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The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) today announced that more than $24 million is now available to replace diesel-powered transit buses with new all-electric transit buses, which will help improve air quality, reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, and promote investment in cleaner fuel technologies, among other benefits.   Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) is among the eligible beneficiaries.

As part of the state's $127.7 million allocation of the federal Volkswagen Settlement, NYSERDA will administer approximately $18.4 million to fund the new electric transit buses through the New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) will manage $6 million for associated charging infrastructure.

"The transportation sector remains the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York, and by taking action to remove the worst polluters from our roads, communities across the state will benefit, especially those overburdened by pollution in our cities," said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos.

Funding is available to replace existing diesel-powered transit buses with model year 2009 and older engines, which must be permanently removed from service and scrapped. Transit bus replacements are targeted at New York State government entity-owned bus fleets that have bus depots located within Potential Environmental Justice Areas (PEJAs), or operate routes that serve PEJA areas. DEC considers PEJAs to be communities of color or low-income communities that experience a disproportionate share of environmental harms such as vehicle emissions and pollution.

The transit bus replacement funds will be administered through NYSERDA's New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program (NYTVIP), which provides point-of-sale rebates to reduce the cost for businesses and municipalities that want to purchase new, clean electric or alternative-fueled vehicles (e.g., commercial trucks and buses). The rebate will initially reduce the incremental cost of purchasing all-electric transit buses by up to 100 percent and help increase the number of all-electric transit buses on New York's roadways while removing older diesel-powered vehicles trucks through a scrappage requirement. These new all-electric transit buses will be required to be housed at bus depots or operate on routes located within Environmental Justice communities.

The following 18 New York State government entities are potentially eligible under the program: Broome County Transit; Capital District Transportation Authority; Central New York Regional Transportation Authority; Chemung County (C Tran); City of Long Beach, Department of Transportation; Clinton County Public Transportation; Dutchess County Public Transit; Greater Glens Falls Transit; Huntington Area Rapid Transit; Nassau Inter-City Express; Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; Rochester-Genesee Regional Transit Authority; Suffolk County Transportation; Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit; Transport of Rockland; Ulster County Area Transit; and Westchester County Bee-Line Bus System.

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