Committee Updates
2023
February 2023 Public Meeting
The Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund Committee met on Thursday, February 23, 2023. The meeting was held in person in Indiana Government Center South Conference Room A and also held virtually via Teams.
Meeting Documents:
2022
October 2022 Update
The national Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust provides Beneficiaries with the flexibility to use Trust funds in combination with a state’s Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) awards. The State of Indiana is an annual recipient of a DERA State Allocation award and the Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Committee approved a portion of the state’s overall Volkswagen funding to be utilized in this manner.
The 2022 (Round 4) DieselWise Indiana with Volkswagen DERA Option Request for Proposals is available on the DieselWise Indiana website
September 2022 Public Meeting
The Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund Committee met on Thursday, September 8, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The meeting was held in person in Indiana Government Center South Conference Room A and also held virtually via Zoom.
Meeting Documents:
February 2022 Virtual Public Meeting
The Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund Committee met on Thursday, February 3, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. EDT. The meeting was held virtually via Zoom.
Meeting Documents:
Past Meetings and Materials
Program Background
On September 6, 2017, the United States filed its Notice of and Memorandum in Support of its Unopposed Motion for Court Approval of Finalized Trust Agreements (“Motion for Approval”). The Court approved the Trust documents shortly after the filing. This Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund is the result of a Consent Decree between the U.S. Justice Department, the Volkswagen (VW) Corporation, and its subsidiaries addressing the installation and use of emission testing defeat devices in over 590,000 2.0- and 3.0-liter subject vehicles sold and operated in the U.S. beginning in 2009.
- U.S. EPA: Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement (includes consent decrees)
The settlement requires VW to pay $2.9 billion into the Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund, to offset the excess air pollution emitted by the VW vehicles that violated the Clean Air Act. Indiana expects to receive $40.9 million from the Trust in, at least, three annual installments starting in 2018, with all funds being fully disbursed by 2028. Pursuant to the terms of the Mitigation Trust, eligible projects to reduce NOx emissions from diesel-powered vehicles and equipment will include replacement and repowering of existing diesel vehicles or equipment with cleaner alternatives serving the same purpose. Indiana must develop and submit a Beneficiary Mitigation Plan (“BMP”) to the Trustee describing what types of eligible projects will be implemented to achieve reductions in diesel emissions, with a focus on NOx emissions, across Indiana.
This site was developed to provide information on the Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Program and to solicit comment on the Indiana Beneficiary Mitigation Plan Draft Framework (Archived). The comments received through this process were considered in the development of the final BMP submitted to the Trustee. In addition to the request for comments, several public meetings were held around the state to provide an opportunity for interested parties to provide comments on the draft BMP prior to its completion and submittal to the Trustee. The final Indiana Beneficiary Mitigation Plan as submitted to the Trustee of the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Environmental Mitigation Trust is provided on IDEM’s Previous Public Meetings and Materials page .
Projects Eligible for Funding under the Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Program and Funding Caps as prescribed by National Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Agreement
Trust funds may be used to pay some or all of the cost to repower or replace eligible diesel-powered vehicles with new diesel, alternative fuel, or all-electric engines or vehicles. A repower project consists of the removal of an existing engine and replacing with a newer, cleaner, engine. A replacement project consists of the removal from the fleet of an existing vehicle and the replacement of it with a vehicle of the same size and purpose. Appendix D-2 to the Partial Consent Decree: Appendix D-2 to the Partial Consent Decree: Eligible Mitigation Actions and Mitigation Action Expenditures [PDF] spells out eligible model years and different percentages of the cost for government-owned and privately-owned vehicles, and requires that the old engines and vehicles be scrapped. The Chart of Vehicles by Class Size [JPG] provides additional clarification of the different eligible truck and bus classes.
![Chart of Vehicles by Class Size [JPG]](/idem/airquality/images/vw_settlement_vehicle_chart.jpg){kind=link}
The Executive Order and press release from Governor Holcomb that outline steps of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust fund are available online:
To submit formal comments regarding the Indiana Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Program, or for general questions, please contact OAQ.