Fairfax, Dulles Airport Get $8.4M In Clean Vehicle Fleet Funding

NORTHERN VIRGINIA — Virginia awarded more than $9.4 million as part of the first round of its Clean Air Communities Program to several government fleet electrification projects in the state, with the vast majority going to Fairfax County and Dulles International Airport.

The Clean Air Communities Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, was established as part of the agency’s oversight of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust.

The program invests in a range of low- or zero-emissions technologies. “Supporting clean transportation solutions is a vital part of our efforts to combat climate change and improve air quality in the Commonwealth,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement Friday.

The Northern Virginia recipients of funds from the first round of the Clean Air Communities Program received more than $8.4 million. They were:

• Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (Dulles International Airport), $3,970,000 for five shuttle buses and chargers
• Fairfax County Department of Transportation, $2,997,784, for four shuttle buses and chargers
• Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, $1,248,585, for four electric refuse trucks and chargers
• Fairfax County Department of Vehicle Services and Department of Procurement and Material Management, $205,275 for one medium-duty truck and charger used for libraries

The DEQ will now begin accepting applications for the second round of Clean Air Community Program funds to replace diesel buses with electric or propane school buses. Applications are due June 15. A third round of funding will begin in the fall.

“Currently, approximately 99 percent of Virginia’s public school buses use diesel and more than 3,500 buses are at least 15 years old,” said Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew J. Strickler. “This program will focus on replacing buses in disadvantaged communities already overburdened by pollution.”

In September 2019, Northam directed $20 million from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust to support new initiatives aimed at deploying electric school buses across the state.

The trust is the result of settlements resolving allegations that Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act through the use of emission testing defeat devices designed to cheat on federal emissions tests. Volkswagen sold more than 500,000 excessively polluting vehicles in the U.S. More than 16,000 were sold in Virginia, and produced more than 2,000 tons of excess nitrogen oxides in violation of federal pollution standards.