DEP VW Settlement Funds Still Not Moving Forward

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is opening up public comment on their draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan for the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust. 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 have opened a comment period since early November of 2017 and they will have 2 webinars and 5 public comment hearings throughout this month.

“The VW Settlement Fund is supposed to jump start electric vehicles in New Jersey and DEP is still idling. While New York and other states started spending that money, we are starting another planning process on what we should do with that money. The biggest source of air pollution and greenhouse gases in our state comes from automobiles, which is why we need to increase electric vehicles to clean our air. It is important that DEP’s draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan clearly funds electric infrastructure. Our vehicles must be replaced with electric, not just cleaner fossil fuels,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The public has been commenting for a year hoping the DEP would have picked where the money is going. If we open another comment period it will be another year before we start using the VW funds.”

The Mitigation Plan will fund the maximum amount to replace the following categories of vehicles with diesel fuel or alt. fuel or repower with electric, including charging equipment. Class 8 local freight trucks and port drayage trucks model year 1992- 2009, Class 4-8 school buses, shuttle buses and transit buses model year 2009 or older, Freight switching locomotives pre Tier 4 that operate >1000 hours per year, Ferries and tugs that have unregulated, Tier 1 or Tier 2 marine engines, Class 4-7 local freight trucks model year 1992-2009.

“In their Mitigation Plan, the DEP gave a list of different kinds of projects and programs they could potentially fund instead of making any choices or recommendations. This is just a laundry list. We are going around in circles instead of coming up with a real plan. DEP needs to make real choices and be specific on which programs are going to get funded,” said Tittel. We need to be funning 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. DEP must focus on getting EV plug a reality for school busses and our ports. The fund is not a lot of money which is why it is so important that we focus on funding electric only. We need to get the most out our money.”

The DEP’s primary goal of the Mitigation Plan is to improve ambient air quality by using the Trust allocation to implement projects that reduce NOx, benefit disproportionately affected communities, and expedite deployment and widespread adoption of zero emission vehicles;

We should be using these funds for things such as promoting electric vehicles in New Jersey. We can electrify our ports, especially in urban areas, with electric busses to reduce air pollution in areas already highly affected. We need to make sure this program is actually targets disproportionately communities. DEP cannot replace our vehicles with diesel if they plan to actually reduce NOx pollution in affected communities. It’s important that DEP funds and implement clean transportation programs so that our school children can ride in cleaner, quieter, and healthier school buses that are powered by electricity. This is especially important for children who live in urban areas already overburdened by air pollution. Electric busses will benefit all mass transit riders, as well as anyone living in the city where they run without released air toxins,” said Tittel.  

This Mitigation Plan will work with electric vehicle charging/fueling infrastructure providers, electric vehicle manufacturers, trade associations, environmental justice organizations, and other partners to build a strong and successful ZEV industry here in New Jersey. Webinars will be held on October 12, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. and October 17, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. NJDEP will also hold outreach sessions as follows: October 17, 22, and 30^th. During the webinars and outreach sessions, NJDEP will present an overview of the draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan, receive comments, and answer questions.

“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. Murphy 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,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “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.”

NEW JERSEY MOVING FORWARD WITH PLANS TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY USING VOLKSWAGEN SETTLEMENT FUNDS

(18/P84) TRENTON – The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is seeking public input on a draft plan that will direct how the state uses money from the national Volkswagen settlement to improve air quality.

This is a key step in determining how New Jersey will spend its $72.2 million share of the $2.9 billion federal settlement resulting from the company’s installation of devices to cheat state emissions testing programs across the country, including New Jersey.

“Through this settlement, we have the opportunity to make investments to clean up our air, righting a wrong for disproportionately impacted communities and setting New Jersey on a path to a clean energy and transportation future,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “We are excited to engage with state residents as we move forward with our mission to protect public health, preserve the environment, and improve the quality of life of all New Jerseyans.”

“Our goal is to use New Jersey’s share of the national Volkswagen settlement to develop programs that are consistent with Governor Murphy’s commitment to reduce smog as well as greenhouse gas emissions, advance environmental justice goals in urban areas and expand the use of electric vehicles,” said DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe.

As part of its public outreach effort, the DEP is launching a multiplatform campaign to ensure robust dialogue as the state develops strategies and programs that will benefit public health and the environment.

New Jersey’s Draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan notes that emissions from the transportation sector account for 42 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and are the single largest source of the pollution that cause ground-level ozone pollution, known more commonly as smog.

The primary goal of this plan is to improve ambient air quality by using the state allocation to implement projects that reduce smog-causing nitrogen oxides, benefit disproportionately affected communities, and expedite deployment and widespread adoption of zero-emission vehicles. The draft plan is the culmination of public comments received by stakeholders and the public, a process that began nearly a year ago.

To further public engagement in the process, the DEP is holding a series of webinars and public meetings to be complemented by social media posts.

In addition, specific project ideas are still being accepted.  Complete the form available at www.state.nj.us/dep/vw/projectform.pdf and send tovwcomments@dep.nj.gov.

Webinars will be held on Oct. 12 at 10 a.m. and Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m.  To register, visit www.state.nj.us/dep/vw

Public outreach sessions will be:

• Oct. 17, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at DEP Headquarters, 401 East State Street, Trenton

• Oct. 22, from 2 p.m. to 4 and from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority in Newark

• Oct. 30, from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority in Camden

To register, please send an email to vwcomments@dep.nj.gov with your name and the date/time of the session you would like to attend. Social media posts will be updated in conjunction with each event.

In September and November 2015, the EPA 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. NOx significantly contributes to the formation of ground level ozone, which negatively impacts the respiratory system and cardiovascular health.

This type of pollution disproportionately affects urban areas due to the high volume of vehicle traffic they experience. Seventy-one percent of the statewide NOx emissions inventory is from mobile sources.

On October 25, 2016 and May 17, 2017, two Partial Consent Decrees were approved between the United States, California, and Volkswagen to, among other things, offset excess NOx emissions. The Partial Consent Decrees established a $2.93 billion Environmental Mitigation Trust to provide funds to all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and federally recognized tribes and to implement actions to counter the air quality impacts of excess NOx emissions resulting from the use of the defeat devices.

The trustee for the Mitigation Trust approved New Jersey’s beneficiary status on Jan. 29 of this year. The DEP is designated as the lead agency to administer the funds. The initial 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.

New Jersey will allocate 15 percent of its funds for light-duty zero-emission vehicle-fueling and charging infrastructure.

The Consent Decree established a process to administer the funds, a process for states and tribes to receive the funds, including the development of a mitigation plan, and the ten types of mitigation “actions” or projects eligible for funding under the Trust.

Eight of the ten eligible mitigation actions are specific to certain types of diesel vehicles. The remaining two eligible mitigation actions cover refueling and charging equipment for light-duty zero-emission vehicles, and projects eligible for funding under the federal Diesel Emission Reduction Act.

New Jersey’s draft plan provides proposed actions to improve emissions from freight trucks, school buses, transit buses, airport ground support equipment, freight-switching locomotives, ferries, tugboats, forklift and cargo-handling equipment and ocean-going vessels and government vehicles.

It also calls for installation of publicly accessible electric-vehicle charging stations at government-owned property, as well as charging stations for the use of employees at their workplaces and for residents of multiple-dwelling properties such as apartment and condominium complexes.

For more information on the settlement, the Draft Mitigation Plan and outreach meetings, visit: www.state.nj.us/dep/vw/