Money from carmaker Volkswagen’s settlement with the state will help pay for 41 school buses for Clark County schools and two C-Tran buses, while grant applications for the state’s $112.7 million share of federal settlement money will open in coming weeks.
The state received $28.4 million from its 2017 settlement with the German automaker, after investigators found the company illegally installed software in its diesel cars designed to trick emissions control tests, thereby duping regulators, tricking buyers and dumping tons of additional pollutants into the atmosphere.
The Washington Department of Ecology, which is managing the settlement money, awarded local governments $9.4 million toward the purchase of 19 new electric buses around the state.
C-Tran won $1 million in grants, which will pay for two of four electric buses the agency plans to bring into the fleet in the next few years, spokeswoman Christine Selk said.
Local schools are getting $1.4 million toward new buses. The state says more than 3,000 school buses around the state are more than 17 years old, and emit significantly more pollution than newer available models.
The Evergreen School District received grants to help pay for 30 buses, and the Camas School District for 10.
The first 15 of Evergreen’s buses will be on delivered in March, with the other 15 coming in 2020, district spokeswoman Gail Spolar said. The buses will use upgraded diesel engines with lower emissions
Camas school’s spokeswoman Doreen McKercher said the district’s work toward bringing the buses into its fleet were ongoing. The Green Mountain School District received money toward one new bus, according to the Department of Ecology.
Ecology spokesman Andrew Wineke said the grants work out to about $35,000 per bus. That roughly covers the cost for additional emissions controls needed for cleaner-burning diesel buses, or the cost to install a propane-burning engine instead.
Ecology says the remaining money from the state settlement will be used to buy electric and relatively cleaner diesel-burning vehicles for state agency and public port fleets.
Of the Volkswagens with the self-sabotaged emissions controls in the state, 7 percent were registered in Clark County, according to the Department of Ecology.
Diesel exhaust contains fine particles, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants that can compound to create significant health hazards where traffic volume is high. The EPA estimated a single year of elevated emissions from one of the Volkswagens with the fraudulent software could contribute to as many as 50 premature deaths, 3,000 lost workdays, and $423 million in economic costs nationwide.
At the federal level, the EPA and Volkswagen agreed to settlement deals for all 50 states, which includes $112.7 million for Washington.
Wineke said the Department of Ecology plans to make those funds available for grant projects in the next month or two.
