The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Climate Protection & Mitigation Expendable Trust, supplemented with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) resources, is providing $100M in funding for clean transportation and climate finance work including electrifying school bus fleets ($46M), low- and moderate-income housing decarbonization ($50M), and solid waste vehicle electrification grants ($4M). The grants support commitments in the state’s net zero by 2050 goals. Of its clean transportation and climate finance work, the state plans to invest $22M for a pilot program for climate finance support and acceleration efforts, and will leverage private funding for decarbonization projects for existing buildings. The remaining $24M will support and expand the state’s Accelerating Clean Transportation (ACT) initiatives, launched in 2020.
MassDEP has also announced its latest round of Diesel Emission Reduction act (DERA) grants totaling almost $1.9M. DERA funds may offer up to 45% of replacement vehicle costs. With this funding, Massachusetts is directing 95% of its DERA grants to environmental justice areas where there are high populations of minority, low-income, and low English proficiency residents. One project funded at The Stop & Shop Supermarket in Assonet ($85K) is for an electric transport refrigeration unit (TRU), trailer, and charger. A TRU can heat or cool trailers holding temperature-sensitive goods. The state notes that this eTRU is innovative as it is a mobile rather than a stationary unit. More information and a list of funded projects are available here.
