The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is making available a new complement of grant funding that will support fleets' purchases of alternative-fuel vehicles.
This latest round of Texas Clean Fleet Program grants, which are a part of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, totals $7.7 million. The grants are available to government, school, corporate and other fleets that own or lease 75 or more on-road vehicles that are currently registered in Texas.
Eligible alternative fuel vehicles are limited to those that run on:
- compressed natural gas (CNG),
- liquefied natural gas (LNG),
- propane autogas,
- electricity,
- hydrogen or
- M85 (85% blend of methanol)
TCEQ notes that the grant funds are available only to fleets that intend to replace at least 20 on-road diesel vehicles, and the switch to alt-fuel vehicles must result in NOX emissions reductions of at least 25%. Grants awards could be as high as 80% of the purchase costs of the new vehicles.
The agency adds that fleets that receive grant funds must operate the alt-fuel vehicles for a defined percentage of their annual mileage in one of the following areas for five years or 400,000 miles, whichever occurs earlier: Houston-Galveston-Brazoria; Dallas-Fort Worth; Beaumont-Port Arthur; Tyler-Longview; Austin; San Antonio; El Paso; Corpus Christi; or Victoria.
More details can be found here. The application deadline is Oct. 3.
