DEQ partnered with the Virginia Department of Education to provide Environmental Mitigation Trust funds to 22 public school districts across Virginia to replace a total of 124 diesel school buses with 94 battery electric school buses and 30 propane school buses. DEQ and the Virginia Department of Education also worked with the Virgina Department of General Services to establish the first state-wide contract for the purchase of electric school buses and charging infrastructure. 

According to World Resources Institute’s electric school adoption data (January 2022-December 2024), Virginia ranks 9^th in the nation for the number of electric school buses “committed” (awarded, ordered, delivered, operating) with 383.  Of these 383 electric school buses, 238 electric school buses are operational across Virginia school districts, of which, 40% were funded with Virginia’s Environmental Mitigation Trust funds.

The Clean Air Communities Program is funding approximately three-fourths of the cost of the diesel-to-electric vehicle projects listed below, with state or local governments providing $3,651,652 in matching funds:

• Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services: $1,248,585 for four electric refuse trucks and chargers (Completed).
• Fairfax County Department of Vehicle Services and Department of Procurement and Material Management: $205,275 for one medium-duty electric truck and charger used for libraries (Completed).
• Fairfax County Department of Transportation: $2,997,784 for four electric shuttle buses and chargers (Completed).
• Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority: $3,970,000 for four electric shuttle buses and chargers (Projected completion 2026).

After a competitive bid process, DEQ awarded a contract to EVgo LLC in 2018 to develop, install, own and operate the Drive Electric Virginia (DEV) public electric vehicle (EV) charging network. Eighty percent of eligible costs were funded by a portion of the funds allocated to Virginia through the Volkswagen (VW) Mitigation Settlement; remaining costs were funded by EVgo. The primary goal of the DEV network was to ensure that 95% of Virginians were within 30 miles of a public fast charger once completed. 

The DEV public network was completed in December 2024.  A total of 57 fast charging host sites were installed across the Commonwealth resulting in 96% of Virginians within 30 miles of a public fast charger. Additional key benefits of the DEV network to date include:

• Reduction of 46,000 lbs. of NO_x vehicle emissions
• Reduction of over 18 metric tons of CO₂ vehicle emissions
• Reduction of two (2) million gallons of fossil fuel consumption
• 521,654 DEV network charging events and 46 million EV miles driven
• 20 fast chargers donated to public entities located in Virginia, including community colleges, universities, towns and cities

The EV charging industry is continuously changing as new EV models become available, charging demands shift, new business models emerge, host site priorities change, and funding availability fluctuates. Therefore, certain charging stations on the DEV network may be retired, replaced, or upgraded.  With its completion, DEQ retains specific oversight of the DEV network, including ensuring that EVgo owns and operates each DEV Host Site for a minimum of five years, and maintains an average 95% annual uptime rate of the network.

DEQ partnered with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) to deploy the first electric transit buses in Virgina through DRPT’s Making Efficient and Responsible Investments in Transit (MERIT), a statewide grants program that provides financial assistance to support public transportation services throughout Virginia. The goal of the partnership is to provide Environmental Mitigation Trust funds to cover the incremental cost of transitioning from diesel buses to all-electric buses.  

Through MERIT, a total of $16.7 million of Environmental Mitigation Trust funds was awarded to  Alexandria DASH, Blacksburg Transit, Hampton Roads Transit, Fairfax Department of Transportation, and Greater Roanoke Transit Company (Valley Metro) to replace 36 older diesel public transit buses with all-electric buses.  Twenty-one (21) of 36 electric public transit buses are operational, with the remaining 15 electric transit buses projected to be operational by end of 2026.  

The Port of Virginia is the third largest container port on the U.S. East Coast, serving as a global gateway to commerce and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs in Virginia.  In 2021, The Port of Virginia made a commitment to become a net-zero carbon operation by 2040.

To support The Port of Virginia’s net-zero carbon commitment by 2040, an investment of $25,000,000 in VW Trust has been made to replace diesel port cargo handling equipment with all electric port cargo handling equipment. These investments include:

• Electric ship-to-shore cranes (Completed)
• Electric yard tractor and charging infrastructure pilot project (Projected completion 2026)
• Electric rail-mounted gantry cranes (Projected completion 2026)

Environmental Mitigation Trust funds may be used for administrative expenditures associated with implementing EMAs but cannot exceed 15% of the total cost of such action. The 15% cap includes the aggregated amount of eligible administrative expenditures incurred by Virginia and any third-party contracted by the Commonwealth.