The Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $996,713 in grants to help 134 small businesses across Pennsylvania invest in energy-efficiency or pollution-prevention projects.

Pennsylvania’s Small Business Advantage Grant program, funded through the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, helps businesses with 100 or fewer employees. It provides 50-percent matching reimbursement grants of up to $9,500 to implement projects that will save 25 percent annually in pollution-prevention or energy-related costs. Examples of eligible projects include high-efficiency HVAC and insulation upgrades, high-efficiency lighting to save energy, installation of energy-efficient heat pumps and new auxiliary power units that help large trucks reduce time spent with idling engines.

Since 2004, the program has awarded in excess of $8.5 million in more than 1,776 small businesses statewide.