1994 engine-year drayage trucks after December 31, 2010, and the Port of Tacoma has agreed to similar measures.   By 2017, the Ports will require 100% of these drayage trucks to have particulate matter emissions equivalent to a 2007 or newer engine model year.  Truckers ready to replace their truck with one that can continue to operate at the Ports after 2017 can purchase a retrofitted late-model truck now through the ScRAPS program.

This program is made possible through a combination of funding from the Port of Seattle, the State Department of Ecology, the Congestion Mitigation for Air Quality (CMAQ) program of the federal Department of Transportation, and the Agency. Funding is available now for trucks that operate primarily at the Port of Seattle. Trucks that operate mainly at the Port of Tacoma will be eligible for CMAQ funding, which is anticipated to become available in June 2010. Financial incentives to participate in the ScRAPS program include $5000 for scrapping an old truck currently used in drayage service at the ports, low-interest financing for the purchase of a late-model replacement truck, and retrofitting of the replacement truck at no cost to the owner.