Sonoma County’s hybrid fleet honored by EPA

SONOMA COUNTY – Sonoma County Fleet Operations division, which manages the local government’s vehicles, is being honored this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for work on clean-air and climate-protection initiatives.

The division won in the agency’s 2015 Transportation Efficiency Innovations category for its Fleet Hybrid Electric and All-Electric Vehicle program. It is said to have reduced fleet-related greenhouse-gas emissions by more than 1,815 tons while overall vehicle miles traveled increased by 10 million miles over the past decade. The county currently has 291 hybrid vehicles, comprising more than 35 percent of the fleet.

“Sonoma County can breathe easier with cleaner air and better protected health thanks to its hybrid fleet vehicle program,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Pacific Southwest administrator. “The county’s investment in hybrid electric and all-electric vehicle technology has resulted in one of the largest hybrid government fleets in the country.”

The county started testing a prototype all-electric van in a fleet environment in 1990. In 2006, the county adopted a climate protection action plan that established a target to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from its on-road fleet by 20 percent as of 2010. The target was more aggressive than California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, with a compliance date 10 years sooner than the state’s.

The EPA’s 2015 Clean Air Excellence Awards recognize innovative state, local, tribal and private-sector programs that protect health and the environment, educate and serve their communities, and boost the economy. Six other projects across the country were also honored at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on April 21.