Natural Gas Vehicle Grant Program Now Open
This new three-year Natural Gas Energy Development Program was created as part of Act 13 of 2012, and is funded through revenue generated by the impact fee. The program is being administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and over the next three years a total of $20 million in funds will be made available on a competitive basis for the program.
Scarnati, a chief architect of Act 13, said the impact fee revenue being used for the Natural Gas Vehicle Grant Program is only a portion of the more than $205 million in impact fee collections for 2012. In addition to this program, impact fee revenue is also being distributed to municipalities and counties in the drilling region, and used for environmental initiatives throughout the Commonwealth.
“It’s vitally important we help provide local governments, schools and businesses with opportunities for low-priced energy alternatives,” Scarnati said. “This program will help our state with the effort to move towards energy independence on foreign oil, while also benefiting our environment.”
Eligible applicants include Commonwealth or municipal authorities, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, nonprofit entities, for-profit companies, local transportation organizations and state-owned or state-related universities. Vehicles must weigh 14,000 pounds or more and be fueled with compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas to be eligible.
Applications for the program must be submitted online, using the Commonwealth’s eGrant website: https://www.grants.dcnr.state.pa.us.
For this first year, applications will be accepted through February 1, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. Grants will be awarded in late March of 2013.
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