Press Releases
01/26/2017
Gov. Malloy Announces Initial Clean Air Project Plan Directing $51 Million from Volkswagen Settlement
First Round of Public Comments Being Sought on Use of Funds from Volkswagen Clean Air Settlement
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that the State of Connecticut has issued an initial plan for public comment that will guide Connecticut’s efforts to utilize over $51 million dollars from a national legal settlement to address a widespread automobile emissions cheating scandal involving Volkswagen (VW) Corporation.
The draft plan is available on Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) website at www.ct.gov/deep/vw and public comments will be accepted through February 28, 2017. DEEP has also scheduled a public informational meeting on the proposed plan for February 9, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the DEEP offices at 79 Elm St., Hartford.
“While it is impossible to offset the environmental impacts of VW’s egregious actions, we intend to use these funds to improve air quality and public health in Connecticut while supporting important changes needed to meet our long term environmental and energy goals,” Governor Malloy said.
On October 25, 2016, a Partial Consent Decree was finalized between the United States, the State of California, and VW regarding the installation and use of emissions control defeat device software on over 500,000 VW and Audi branded diesel vehicles equipped with 2.0 liter engines sold and operated in the United States from 2009 through 2015. An estimated 11,911 of these vehicles were sold or leased in Connecticut.
In response to the Partial Consent Decree, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has developed a draft plan for public comment to guide the use of these funds for eligible projects. The plan proposes to employ the utmost flexibility to identify and fund mitigation actions that will produce the greatest air quality benefit, reduce public exposure to harmful air pollution, and promote electric vehicles and other clean vehicle technologies while also supporting other important clean energy and economic goals.
“The initial draft of DEEP’s plan keeps all possible options open for the use of new technologies to improve our air quality, protect public health and support our efforts to achieve important environmental objectives,” DEEP Commissioner Rob Klee said. “We must take this type of ‘long’ view because we don’t know how technology will change and evolve over the ten-year period to be covered by this plan.”
The defeat devices increased air pollution by operating during official tests but not while the vehicles were driven under normal conditions, causing increased air pollution that adversely impacted air quality and public health and violated both the federal Clean Air Act and Connecticut’s clean air laws and regulations. The subject vehicles emitted higher levels of an air pollutant, nitrogen oxide (NOX), that contributes to the formation of smog, which impairs lung function and cardiovascular health.
An Environmental Mitigation Trust will be established later this year as part of the Partial Consent Decree to provide funds to the states to mitigate the air quality impacts of the higher vehicle emissions from the offending action. The initial share to Connecticut from this trust is up to $51.6 million dollars. The trust will also establish a process to administer the funds and identifies ten categories of mitigation actions that will be eligible for funding along with reimbursement rates for these actions.
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