The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is accepting applications for the Seaport and Rail Yard Areas Emissions Reduction Program, with $24 million in funding available to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions at seaports and rail yards located in the state’s air quality non-attainment areas, the agency announced in an Aug. 5 news release.
The program, known as SPRY, operates under the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, which provides financial incentives to upgrade or replace older, higher-emitting vehicles and equipment with newer, cleaner models. Nitrogen oxides are a precursor to ozone pollution, the agency noted, making the reductions a key part of efforts to improve air quality in regions that fall short of federal standards.
Applicants may be eligible to receive up to 80% of the cost to replace or repower eligible drayage trucks and cargo handling equipment, according to the release. Funding will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Eligibility extends to individuals, corporations, organizations, governments and governmental subdivisions, business trusts, partnerships, associations, and other legal entities authorized to conduct business in Texas.
Eligible projects include the replacement or repower of heavy-duty on-road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating over 26,000 pounds, non-road terminal tractors known as yard trucks, and other cargo handling equipment. The commission said the equipment being replaced or repowered must have been owned, or leased for replacement projects, and operated by the applicant in one or more of the eligible seaports or rail yards for at least 200 days per year over the preceding two years.
Applications must be submitted online through TCEQ’s TERP SUNSS system and will be accepted until 5 p.m. Central Time on March 12, 2027, or until all available funding has been awarded. Detailed eligibility requirements and program guidelines are available on the program’s webpage, and the agency said applicants can reach the TERP team by phone or email or at terpgrants.org.