Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Secretary-designee Craig Thompson announced today that the VW Mitigation Program is seeking public input on the spending of $10 million in Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Environmental Mitigation Trust funds for electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) grants.
“Wisconsin has an exciting opportunity to kickstart the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) by funding new charging stations with $10 million of Wisconsin’s VW Trust fund allocation,” said Secretary-designee Thompson. “Creating a robust EV charging network will reduce emissions while boosting economic activity by allowing current and future EV owners to travel throughout the state to work, shop and play.”
Volkswagen admitted to violating the federal Clean Air Act by selling diesel engine vehicles that that utilized an emissions test “defeat device” that resulted in the release of thousands of tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in excess of regulated limits. Judicial settlements require Volkswagen to pay more than $2.9 billion into an Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund. The State of Wisconsin is a designated beneficiary and will receive $67.1 million over ten years to offset the excess pollution emitted by affected Volkswagen vehicles.
“The adoption of electric vehicles will significantly improve air quality, a prime objective of the VW Trust,” said Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) Secretary Joel Brennan. “A statewide network of charging stations will support the growing number of EV owners residing in and visiting Wisconsin.”
Governor Evers’ directed DOA to spend up to $10 million in VW Settlement Trust funds for EVCS grants. DOA and the Volkswagen Mitigation Program released a Request for Information (RFI) to gather feedback from the public on the purchase and installation of light duty EVCS in Wisconsin. The deadline for comments is February 17, 2020 at 2 p.m.
Comments may be submitted by email (vwsettlement@wisconsin.gov); phone (608-261-6262) or hard copy to: VW Mitigation Program, Division of Enterprise Operations, Wisconsin Department of Administration, 101 E. Wilson Street, 6th Floor PO Box 7867 Madison, WI 53707-7867.
WisDOT recently announced that $20 million in VW Mitigation Trust funds are also available for the replacement of aging buses. Applications are due by March 18, 2019.
The complete RFI and additional background information are available on the VW Mitigation webpage at https://doa.wi.gov/Pages/vwsettlementwisconsin.aspx. For more information on the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Grant Program RFI or VW Mitigation Program, contact Ben Vondra, Department of Administration, at 608-261-6262 or benjaminh.vondra@wisconsin.gov.
