The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announces that the agency has issued the first 11 contracts as part of the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust settlement. The contracts are made with entities, mostly school districts, that have applied for funds from the trust and will use the money to replace aging diesel school buses, shuttle buses, or transit buses with new models. The contracts specify the funds each applicant will receive as part of the settlement, how they will use the money to achieve the goals of the VW Beneficiary Mitigation Plan for Texas, and requirements for receiving the funds.
These initial 11 contracts are awarded as follows:
- $5,704,160.70 to four entities in the Austin Area
- $5,945,993 to two entities in the San Antonio Area
- $1,391,480 to two school districts in the Houston Area
- $811,800 to two school districts in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area
- $729,073 to a school district in Bell County
The TCEQ plans to issue up to $58.6 million in contracts to applicants who have applied for funds from the trust to repower or replace school buses, shuttle buses, or transit buses. This is the first of multiple grant rounds to spend the $209 million in settlement funds allocated to Texas.
More information on the trust can be found on the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program webpage.
