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Volkswagen Settlement, SD Mitigation Trust

Introduction
Welcome to DANR's Volkswagen Settlement - South Dakota Mitigation Trust webpage. Click on the links below for additional information

Latest Updates
March 13, 2024 - Round Three recipients of the VW EVCS Rebate Program have been announced.

Round 16 recipients of the DERA/VW Bus Rebate Program have been announced.

Round 11 of the VW Truck Rebate Program will open June 3, 2024.

May 20, 2021 - The Board of Minerals and Environment approved the Revisions to South Dakota's Volkswagen Beneficiary Mitigation Plan.

April 2019 - On March 5, 2019, the Governor signed HB1258, giving spending authority for the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust funds. The initial mitigation funding project will be used for school, shuttle and transit bus replacement. The Department will use VW funds from Category 10 (The DERA Option) for the project; and if the response for projects is extensive, Category 2 (Class 4-8 Buses) may also be used. Recipients and award amounts are available on the Clean Diesel Program webpage.

South Dakota specific reports are available here.

Background Information
On January 24, 2016, the United States and the State of California filed a lawsuit against Volkswagen alleging it had manufactured diesel cars sold and operated in the U.S. beginning in 2009 with systems intended to defeat emissions tests. These systems allowed vehicles to emit nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution at levels that significantly exceeded the amounts allowed under the Clean Air Act.

Volkswagen has agreed to settle some of these allegations. The first partial settlement was in regard to the installation and use of emission testing defeat devices in 2.0 liter diesel vehicles and a second partial settlement was in regard to the installation and use of emission testing defeat devices in 3.0 liter diesel vehicles. The overall settlement consists of three major parts:

  • Part 1: Buyback, Lease Termination, Vehicle Modification and Emissions Compliant Recall Program
    Volkswagen is required to earmark about $11.2 billion ($10.033 billion from the first 2.0 liter consent decree and $1.2 billion from the second 3.0 liter consent decree) to buy back affected noncompliant vehicles, terminate leases early, or repair the vehicles by 2019 or 2020 depending on the make and model. Volkswagen administers this part of the settlement directly with affected vehicle owners. Additional information is available at www.VWCourtSettlement.com
  • Part 2: National Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Investment Plan
    Volkswagen is required to invest $2 billion ($800 million within California and $1.2 billion outside of California) over 10 years in the zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure, access, and awareness initiatives. The form of the Trust Agreement can be found in Appendix C of the first partial consent decree. This part of the settlement will be administered by Volkswagen, the U.S. EPA and California in four 30-month investment cycles. For each round, project proposals are submitted to Volkswagen, and Volkswagen develops an investment plan to be reviewed and approved by the EPA. They are currently working on Cycle 3 of the Plan. Additional information is available at www.electrifyamerica.com.
  • Part 3: Environmental Mitigation Trust
    Volkswagen is required to fund an Environmental Mitigation Trust in the amount of $2.925 billion ($2.7 billion from the first 2.0 liter consent decree and $225 million from the second 3.0 liter consent decree) to be used to offset the lifetime excess air pollution (i.e. nitrogen oxide emissions) emitted by the Volkswagen vehicles that violated the Clean Air Act. The form of the Trust Agreement can be found in Appendix D of the first partial consent decree. The fund is distributed among states, territories and federally-recognized tribes based on the proportion of affected VW diesel vehicles registered in each jurisdiction.

 

Eligible Mitigation Actions
The Trust establishes a process to administer the funds, and identifies 10 categories of mitigation actions that will be eligible for funding along with reimbursement rates for these actions. Eligible actions focus on reducing nitrogen oxide pollution from primarily diesel-powered trucks and buses. Generally, the types of approved actions include replacing older diesel-powered trucks, buses, industrial vehicles and other powered equipment with new, lower emissions equipment. Categories of eligible vehicles and equipment are as follows:

  1. Class 8 local freight trucks and port drayage trucks
  2. Class 4-8 school buses, shuttle buses or transit buses
  3. Freight switcher locomotives
  4. Ferries and tugs
  5. Ocean going vessels shorepower
  6. Class 4-7 local freight trucks
  7. Airport ground support equipment
  8. Forklifts and port cargo handling equipment
  9. Light duty Zero Emissions Vehicle supply equipment
  10. Matching funds for projects eligible under the federal Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA)

State Allocation
South Dakota expects to receive $8.125 million dollars from the Environmental Mitigation Trust. The funds are to be disbursed within 10 years, with no more than one-third disbursed in the first year or two-thirds disbursed in the first two years. A Beneficiary Mitigation Plan must be developed that summarizes how the State allocation of mitigation funds will be distributed among the various eligible mitigation actions to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The Plan will be based on eligible mitigation actions that can produce the greatest air quality benefit in terms of nitrogen oxide emission reductions, reduced public exposure, and the promotion of clean vehicle technologies. The Plan will be developed through a public process, with multiple opportunities for public comment.

The court has approved a Trustee who will be responsible for administering the Trust. The State and Tribe Trust Agreements have been executed by the settling parties and filed with the court. As a result of this filing, the Trust Effective Date has been set to October 2, 2017. The Trust Effective Date kicked off the timeline for each state to take the required actions to qualify to receive funds. Within 60 days of the Trust Effective Date, South Dakota needed to submit a Certification Form in electronic format and by mail, signed by the Governor, explaining how South Dakota qualifies to be a Beneficiary under the Trust. This form was submitted November 21, 2017. On January 29, 2018, South Dakota was designated as a beneficiary to the State Trust. The Notice of Availability of Mitigation Action Funds was submitted to the federal agencies on February 8, 2018.

Beneficiary Mitigation Plan
On August 16, 2018, a public hearing was held by the Board of Minerals and Environment (BME) to hear additional testimony before finalizing and approving the beneficiary mitigation plan. There were no changes made and the approved beneficiary mitigation plan was submitted to the Trustee.

Prior to the public hearing, DENR developed this webpage in September 2017, to keep everyone informed on how the Volkswagen funds are spent and accept public input on the draft beneficiary mitigation plan. The beneficiary mitigation plan outlines how the Volkswagen mitigation trust funds will be spent. After receiving informal input, DANR drafted the beneficiary mitigation plan and public notice was given that the draft beneficiary mitigation plan was open for public comment through June 15, 2018. Public Input meetings were held in Rapid City and Sioux Falls. The presentation from the meetings can be viewed here. These are the comments received prior to the draft beneficiary mitigation plan and the comments received in response to the draft beneficiary mitigation plan. DANR prepared a Response to Comments on July 10, 2018.

On May 20, 2021, The Board of Minerals and Environment approved Revisions to South Dakota's Volkswagen Beneficiary Mitigation Plan. Click for the comments received during the 30-day public comment period and DANR's response to those comments.

VW Trust Timeline