The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund Committee (Committee) announced Round 2 of the Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Program’s grant funding which will distribute awards ranging from $50,000 to $2 million. Total available funding for this round is $9.83 million. Public and private entities may submit applications, and the Request for Proposals (RFP) deadline is May 31, 2020.
Grant money will be awarded to clean air projects that significantly reduce diesel emissions across Indiana, such as replacing older, higher emission diesel garbage trucks or old diesel school buses with newer, cleaner natural gas vehicles. Some of the Round 1 projects included replacing diesel-powered transit buses with electric and CNG transit buses and diesel-powered refuse haulers with CNG refuse haulers.
Moreover, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced that up to $7.7 million in grants is being made available to encourage entities that operate large fleets of vehicles in Texas to replace diesel-powered vehicles with alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles. The eligible alternative fuels under the Clean Fleet Program include CNG, LNG and hydrogen. Applications will be accepted until June 30, 2020.
The TCEQ Texas Clean Fleet Program grants are part of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan and are available to owners of fleets of 75 or more vehicles operating in Texas. Grant applicants must commit to replace at least 10 diesel-powered vehicles with hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles. Projects eligible for funding under this program must include vehicles that will be operating within the Texas Clean Transportation Zone and that will result in a reduction of NOx emissions of at least 25%.
In-person workshops initially planned for the month of April have been canceled. TCEQ will be hosting informational webinars explaining the grant requirements and the application process.
Source: IDEM/TCEQ
