Volkswagen Beneficiary Mitigation Plan
https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/documents/1802023.pdf
Funding: Washington State is eligible for $112.7 million from the federal Volkswagen settlement and $28.4 million from the state penalty for a total of $141 million. https://ecology.wa.gov/Air-Climate/Air-quality/Vehicle-emissions/Investing-in-cleaner-transportation/VW-federal-settlement-and-state-penalty
Summary: From 2008 to 2015, the global automaker Volkswagen sold diesel vehicles equipped with illegal software designed to cheat and falsify U.S. emissions tests, a violation of the federal Clean Air Act. About 24,000 of these diesel vehicles are registered in Washington, each emitting up to 40 times the permitted levels of nitrogen oxides – a harmful air pollutant. Volkswagen’s fraudulent actions damaged public trust and put people’s health at risk. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice entered into a settlement with Volkswagen that requires the automaker pay $2.7 billion into an Environmental Mitigation Trust. The trust will fund projects that reduce emissions to offset damage from the vehicles equipped with the cheating software.
Dates:
Diesel to zero-emission refuse vehicle, street sweeper, freight switcher, and port cargo handling equipment:
Application period open: July 26, 2023 – Oct. 26, 2023
Mitigation plan goals
Washington’s goals for the use of Trust funds are to: Reduce emissions from diesel engines in the state where the 2.0 and 3.0 liter Volkswagen vehicles were, are, or will be operated.
Fully mitigate the total, lifetime excess NOx emissions of the subject vehicles.
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