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Welcome Message
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) has all the resources you need as we gear up for fall. Read on for upcoming events, funding opportunities, and bright spots in the Tribal electric vehicle (EV) community.
We Want Your Feedback on EV Resources and Technical Assistance for Tribal Nations!
The Joint Office invites Tribal Nations to submit specific needs for resources and technical assistance that would assist in their EV and transportation goals and deployment. Please visit the Joint Office Concierge for Tribal Nations Technical Assistance to submit your requests, including requests for resources such as educational opportunities, webinars, and help sheets.
Recent Tribal EV Awards
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The CFI Program awarded $521.19 million in grant funding to 51 applicants to deploy publicly accessible EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure in the places people live and work, and along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs).
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The Fort Independence Indian Community in California will receive $15.1 million to install a reliable, resilient, and sustainable EV charging hub along the U.S. Route 395 corridor, a designated AFC, and the only north-south passage along the Sierra Nevada range.
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The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians in California will receive $3.2 million to install 70 EV charging stations, including direct-current fast chargers (DCFCs) and Level 2 chargers, to increase EV charging infrastructure on the reservation and along the U.S. Route 50 freeway, a designated AFC in El Dorado County, California.
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The Seminole Tribe of Florida will receive $933,600 to install EV charging infrastructure at seven locations across the reservation areas, all of which are within disadvantaged communities.
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The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas will receive $775,040 to install EV charging stations at four sites on the reservation, located in rural and disadvantaged communities.
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The Standing Rock Renewable Energy Power Authority, on behalf of the Sioux Reservation of North Dakota, will receive nearly $3.9 million to install publicly accessible community DCFC charging stations in eight locations.
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The Oneida Indian Nation in New York will receive $12.8 million to install 52 DCFCs at five locations throughout Oneida Indian Nation lands, including at the Turning Stone Resort Casino and the Canastota SavOn Convenience Store.
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The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma will receive nearly $5.2 million to install an estimated 144 EV charging stations across the reservation in rural and suburban areas along U.S. Route 69 and U.S. Route 75. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma anticipates an increase in EV use once access to charging stations is available.
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The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington will receive $15 million to install EV charging infrastructure at 12 sites within the Tribe’s reservation boundaries, including remote and disadvantaged communities.
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Tribal Transportation Event Recap
 From left to right: Assistant Secretary Arlando Teller, Mike Zeigler, Julie Ramey, Shelbi Small.
The National Transportation in Indian Country Conference is the largest annual gathering of Tribal transportation professionals in the industry, with more than 600 participants joining the conference in August. The 2024 conference featured learning sessions and topics including workforce development, transit, Tribal Transportation Program 101, safety, project management and maintenance, and hands-on training opportunities.
The event included a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) EV panel that focused on technical assistance and resources provided by the Joint Office, as well as the assistance provided to Tribes by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to support their transition to EVs.
GSA provides Tribes the option to purchase, lease, or install infrastructure for electric or other alternative fuel vehicles. The GSA fleet currently manages more than 450 Tribal accounts across Indian Country, of which 35 have zero-emissions vehicles in their inventory.
If your Tribe is already a GSA fleet customer, Tribal administrators handling fleet leases and purchases through GSA should attend the FedFleet 2025 event, Feb. 3–6 in Washington, D.C. This training is a unique and educational experience that assembles fleet management professionals from across agencies and organizations for a week of training.
If you want to work with GSA to buy or install charging infrastructure, here is who you need to contact based on your needs:
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Federal building that GSA manages
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Your GSA facility manager or lease administrator
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Multiple sites GSA manages
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Space GSA does not manage
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Find GSA federal fleet training resources, including information about EV charging costs, here.
Resource Highlights
The Public EV Charging Infrastructure Playbook provides interactive resources to help communities plan and build the infrastructure needed to support a zero-emissions transportation system. Four new modules were recently added that focus on policies and incentives; regulations for zoning, permitting, and codes; procurement, ownership, and operation; and revenue and fee structures.
Announcements
Managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and funded by the Joint Office, the Clean Bus Planning Awards reduce barriers to zero-emissions bus deployment by providing school and transit bus fleets with free technical assistance to develop comprehensive and customized fleet electrification transition plans. This is not an incentive program, and fleets do not receive direct funding—rather, selected applicants will be allocated technical assistance resources by NREL. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Tribal EV Funding Opportunities
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development
This program provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Agricultural producers may also apply for new energy-efficient equipment and renewable energy systems to offset costs associated with agricultural production and processing. Section 17 corporations, Tribal-owned corporations and enterprises that qualify as small businesses, Tribal agriculture operations, and Tribal member-owned businesses are eligible for assistance under this program. Eligible applicants may utilize the program to assist with installation of EV charging stations and other EV-related projects as part of renewable energy system improvements.
DOT, Federal Highway Administration
This program funds projects on federal lands access transportation facilities that are located on, are adjacent to, or provide access to federal lands (e.g., national parks, national forests). Projects are typically located within 10 miles of a federal land boundary. Funds are distributed by formula among states that have federal lands. State departments of transportation, Tribes, and local governments interested in EV infrastructure can apply through their state for funding for charging infrastructure and transportation planning. Eligible expenses include but are not limited to light-duty vehicle charging, public transportation charging, commercial charging infrastructure planning, workforce development, and vehicle acquisition.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights
The EPA’s new Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program has announced a notice of funding opportunity for approximately $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. Funding may be used to deploy low- or zero-emissions transportation solutions.
EPA, Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights
This program marks the single largest environmental justice investment in history, and it is going directly to communities. EPA’s overarching goal is to advance collaborative efforts to reduce pollution, increase climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. Eligible applicants include a partnership between a community-based nonprofit organization and a federally recognized Tribe.
EPA, Office of Transportation and Air Quality
EPA is authorized under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act to offer funding assistance to accelerate the upgrade, retrofit, and turnover of the legacy diesel fleet. Eligible activities include the retrofit or replacement of existing diesel engines, vehicles, and equipment with engine configurations certified by the EPA or California Air Resources Board and verified retrofit and idle reduction technologies.
DOT, Office of the Under Secretary for Policy
This discretionary grant program provides an opportunity for DOT to invest in road, rail, transit, and port projects that achieve national objectives, including zero-emissions vehicle infrastructure. The eligibility requirements allow project sponsors at the state and local levels to obtain funding for multimodal, multi-jurisdictional projects that are more difficult to support through traditional DOT programs.
This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area and does not include private, commercial, or business undertakings. Tribes may utilize the program to install EV charging stations as a component of a larger community facility build or refurbishment.
Most of the funding is available through long-term, low-interest direct loans. Grants are usually $50,000 or less and are typically used for equipment and vehicles associated with eligible community facilities and the essential services they provide. Eligible activities include EVs purchased for essential community services by public bodies, nonprofits, and federally recognized Tribes; municipal EV charging stations for vehicle fleets and for use in rural municipal parking lots; and EV charging stations for use at rural community facilities, including hospitals, medical clinics, schools, colleges, libraries, and town halls, among others.
The Inflation Reduction Act authorized “elective pay,” which allows tax-exempt and governmental entities, such as Tribes, that do not owe federal income taxes to receive a payment equal to the full value of tax credits for building qualifying clean energy projects or making qualifying investments. Two tax credits exist for both vehicles and charging infrastructure:
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Credit for qualified commercial clean vehicles: For purchasers of commercial clean vehicles. Qualifying vehicles include passenger vehicles, buses, ambulances, and certain other vehicles for use on public streets, roads, and highways. Credit amount up to $40,000 (maximum $7,500 for vehicles <14,000 pounds).
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Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit: For alternative fuel vehicle refueling and charging property, located in low-income and non-urban areas. Qualifying fuels include electricity, ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, and biodiesel.
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Upcoming Events
This convention is an essential moment for Indian Country to unite, amplify voices, and shape a powerful collective future. Tribal leaders, National Congress of American Indians members, Native youth, and allies from across Indian Country will gather to tackle critical issues, strategize for the future, and strengthen nation-to-nation relationships.
The Intertribal Transportation Association provides training, advocacy, and information and facilitates meetings between Tribes and local, state, and federal agencies.
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About the Joint Office
The Joint Office is a collaboration between the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation to support the buildout of a nationwide network of electric vehicle chargers, zero-emission fueling infrastructure, and zero-emission transit and school buses. Learn more at DriveElectric.gov. It is facilitating the adoption of electrified transportation in collaboration with Tribal Nations by providing comprehensive technical assistance and resources.
Sign up to receive regular communications about Joint Office vacancy announcements, webinars, news, funding opportunities, and thought leadership pieces on creating a future where everyone can ride and drive electric.
For more updates, follow the Joint LinkedIn.
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