NJ Dept. Environmental Protection
TRENTON – In celebration of Earth Day and building off last week’s release of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Strategic Funding Plan, New Jersey will invest an additional $45 million from the national Volkswagen settlement to reduce greenhouse gases from the transportation sector, NJDEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe announced today.
The DEP will use $37.2 million to convert old diesel trucks, buses, port equipment, marine vessels and trains to electric power. An additional $7.6 million will be used for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including fast chargers.
“Together with the RGGI Strategic Funding Plan, this is a historic investment in New Jersey’s communities and environment,” McCabe said. “New Jersey’s transportation sector is a major source of both greenhouse gases and pollutants that threaten the health of our residents. This injection of millions of dollars will take New Jersey further toward Governor Murphy’s goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2050, grow the clean energy economy and protect our residents against climate threats.”
The project solicitation released today is available at www.state.nj.us/dep/vw. Applications are due by June 22.
The funds invested in electrification upgrades represent the remaining funds from the state’s $72.2 million share of the national Volkswagen settlement. The settlement resulted from federal actions against Volkswagen for installing devices that allowed vehicles it manufactured to emit pollutants without being detected by emissions-testing programs across the nation.
Last year, the DEP awarded $24 million in grants to electrify garbage trucks, school buses, NJ Transit buses, and port and airport equipment.
For more information about the Volkswagen settlement and the DEP’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan, visit www.nj.gov/dep/vw/.
