VW settlement to fund grants to cut exhaust pollutants in Pa.
Pennsylvania is turning an $118 million court settlement into an initiative designed to permanently cut exhaust pollutants by up to 27,700 tons, state officials announced Thursday.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell laid out details of the Driving PA Forward program, which creates incentives for operators of school buses, trucks and other internal combustion powered vehicles to upgrade to electric and other less polluting engines.
The program was announced at a news conference featuring an array of electric and other low-emission vehicles at the American Natural fueling station and convenience store in Cheswick.
“This isn’t just school buses and tractor trailers,” Mr. McDonnell said in prepared remarks. “Projects to replace or upgrade tugboats, forklifts, delivery trucks and many more vehicles and equipment will be eligible for funding.”
Eight grant and rebate programs will be offered over the next five years, with up to $39 million available in the first year.
Programs will be rolled out through the end of the year.
Funding the initiative is Pennsylvania’s share of a $2.92 billion settlement with Volkswagen Group of America for falsifying car emissions to pass exhaust testing.
From 2006 until 2015, tailpipe tests showed that Volkswagen’s diesel cars complied with clean air standards, but the vehicles were actually emitting nine to 40 times the allowable limit of nitrogen oxides when they were out on the road, which contribute to smog and cause respiratory problems such as asthma.
The German automaker sold more than 23,000 diesel cars in Pennsylvania during the emissions cheating scandal. VW CEO Martin Winterkorn
resigned in 2015, taking responsibility for the cheating, but insisting that he was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
Emissions from diesel engines in trucks, buses and forklifts and other transportation equipment account for over one-quarter of the nitrogen oxides’ emissions in Pennsylvania, according to the DEP. Diesel emissions also contain fine particles, which can aggravate heart and lung diseases.
Environmentally friendly fuel and transportation may be gaining traction.
Pittsburgh-based American Natural recently opened another convenience store and fueling station that features alternative fuels such as natural gas near the Route 910 interchange of Interstate 79, according to CEO Jennifer Pomerantz, who attended the event.
Cranberry-based Star Transportation Group founder and CEO Robert C. DeLucia said he’s planning to build a fleet of modified Teslas to accommodate a wide range of passengers, including people with physical disabilities.
“I want to start a fleet of clean vehicles that are universal,” said Mr. DeLucia, who displayed a 2016 Tesla Model X electric car at the news conference. “I’m going to make this happen.”
Applications for the grants and rebates will be available through the state DEP.