As part of a class action lawsuit settlement, school districts in the state of California can now compete for a piece of a $7 million dollar fund that will be awarded to projects that reduce vehicle emissions or increase fuel efficiency.
The money available through the state's Reformulated Gasoline Settlement Fund resulted from a settlement of 14 class action lawsuits against Union Oil Company of California and Unocal Corporation. The plaintiffs claimed that the companies urged the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to adopt proprietary formula for summertime reformulated gasoline, which enabled Union Oil and Unocal to affect summertime pump price increases. Despite denying any wrongdoing or that gas prices increased due to CARB's adoption of the formula, the companies agreed to a pre-trial settlement of $48 million.
Settlement terms dictated that 25 percent of the money, or $7 million, be allocated to a public grant program that would in part retrofit existing school buses or provide purchase incentives for new lower buses with lower emissions. The fund would also “increase transit use and shared vehicle use,” which would include expanding school bus use as well as bicycling programs. Money can also be awarded for education programs aimed at reducing diesel bus idling. Other fleets eligible for retrofit and new purchases are port vehicles; outdated freight trucks and locomotives.
The program also funds conversions of taxicab and car-sharing fleets to hybrid-electric vehicles and provides infrastructure to support alternative-fueled vehicle refueling or charging stations. All awarded grants are expected to range in size from $500,000 to $1 million.
Applications are due May 3, 2010, and can be downloaded from the Cy Pres Web site.