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Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is using funds from the Volkswagen settlement to reduce air pollution in Minnesota today and invest in a cleaner transportation system for tomorrow. Air pollution from vehicles both causes negative health impacts for our communities and contributes to climate change. The settlement funds offer an opportunity for us to tackle both of these problems by reducing harmful emissions — including greenhouse gases — from vehicles and equipment in our state.

In the first few years of the MPCA’s Volkswagen settlement grants program, MPCA distributed nearly $35 million across five categories: transit buses and trucks, off road equipment, school buses, heavy-duty electric vehicles, and EV charging stations.

Open and upcoming grant rounds

See the Grants and loans page for currently available funding opportunities.

  • Spring 2024. Grants to reduce diesel emissions from idling locomotive engines. Locomotive engines spend a great deal of time idling, particularly in cold months, to keep the engine ready for operation in a railyard. By adding a small upgrade to the locomotive, for example, an auxiliary power unit and/or an automatic engine shutdown/startup, the engine can be ready to go when needed, reduce harmful emissions, and provide significant fuel savings to the owner.
  • Summer 2024. Clean heavy-duty off-road diesel equipment grants will be available to those who own/operate heavy duty off-road vehicles in Minnesota to replace their vehicles or upgrade the engines.
GovDelivery: VW settlement updates MNPCA_302
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Awarded grants