PRESS RELEASE

	NCTCOG NCTCOG Earns 7th SmartWay Affiliate Honor
	EPA has recognized the Council of Governments every year of the challenge

May 3, 2017 (Arlington, Texas) – The North Central Texas Council of Governments has been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for the seventh time as a recipient of the SmartWay Affiliate Challenge, an honor given for its efforts to reduce truck emissions and improve the efficiency of freight movement.

NCTCOG and the American Trucking Associations are the only affiliates recognized each of the seven years of the challenge's existence (2007 and 2012-17). The SmartWay Affiliate Challenge is a national challenge developed by EPA to acknowledge organizations that are contributing to a clean energy economy by reaching out to inform and educate businesses, their communities, truck drivers and other stakeholders about steps they can take to reduce freight emissions and their other environmental impacts.

"EPA commends the SmartWay Affiliate Challenge honorees for their extraordinary level of commitment and enthusiasm in supporting more efficient and sustainable business practices in moving goods," said Christopher Grundler, Director of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality. "These organizations represent diverse industry sectors and stakeholders who are showing that American prosperity and protecting the environment can go hand in hand."

NCTCOG has been a SmartWay member since 2006 and promotes the initiative throughout the area as a tool to help partners involved in the freight industry continue to improve their operational efficiency. Policies that improve air quality are particularly important to Dallas-Fort Worth because 10 of the region's counties are in nonattainment for ozone pollution.

NCTCOG promotes SmartWay through a variety of different initiatives, including:

A dedicated webpage for NCTCOG SmartWay promotional efforts, which aims to educate businesses about the program

The Saving Money and Reducing Truck Emissions (SMARTE) program, committed to providing small trucking fleets and owner-operators with the technical advice, support and funds necessary to operate long-haul freight more efficiently as part of efforts to bring North Texas into attainment with federal ozone standards

The AirCheckTexas Drive a Clean Machine Program, which helps vehicle owners comply with vehicle emissions standards by offering financial incentives to repair or replace vehicles

Clean Fleets North Texas, which provided funding for projects including SmartWayverified
vehicle replacement, re-power, retrofit, or installation of idle reduction technology.

Staff sought to accelerate the adoption and market penetration of SmartWay-verified technologies by promoting financial assistance through which these technologies may be incentivized and providing application assistance to drivers at no cost. In an effort to continuously provide outreach to the public and private sectors, NCTCOG maintains and updates the air quality funding webpage, www.nctcog.org/aqfunding.

In addition to NCTCOG, the following public- and private-sector entities were recognized as winners of the

SmartWay Affiliate Challenge:

 American Trucking Associations
 Environmental Defense Fund
 Colorado Motor Carriers Association
 International Sanitary Supply Association (in collaboration with Sustainability Dashboard Tools LLC)
 Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association
 Penske Truck Leasing Co. LP
 Specialty Graphic Imaging Association
 Wisconsin Clean Cities

NCTCOG is a voluntary association of local governments established in 1966 to assist local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit and coordinating for sound regional development. NCTCOG's purpose is to strengthen both the individual and collective power of local governments and to help them recognize regional opportunities, eliminate unnecessary duplication and make joint decisions.

NCTCOG serves a 16-county region of North Central Texas, which is centered on the two urban centers of Dallas and Fort Worth. Currently, NCTCOG has 238 member governments including 16 counties, 170 cities, 24 school districts and 30 special districts. For more information on the NCTCOG Transportation Department, visit  www.nctcog.org/trans.

For more news from the NCTCOG Transportation Department, visit www.nctcog.org/trans/outreach/media.

The EPA launched SmartWay in collaboration with business stakeholders to strengthen competitiveness and energy efficiency while contributing to cleaner air. Since 2004, over 3,500 companies have relied upon SmartWay data and assistance to lean their supply chains while shrinking their environmental footprints. Collectively, SmartWay partners have saved $27.8 billion in fuel costs, while cutting over 1.7 million tons of NOx, 70 thousand tons of PM2.5 and 84 million metric tons of carbon from our nation's freight transportation networks. For more information on SmartWay, visit www.epa.gov/smartway/

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