Board OKs spending of VW settlement money

Projects could begin across Ohio to reduce diesel emissions after the state’s Controlling Board approved the first installment payment of a $75 million settlement from the German automaker Volkswagen AG to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency this week.

The settlement comes from an agreement between the U. S. Justice Department, state of California and VW after the car company installed more than 500,000 emission testing defeat devices in cars. Based on the number of cars registered in Ohio, an estimated $ 75 million will be given to the state through 2027 to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.

The state plans to use 53 percent of the funds for on- road fleet vehicles such as school and transit buses, another 25 percent for offfleets such as tugboats and switcher locomotives and 15 percent for infrastructure for light- duty zero emission vehicles, according to a 26-page plan.

On Monday, the Controlling Board gave the OK for the Ohio EPA to use $ 445,000 for administrative costs to manage the grants and projects. Another $ 15 million will initially be awarded to grant recipients for various emissionreduction projects. Ohio EPA will be announcing recipients for the latest round of grant awards later this month. The next opportunity to apply will open June 3, 2019, with a deadline of Aug. 2, 2019, said Heidi Griesmer, an Ohio EPA spokeswoman.