Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, D-Conn., has announced that Connecticut is making available $7.5 million from the national legal settlement in the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal to fund clean air projects.
Eligible projects must reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions across the state and meet other program requirements. The program is being administered through Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).
The funds will – on a reimbursement basis – finance projects that replace, repower or retrofit an array of aging diesel mobile sources and/or non-road equipment. Both non-government and government entities are eligible to apply for funding to implement the following projects:
- Replacement or Repower of On-Road Heavy-Duty Vehicles (Class 8 local freight trucks and port drayage trucks; Class 4-8 school, shuttle or transit buses; and Class 4-7 local freight trucks)
- Replacement or Repower of Non-Road Equipment (airport ground-support equipment, forklifts and port cargo-handling equipment)
- Repower or Engine Upgrades for Commercial Marine Vessels (ferries and tugs)
- Shorepower for Ocean-Going Vessels
- Replacement or Repower of Locomotives (freight switchers)
“Climate change is real and cannot be ignored, and efforts to fight it also make Connecticut residents safer. That’s why it’s so vitally important that we set high standards for reduced emissions,” Malloy says. “While it will be impossible to offset the entirety of pollution that resulted from VW’s emissions cheating, the release of these funds will help to improve air quality and protect public health in Connecticut.”
“The transportation sector is responsible for approximately 70 percent of smog-forming air pollution and 40 percent of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions in Connecticut,” notes DEEP’s commissioner, Rob Klee. “The VW funding will help us reduce more NOx and GHG emissions from mobile sources in Connecticut and move us closer toward meeting health-based air quality standards and long-term GHG-reduction targets while, at the same time, creating economic development opportunities in the state.”
Project proposals are due to the DEEP by 5:00 p.m. on July 31. The DEEP has also scheduled a June 14 webinar to review the application forms and related instructions for potential applicants.
More information is available here.
