NEW! Chart of Ohio planned allocations by sector and amounts awarded by 10/19/18 (PDF)
School Buses
Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allocates $15,000,000 for school bus replacements. $5,000,000 has been awarded to date for the following projects:
Big Walnut Local Schools, Delaware County, $137,771 for 49.8% of the cost to replace three model year 2001-2002 diesel powered school buses with three model year 2019 propane powered school buses, #180802-000006. Contact: Jeremy Buskirk, jeremybuskirk@bwls.net or (740) 965-8964.
Black River Local Schools, Medina County, $68,637 for 75% of the cost to replace one model year 2002 diesel powered school bus with one model year 2019 diesel powered school bus, #180801-000008. Contact: Chris Clark, cclark@blrv.org or (419) 736-3300.
Columbus City Schools, Franklin County, $2,000,000 for 50% of the cost to replace 40 model year 1991 diesel powered school buses with 40 model year 2018 diesel powered school buses, #180802-000011. Contact: Ronald Tumblin, rtumblin@columbus.k12.oh.us or (614) 365-5263.
Durham School Services LP, Butler, Clermont, Franklin, Hamilton, Summit and Warren Counties, $2,000,000 for 25% of the cost to replace 99 model year 1994-2003 diesel powered school buses with 99 model year 2019 diesel powered school buses, #180803-000029. Contact: Keshav Ragunathan, Keshav.Ragunathan@nellc.com or (630) 821-5343.
First Student, Inc., Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Lorain, and Summit Counties, $538,960 for 20% of the cost to replace 16 model year 2007 diesel powered school buses with 16 model year 2020 propane powered school buses, and to replace 14 model year 2005-2007 diesel powered school buses with 14 model year 2020 diesel powered school buses, #180802-000034. Contact: Bo Trenkamp, bo.trenkamp@firstgroup.com or (513) 419-3220.
Norton City Schools, Summit County, $254,632 for 50% of the cost to replace six model year 1995-2008 diesel powered school buses with six model year 2018-2020 diesel powered school buses, #181803-000049. Contact: Stephanie Hagenbush, shagenbush@nortonschools.org or (330) 825-2114.
Transit Buses
Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allocates $15,000,000 for transit bus replacements. $5,000,000 has been awarded to date for the following projects:
Butler County Regional Transit Authority, Butler County, $424,356 for 20% of the cost to replace four model year 2005 diesel powered transit buses with four model year 2018-2019 diesel powered transit buses, #180725-000002. Contact: Robert Ruzinsky, ruzinskyre@butlercountyrta.com or (513) 785-5396.
Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), Franklin County, $1,013,253 for 30% of the cost to replace five model year 2008 diesel powered transit buses with five model year 2020-2022 electric powered transit buses, #180803-000030. Contact: Kevin Dinan, DinanKA@cota.com or (614) 275-5926.
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA), Cuyahoga County, $2,000,000 for 68% of the cost to replace six model year 2003-2007 diesel powered transit buses with six model year 2018 CNG powered transit buses, #180802-000002. Contact: Daniel Dietrich, ddietrich@gcrta.org or (216) 356-3370.
The Ohio State University, Franklin County, $1,562,391 for 50% of the cost to replace six model year 2002 diesel powered transit buses with six model year 2019 CNG powered transit buses, #180803-000043. Contact: John Marlow, marlow.25@osu.edu or (614) 247-7808.
Class 4-8 Heavy Duty Trucks and Shuttle Buses
Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allocates $10,000,000 for replacement of class 4-8 Heavy Duty trucks and shuttle buses. $3,051,616 has been awarded to date for the following projects:
Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Consolidated, Franklin, Hamilton, Lake, and Summit Counties, $763,201 for 25% of the cost to replace 35 model year 1997-2006 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with 35 model year 2020 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks, #180802-000022. Contact: Ray Higgins, ray.higgins@ccbcc.com or (980) 321-3003.
Dean Transportation, Inc, Hamilton and Summit Counties, $147,537 for 25% of the cost to replace five model year 2002-2006 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with five model year 2019 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks, #180803-000050. Contact: Franck Irenee, franck.irenee@deanfoods.com or (214) 303-3704.
Fairfield County Engineer, Fairfield County, $123,171 for 25% of the cost to replace two model year 2001-2003 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks and one model year 2002 heavy duty diesel powered local freight truck and with two model year 2018 heavy heavy duty and one model year 2018 heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks, #180803-000022. Contact: Jason Grubb, jgrubb@fairfieldcountyohio.gov or (740) 652-2482.
The Kroger Co, Delaware and Hamilton Counties, $150,000 for 24% of the cost to replace 5 model year model year 2002-2009 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with five model year 2019 diesel powered heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks, #180803-000031. Contact: Paul Pridemore, paul.pridemore@kroger.com or (513) 762-4308.
Local Waste Services, Franklin County, $181,712 for 25% of the cost to replace two model year 1999 diesel powered heavy heavy duty local freight trucks with two model year 2019 heavy heavy duty CNG powered local freight trucks, #180802-000018. Contact: James Weaver, jweaver@localwasteservices.com or (614) 409-9375.
Lykins Energy Solutions, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren Counties, $284,907 for 25% of the cost to replace five model year 1996-2001 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks and seven model year 1994-2007 heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with five model year 2019-2021 heavy heavy duty and seven model year 2019-2021 heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks, #180802-000003. Contact: Jeffery Goetz, jgoetz@lykinsenergy.com or (513) 965-6266.
Republic Services of Ohio Transportation, LLC, Cuyahoga, Fairfield, Franklin, Hamilton, Lorain, Madison, Medina, Portage, and Summit, $573,953 for 7% of the cost to replace 11 model year 2000-2009 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with 11 model year 2019 heavy heavy duty CNG powered refuse trucks, and to replace 21 model year 1998-2009 heavy-heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with 21 model year 2019 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks, #180803-000048. Contact: Geoff Stayer, gstayer@republicservices.com or (480) 627-7111.
Rumpke Transportation Company, LLC, Franklin and Hamilton Counties, $755,309 for 23% of the cost to replace ten model year 1999-2001 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with ten model year 2019 heavy heavy duty CNG powered local freight trucks, #180803-000036. Contact: Jeff Lay, Jeffery.lay@rumpke.com or (614) 774-6282.
Splash Transport, Inc, Hamilton County, $71,826 for 25% of the cost to replace three model year 1995-1997 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks with three model year 2019 heavy heavy duty diesel powered local freight trucks, #180803-000040. Contact: Debbie Mills, Deborah.Mills@dpsg.com or (972) 589-8884.
Tugboats and Ferries
Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allocates $2,000,000 for repower of tugboats and ferries. $1,400,000 has been awarded to date for the following project:
The Great Lakes Towing Company, Ashtabula, Cuyahoga and Lucas Counties, $1,400,000 for a portion of the engine components to replace eight Tier 0 tugboats with four new tugboats with tier 3 emission rated engines, including diesel-electric hybrids, #V18F-001. Contact: Robert Zadkovich, rjz@thegreatlakesgroup.com or (216) 367-8130. This project was reviewed and selected through the DERA Option, to match $804,000 awarded by U.S. EPA to Ohio EPA under the Diesel Emission Reduction Act state allocations for 2017 and 2018. The combined DMTF and DERA funds are providing 40% of the engine component costs for the four new vessels. The Company is providing $3,300,000 for 60% of the engine component costs.
Switcher Locomotives
Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allocates $5,000,000 for repower of switcher locomotives. No awards have been made in this category to date.
Airport Ground Support Equipment (GSE) and Port Cargo Handling Equipment
Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allocates $12,000,000 for replacement or repower of Airport GSE and Port Cargo Handling Eqipment. . $1,948,384 has been awarded to date for the following projects:
Kent State University Airport, Summit County, $51,399 for 75% of the cost to replace one model year 1992 piece of diesel powered airport ground support equipment with one model year 2018 piece of all-electric airport ground support equipment, #180802-000035. Contact: David Poluga, dpoluga@kent.edu or (330) 672-1943.
United Airlines, Cuyahoga County, $1,896,985 for 75% of the cost to replace 14 pieces of model year 1997-1999 diesel powered airport ground support equipment with 14 pieces of model year 2018 all-electric airport ground support equipment, #180803-000046. Contact: Ed Eckardt, Ed.Eckardt@united.com or (827) 825-4000.
Infrastructure Projects
Ohio’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan allocates $11,295,378 million for supply equipment for light-duty zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), including electric vehicle charging stations. No awards have been made in this category to date.
US EPA has resolved a civil enforcement case against Volkswagen (VW) and its affiliated companies, subject to reservations set forth in three partial settlements. These settlements resolve allegations that VW violated the Clean Air Act by the sale of approximately 590,000 model year 2009 to 2016 diesel motor vehicles equipped with “defeat devices” in the form of computer software designed to cheat on federal emissions tests. The major excess pollutant at issue in this case is oxides of nitrogen (NOx), a serious health concern.
You can learn more about the Volkswagen Clean Air Act Partial Settlement here.
An Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund has been established as part of the settlement, to provide funds to the states to mitigate the air quality impacts of the higher vehicle emissions from the offending action. The share to Ohio from the Trust is $75,302,522.67. The Trust establishes a process to administer the funds, and identifies 10 categories of mitigation actions that will be eligible for funding, along with reimbursement rates for these actions.
An Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund has been established as part of the settlement, to provide funds to the states to mitigate the air quality impacts of the higher vehicle emissions from the offending action. The share to Ohio from the Trust is $75,302,522.67. The Trust establishes a process to administer the funds, and identifies 10 categories of mitigation actions that will be eligible for funding, along with reimbursement rates for these actions.
Trust funds may be used to pay a portion of the cost to repower or replace eligible diesel-powered vehicles with new diesel or alternative fueled or all-electric engines or vehicles. Appendix D-2 to the VW State Beneficiary Trust Agreement spells out eligible model years and different percentages of the cost for government-owned and privately-owned vehicles, and requires that the old vehicles be scrapped.
Eligible Mitigation Actions
States are allowed to use no more than 15 percent of the allocated funds to cover their costs for administering the program. States may also use trust funds to provide the required match for US EPA funds allocated to states under the Diesel Emission Reduction Act.
Separate parts of the settlement require VW to earmark About $10 billion in funding to buy back affected vehicles, terminate leases early, or repair the vehicles. Approximately 16,000 affected vehicles were registered in Ohio. Owners of these vehicles are urged to visit www.vwcourtsettlement.com for more information about buyback and modification options, and claims may be submitted here. Additionally, VW is required to invest $2 billion over 10 years in zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure, access and awareness initiatives. VW, US EPA and California will administer these parts of the settlement.
VW Settlement Timeline of Events
Court approves the partial settlement |
Oct. 25, 2016 |
Trust takes effect and VW deposits funds |
Oct. 2, 2017 |
States elect to become beneficiaries of the trust (i.e. to participate in the settlement) |
Fall 2017 (Trust Effective Date = 60 days)
Ohio filed to become a beneficiary on 11/3/17 |
States are notified of beneficiary designation |
Jan. 29, 2018 |
States file a Beneficiary Mitigation Plan describing broadly how funds will be used |
Ohio filed its Beneficiary Mitigation Plan 5/31/18 |
States may request funds |
30 days after filing Beneficiary Mitigation Plan, and as funded projects are completed |
Ohio EPA releases Request for Proposals for first annual round of Ohio Diesel Mitigation Grants |
6/4/18 |
Ohio EPA will continue to update this website to inform the public about the Settlement, and gather information and ideas from the public and stakeholders as we implement the state’s Beneficiary Mitigation Plan. To be added to the Interested Parties list to receive emailed updates, please send your email address and contact information to derg@epa.ohio.gov. Please send any questions and comments about Ohio’s implementation of the VW Mitigation Trust funds to derg@epa.ohio.gov or contact Carolyn Watkins at (614) 644-3768.