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The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has awarded more than $3.7M in grant funding for businesses to buy 124 new trucks, with grants of up to $40,000 per truck funded by the national Volkswagen settlement. Among all heavy-duty vehicle types, short-haul trucks are the largest source of harmful tailpipe pollution in Minnesota, and MPCA estimates there are more than 44,000 of these older diesel vehicles currently on the roads that are eligible for replacement.
The new trucks will replace older, more polluting models currently used for local and regional deliveries, and include refuse and recycling trucks, short-haul semi-trucks, flatbed, bread and fuel delivery trucks, and dump trucks. Seven of the new replacements are all-electric models, and one new truck is powered by compressed natural gas.
For a full list of grant awards, visit the MPCA website: Trucks and transit bus replacement grant
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Based on the results from our first two years of grant programs and public input we received in 2019, the MPCA developed our plan for how to distribute $23.5 million in Phase 2 (2020-2023).
In December 2019, we published a draft plan on our website and asked you for feedback. We heard from a variety of environmental groups, business and industry, local government, and unaffiliated individuals. Your comments helped us to make adjustments and further refine our plan for Phase 2.
In February 2020, we submitted our final plan for Phase 2 to the settlement trustee and have also published it online. To read the full plan, visit our website: Minnesota's plan.
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Our plan for Phase 2
Compared to the first two years of grant programs, the MPCA is substantially increasing our investment in all-electric technology in Phase 2 and will spend more than $15 million to support organizations making the switch to electric vehicles (EVs), including $7+ million for heavy-duty EVs like trucks and transit buses, $4.7 million for electric school buses, and $3.5 million for EV charging stations.
Another $8.2 million will help purchase cleaner heavy-duty on-road vehicles, off-road equipment, and school buses that use a variety of fuel types. Including vehicles powered by diesel, propane, and CNG in our grant programs allows businesses and communities across Minnesota to purchase the vehicles that best fit their budget and local needs.
Overall, the grant programs in Phase 2 are estimated to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by 4,110-6,975 tons, fine particle pollution by 145-444 tons, and GHG by 64,074-94,848 tons.
 NEW! Electric school bus program
In 2020, MPCA plans to initiate a new electric school bus pilot program, following the examples of other EPA Region 5 states like Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana that are also investing VW funds in electric school buses. In the coming months, MPCA will be seeking partners who are interested in participating. A pilot program would help us learn more about this technology in Minnesota’s climate and inform future requests for proposals for electric school buses.
Questions? Email vwsettlement.pca@state.mn.us.
Media contact: Mary Robinson, mary.robinson@state.mn.us, (651) 757-2525.
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