SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Acting Director James Jennings today announced an $18 million Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to replace existing on-road diesel Class 4-8 medium- and heavy-duty local freight trucks and Class 8 port drayage trucks with all-electric Class 4-8 trucks located and operated in one of the Volkswagen (VW) priority areas described below. Illinois EPA will also fund a portion of the necessary new Level 2 or direct current fast charging (DCFC) equipment if charging infrastructure is needed.
“Illinois EPA is excited to offer another funding opportunity to replace old, diesel-powered, freight and drayage trucks with all-electric trucks in areas that have been disproportionately impacted by diesel emissions,” said Acting Director Jennings. “Illinois continues to bolster our commitment to electrify the transportation sector by targeting available funding, such as the Volkswagen settlement, in areas that will bring positive environmental impacts.”
The Driving a Cleaner Illinois – Volkswagen Electric Truck NOFO is open to business or government fleets with Class 4-8 local freight/delivery trucks in all three Priority Areas outlined in Illinois’ Beneficiary Mitigation Plan (BMP) for the Volkswagen diesel emissions settlement, and as specified in the NOFO:
- Priority Area 1: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, Oswego Township in Kendall County, and Aux Sable and Goose Lake townships in Grundy County.
- Priority Area 2: Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties.
- Priority Area 3: Champaign, DeKalb, LaSalle, McLean, Peoria, Sangamon, and Winnebago counties.
Illinois EPA anticipates funding up to 65 electric trucks. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis until the Volkswagen funding has been depleted. There are no caps to the award amounts per truck or for charging equipment, and no cap on the total number of trucks for which funding is being sought.
Applicants may include businesses or government entities located in the previously listed VW priority areas; eligible trucks must also operate in the same priority area. Entities that lease their trucks are ineligible to apply. Both the existing diesel truck to be replaced and the proposed new all-electric trucks must be licensed to operate on public roadways. Eligible truck types include delivery/box trucks, waste haulers, Class 8 port drayage trucks, landscape trucks, dump trucks, and freight/transport trucks. Each existing diesel truck to be replaced must be engine Model Year 1992-2009, and each must be scrapped within 90 days of the new truck being placed into service. Complete requirements can be found within the specified NOFO.
Illinois EPA’s BMP focuses the remaining VW allocation on electric transportation and infrastructure. The goals of the plan include reducing nitrogen oxide emissions in areas where the affected VW vehicles were registered. The BMP takes into consideration areas that do not meet federal air quality standards for ozone and bear a disproportionate share of the air pollution burden, including environmental justice areas.
The link to the Notice of Funding Opportunity is available at: https://gata.illinois.gov/grants/csfa.html?page=Opportunity.aspx&nofo=3159. All required forms and information can be found on the Driving A Cleaner Illinois webpage: https://epa.illinois.gov/topics/air-quality/driving-a-cleaner-illinois.html. All applicants must pre-qualify through the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act Grantee Portal.
The Illinois EPA was created in 1970 as part of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, making it the longest-standing environmental protection agency in the United States. The mission of the Illinois EPA is to safeguard environmental quality, consistent with the social and economic needs of the State of Illinois, so as to protect health, welfare, property, and the quality of life. For more information, visit the Illinois EPA’s website at https://epa.illinois.gov/.