EPA announces clean heavy-duty vehicle transition grants

On Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would provide nearly $1 billion in grants for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles, infrastructure and workforce development.

The grants, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, would fund the replacement of certain polluting heavy-duty vehicles with zero-emission vehicles, as well as the invest in the infrastructure and workforce to support that transition.

“In addition to all the progress we’re making to electrify light-duty vehicles, today’s funding from the EPA will catalyze projects that bring electric school buses, garbage trucks, and delivery vans to neighborhoods across America—reducing pollution in our communities and creating good-paying manufacturing jobs,” John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, said.

The program is designed to help applicants transition to zero-emission vehicles, the EPA said, and to reduce air pollution, while creating clean-energy jobs. Officials said the program will support the adoption and deployment of eligible Class 6 and 7zero-emission vehicles while funding zero-emission infrastructure and workforce development. More than 3 million Class 6 and 7 vehicles are in use across the country, the agency said, ranging from school buses to refuse haulers to delivery trucks.

“EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program will slash climate and air pollution and enhance the country’s infrastructure by funding the deployment of zero-emissions vehicles and installation of supporting infrastructure,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said. “The program’s historic investment in zero-emission vehicles will secure our nation’s position as a global leader in clean technologies that address the impacts of climate change.”