NDEQ has received its first payment from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund. The $287,243 that NDEQ received is designated to reimburse eligible applicants of the Clean Diesel Rebate Program. The money will be used along with federal grant funds to partially reimburse costs associated with the replacement of five diesel refuse trucks and six diesel irrigation engines.

Last fall, NDEQ received funding from U.S. EPA for the 2017 round of Clean Diesel Rebates. At the time, NDEQ indicated that it intended to match those funds with money from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund, to provide additional funding for Clean Diesel projects. (The 2017 round of funding began in October 2017 and continues through September 2018.)

“This receipt of VW Trust Funds marks a number of positive accomplishments,” said NDEQ Director Jim Macy. “It is the first payment that the State of Nebraska has received through the VW Trust Fund, making Nebraska one of the earliest recipients among states of these funds. This funding will be used for effective local projects that will help reduce diesel emissions in Nebraska.”

The funds will help support the replacement of five diesel refuse trucks with cleaner burning vehicles. Rebates will be provided to: Gretna Sanitation of Gretna, to replace one refuse truck with a compressed natural gas refuse truck; S2 Rolloffs of Fremont, for the replacement of two diesel refuse trucks; and Waste Connections of Omaha for the replacement of two diesel refuse trucks.

Funds will also support the replacement of six diesel irrigation engines with electric motors or direct electric connections. Those replacements include: Cockerill Fertilizer, Logan County; Robert Fuchtman, Creighton; Mike Phillips, Lisco; James Riley, Wood River; Frederick Schultz, Clearwater; and Thies Farms Central, Merrick County.

This is the first payment received by the state from the VW Trust Fund, with more funds expected in the future. As a part of the U.S. District Court settlement against Volkswagen in 2016, Nebraska became eligible to receive $12.25 million from the VW Trust Fund. Those funds must be used to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions into the ambient air as an offset to unlawful emissions by certain VW vehicles. The Department of Environmental Quality is the agency overseeing the disbursement of VW funds.

For more information about the VW Trust Fund, go to https://dee.nebraska.gov/aid/air-loans-grants-rebates/volkswagen-environmental-mitigation-trust-fund

For more information about the Nebraska Clean Diesel Rebate Program, go to https://dee.nebraska.gov/aid/air-loans-grants-rebates/nebraska-clean-diesel-rebate-program