The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality invites public comment on the state’s plan to invest $67 million in Volkswagen Settlement funds. The Draft Phase 2 Mitigation plan focuses on efforts to reduce pollution impacts while incentivizing zero emission vehicles and increasing outreach to under-resourced communities.
The funds represent North Carolina’s share of the $2.9 billion federal settlement with Volkswagen due to its misrepresentation of diesel emission standards in certain vehicles. Governor Roy Cooper designated the Division of Air Quality as the lead agency to manage the project in November 2017. Wilmington Trust officially designed North Carolina as a State Beneficiary in January 2018.
In Phase 1 of the program, North Carolina awarded nearly $27 million to replace 111 school buses and 16 transit buses and to install 33 zero emission vehicle (ZEV) fast charging stations and 78 Level 2 charging stations across the state.
The Division of Air Quality will hold a series public information sessions to explain the draft plan. Members of the public and entities interested in receiving funds for eligible projects are encouraged to register and attend:
- 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Wednesday, July 14: Western NC Region
- 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 14: Centralina/Triad Region
- 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Wednesday, July 21: Triangle Region
- 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 21: Coastal NC Region
The Division of Air Quality will also hold a series of in-person public information sessions for counties eligible in the Historically Under-Resourced Counties Outreach Program. Additional meeting dates, locations and times will be posted on the DEQ Volkswagen Program webpage.
Comments may be submitted online via Microsoft Forms at https://bit.ly/3jMMu3i or emailed to daq_NCVWGrants@ncdenr.gov. Voicemail comments will also be accepted at 919-707-8429. All comments will be accepted until September 7, 2021 at 5 p.m.
Additional information regarding Phase 2 can be found on https://deq.nc.gov/vw-settlement.
NCDOT is soliciting review & comment on the proposed 2020 NCDOT Cooperative Process for Engaging Non-Metropolitan Local Officials in Statewide Transportation Planning (formerly known as the ‘rural consultation plan’).
As you may know, 23 CFR 450.210 requires NCDOT to establish a consultation process that provides opportunity for non-metropolitan local officials to participate in the development of the long-range transportation plans. Per 23 CFR 450.210, the plan is updated every five years and includes a comment period for non-metropolitan local officials to review and solicit comments on the process.
The Rural Planning Organizations (RPO) are the core of the NCDOT process for engaging with non-metropolitan local officials. We are soliciting comments on the attached plan. Please provide comments back by via email to Tim Brock by December 22, 2020. Note that this does not require formal RPO action.
To provide some context, the current engagement of non-metropolitan local officials plan was included within the 2016 Unified Public Engagement Plan (UPEP) in the section entitled Non‐Metropolitan Planning Comprehensive Transportation Planning (Section 3.3). For this update, we are returning to having a standalone document that reflects the process by which NCDOT engages non-metropolitan local officials.
Comments should be submitted via email to Tim Brock (tjbrock1@ncdot.gov) no later than close of business on December 22, 2020.
Kerr-Tar Regional Transportation Planning Organization (KTRPO)
Clean Fuels Advanced Technology (CFAT)