DEP Still Dragging Feet on Spending VW Settlement Funds

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection have announced its spending plan and the will begin evaluating projects to use the Volkswagen settlement Fund. In October they opened up public comment on their draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan for the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust. DEP have opened a comment period since early November of 2017. To date, the DEP has received more than $400 million in project proposals covering all eligible project categories including freight trucks, school buses, transit buses, airport ground-support equipment, freight-switching locomotives, ferries, tugboats, cargo-handling equipment, ocean-going vessels and government vehicles.

“The VW Settlement Fund is supposed to jump start electric vehicles in New Jersey and DEP is still dragging its feet. We need to get this plan done quickly so we can get the settlement money out the door. The DEP must focus on funding electric vehicles, not just replace them with cleaner fossil fuel vehicles. Settlement money should also to target charging station is underserved areas, electrify our ports and buses, and encourage EV’s that everyone can afford,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Given the limited amount of money, the DEP should only pick a few projects. If we fund too many projects, we dilute the project and limit on getting things done. We need to take advantage of the full $72 million to create more in-state jobs, better vehicles, less carbon pollution, and cleaner, healthier air.”

New Jersey was allocated $141 million from the Volkswagen settlement however the Murphy Administration took $69 million from that fund to go into the state budget. DEP’s draft mitigation plan intends to spend its Trust allocation in three, $24.1 million phases primarily funding replacing heavy duty vehicles/engines such as buses, trucks, and non-road equipment in urban areas disproportionately impacted by diesel emissions.

“DEP needs to make real choices and be specific on which programs are going to get funded in their Draft Beneficiary Plan. We need to be funding projects that are 100% electric only. We cannot spend money on fossil fuels and alternative too. If we spread the money around, we are not getting anything done. With only $72 million we need to focus on where that money goes so we can get the most band for our buck is not a lot of money does not go far enough to make improvements for each category of the draft mitigation plan,” said Tittel. “If the Murphy Administration did not divert $69 million out of the VW Fund to the general budget, then New Jersey could do a lot more to electrify our state.”

DEP must target areas for charging stations that the market won’t reach. Certain communities have been affected by pollution more than other areas. If DEP allocates money to private charging companies, then that money should also be targeted to those areas.

“We should also provide incentives for EV’s, especially towards those with lower and modest-income families who would have more trouble affording an EV. We can look at rebates, tax breaks, grants, and more. New Jersey doesn’t need charging station in the Short Hills Mall, we need to focus on targeting areas such as Bellville and Perth Amboy. DEP cannot replace our vehicles with diesel if they plan to reduce NOx pollution in these communities,”said Tittel. “Regarding transit buses, the most important areas to fund is buying buses for NJ Transit. NJ Transit is in the middle of buying fossil fuel buses, they must cancel those contracts and replace them with electric ones. They must start now so that they can transition to 100% electric buses by 2025.

There is federal money involved in NJ Transit so if DEP uses funding along with the federal money, we can move quicker in making improvements to our transit system.

“DEP must fund and implement a pilot on electric school buses. This is especially important for children who live in urban areas already overburdened by air pollution. In a lot of urban areas, school buses are also not provided. School buses are particularly bad as children are especially susceptible to diesel tailpipe emissions, and buses in poorer areas tend to be older and more polluting. With electric busses, our school children can ride in cleaner, quieter, and healthier vehicles powered by electricity,” said Tittel.

Electric vehicles will help grow our economy as well as protect our environment. EVs are more than five times more efficient than standard vehicles; the average gas automobile is 15% efficient while EVs are 80%. EVs use electricity to power a battery, the technology of which continues to get cheaper and better. By increasing electric vehicle sales, it will help car dealers in selling more fuel-efficient cars, help New Jersey companies who are part suppliers for these car parts, and even bring in new companies since we may be the first state on the east coast to implement these practices.

“The DEP needs to maximize the amount of VW settlement funds dedicated to building our EV infrastructure so that New Jersey can create a network of charging stations for everyone to afford. We do not need any more webinars or meetings. DEP must to come up with a final plan and get the money moving forward for our economy and our environment. We can see the benefits of clean air and clean jobs if we put this money to good use,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “DEP must to come up with a final plan and get the money moving forward for our economy and our environment.”

____________________________________________________________

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2018

Contact: Lawrence Hajna  (609) 984-1795
Caryn Shinske     (609) 292-2994

NEW JERSEY RELEASES SPENDING PLAN AND BEGINS EVALUATING PROJECTS TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY USING VOLKSWAGEN FUNDS

(18/P105) TRENTON – The Department of Environmental Protection today announced its spending plan and will begin evaluating projects to improve New Jersey’s air quality using the state’s allocation from the national Volkswagen settlement.

The state has received $72.2 million as its share of 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.

The state’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan will reduce pollution from the transportation sector, the largest contributor to pollutants that cause smog.

The plan is consistent with Governor Phil Murphy’s agenda to reduce smog as well as greenhouse gas emissions, expand the use of electric vehicles, and advance environmental justice goals by expanding the use of electric public-transit buses, school buses and other zero-emission vehicles in those communities that disproportionately bear the burden of air pollution.

“Smog can have serious public health implications, especially for vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly and those with existing health conditions,” Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe said. “We are deeply grateful to the many stakeholders and members of the public who helped us craft a spending plan that will benefit the health of New Jersey residents, especially those in our urban communities.”

To date, the DEP has received more than $400 million in project proposals covering all eligible project categories including freight trucks, school buses, transit buses, airport ground-support equipment, freight-switching locomotives, ferries, tugboats, cargo-handling equipment, ocean-going vessels and government vehicles.

The DEP is evaluating applications according to selection and rating criteria in the spending plan and will continue to provide updates through its email list service and Volkswagen settlement website.

Among the factors the DEP will consider when evaluating applications are the extent to which the project reduces smog-causing nitrogen oxides, the extent to which it benefits disproportionately impacted communities, the extent to which it serves as a model for best practices that can be applied in the state, and the extent to which it is “shovel-ready” and reduces greenhouse-gas emissions.

The state is dedicating 15 percent of its allocation to fund electric-vehicle charging/fueling infrastructure, helping consumers to overcome “range anxiety” about finding convenient places to recharge electric vehicles. Promoting the sale of electric vehicles is a priority for the Murphy Administration.

The DEP is reviewing applications for some 500 charging stations totaling $2.5 million in funding requests. The applications will be processed through the DEP’s It Pay$ to Plug In program, which has already awarded nearly $1 million in grants.

This is paving the way for the state to meet its goal of 330,000 zero-emission vehicles registered in the state by 2025 under a memorandum of understanding among states in the Northeast that are working to promote their use.

Additional applications may be submitted to the DEP’s Volkswagen settlement website.  Eligible locations include workplaces, multi-unit dwellings such as apartments, and publicly accessible locations such as parking lots, hotels, transit centers, colleges and universities, retail parking areas and public parks.

Emissions from the transportation sector account for 71 percent of the state’s nitrogen oxide emissions as well as 42 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrogen oxides are a major contributor to smog, which forms when pollutants interact with sunlight and hot temperatures during the warmer months to create ground-level ozone molecules.

Ozone is beneficial in the upper atmosphere by shielding harmful rays from the sun but is a health hazard at ground level. By irritating tiny lung sacs known as alveoli, ozone particles increase asthma attacks in asthmatics and make people more vulnerable to lung diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Long-term exposure can cause inflammation of the lungs, chest pain, coughing, wheezing, sneezing, pulmonary congestion and scarring of lung tissue.

While ground-level ozone levels in New Jersey have been improving over the years, the state continues working to meet federal health-based standards for the pollutant. Meeting the standard is difficult because the state is heavily urbanized and is in the middle of one of the nation’s busiest transportation corridors. In addition, New Jersey is impacted by smog transported by prevailing winds from neighboring states.

In September and November 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board alleged that Volkswagen had secretly installed defeat devices – software designed to cheat emissions testing and deceive federal and state regulators – in certain Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche-branded turbocharged direct-injection diesel vehicles.

The defeat device rendered the vehicles’ emissions controls inoperable unless the vehicles were undergoing emissions testing. The use of the defeat devices resulted in increased emissions of oxides of nitrogen in New Jersey and throughout the nation.

On Oct. 25, 2016, and May 17, 2017, two partial consent decrees were approved among the federal government, California, and Volkswagen to, among other things, offset excess nitrogen oxide emissions. The partial consent decrees established a $2.93 billion environmental mitigation trust to provide funds to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and federally recognized tribes and to implement actions to counter the air quality impacts of excess nitrogen oxide emissions resulting from the use of the defeat devices.

The trustee for the mitigation trust approved New Jersey’s beneficiary status on Jan. 29, 2018. The DEP is designated as the lead agency to administer the funds. The allocation to New Jersey is $72.2 million, based on the estimated 17,000 registered vehicles in the state that were equipped with these defeat devices.

For more information on the settlement and the state’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan, visit www.nj.gov/dep/vw/

—