Nearly $3.8 billion in Funding and Technical Assistance Available for State, Local, and Tribal Governments

Nearly $3.8 billion of funding and technical assistance is available for state, local, and tribal governments from the Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Department of Commerce (DOC) that can be used to support climate and energy initiatives, including economic development, sustainable communities, green infrastructure, and water efficiency. For full eligibility and application details, please visit the links provided below.

In addition, please visit the calendar of 2014 EPA grant opportunities that may be of particular interest to communities.

Special Announcement: DOE Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement for State Energy Program 2014 Competitive Awards

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has released a notification of intent to issue a funding opportunity announcement for the State Energy Program 2014 Competitive Awards. DOE seeks to fund projects in two areas of interest: 1) State Energy Planning, and 2) Opportunities for Innovative Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Practices. EERE plans to issue the funding opportunity announcement on or about April 21, 2014, via FedConnect and Grants.gov. Please note that only states are eligible to apply for these awards.
                     
INVEST Implementation Projects – Round 2 ~ $150,000 (with a 100 percent Non-federal match)

• Letter of Interest Due: March 28, 2014
• Eligible Entities: State DOTs, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and federal lands. 

The Department of Transportation is making available funds to support INVEST (Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool)—a practical, web-based, collection of voluntary best practices and criteria designed to help transportation agencies integrate sustainable practices into their projects. Funding will support eligible entities using INVEST to review operations and maintenance programs at the district or statewide level. Additionally, funding will help assess and improve the sustainability of specific transportation projects under development, or learn from projects already completed. The intent of this research funding opportunity is to develop case studies and analysis showing sustainability improvements from INVEST.
For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.
    
Resilience Projects in Response to Hurricane Sandy– $3 billion

• Application Due: March 28, 2014
• Eligible Entities: Eligible applicants must be located in or provide public transportation service in one of the areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, which are defined as areas for which President Obama declared a major disaster under the Stafford Act in response to Hurricane Sandy. Eligible entities include state and local governments, federally recognized tribes, authorities and public transportation agencies that receive funding through FTA formula programs, other entities responsible for an eligible public transportation capital project that enter into a sub-recipient arrangement with an existing FTA grantee, and entities that provide intercity passenger rail service.

The Federal Transit Administration is soliciting proposals for resilience projects, defined as those projects designed and built to address current and future vulnerabilities to a public transportation facility or system due to future occurrence or recurrence of emergencies or major disasters that are likely to occur in the geographic area in which the public transportation system is located. This resilience funding is intended to protect public transportation infrastructure that has been repaired or rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy or that is at risk of being damaged or destroyed by a future natural disaster.
For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

Vehicle Technologies Program – $51.4 million

• Application Due: April 1, 2014
• Eligible Entities: State and local governments, federally recognized tribes, public nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes public institutions of higher education and hospitals) and private nonprofit institutions/organizations (includes private institutions of higher education and hospitals) located in the United States and U.S. territories or possessions.

The Vehicle Technologies Office from the Department of Energy supports a broad research, development, and deployment technology portfolio focused on reducing the cost and improving the performance of a mix of near- and long-term vehicle technologies including advanced batteries, power electronics and electric motors, lightweight and propulsion materials, advanced combustion engines, advanced fuels and lubricants, and other enabling technologies. Specifically, activities are aimed at improving vehicle technologies such as powertrains, fuel, tires, and auxiliary systems. This Funding Opportunity Announcement contains a total of 14 areas of interest in the general areas of advanced light-weighting; advanced battery development; power electronics; advanced heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems; and fuels and lubricants.
For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.
         
Coastal Resilience Networks Grant– $300,000

• Application Due: April 11, 2014
• Eligible Entities: Nonprofits, federally recognized tribes, state and local governments, small businesses, for-profit organizations other than small businesses, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education.

The Department of Commerce is soliciting grant proposals from eligible organizations to implement activities that enhance resilience of coastal communities to natural hazard and climate risks through a local, regional, or national network. Proposals submitted in response to this announcement shall provide beneficial public outcomes for coastal communities related to addressing existing and future risks to the natural environment, infrastructure, local economies, and vulnerable populations. Proposals must also leverage, enhance, or create a human or technical network in which one or more coastal hazard issues can be addressed through partnerships to enhance communication, cooperation, coordination, and/or collaboration.
For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

Pollution Prevention Information Network (PPIN) Grant– $700,000

• Application Due: April 15, 2014
• Eligible Entities: State governments, federally recognized tribes, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States, any agency or instrumentality of a state, and state colleges and universities.

The Pollution Prevention Information Network (PPIN) grant program funds regional centers that serve both regional and national pollution prevention information needs. Grantees determine audience needs and then supply quality information and training on source reduction and related pollution prevention practices. Grantees provide assistance and training to businesses whose lack of information may be an impediment to implementing source reduction, preventing pollution or adopting sustainable practices.
For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

National Infrastructure Investment “TIGER” Program – $600 million

• Application Due: April 28, 2014
• Eligible Entities: State and local governments, federally recognized tribes, U.S. territories, transit agencies, port authorities, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), other political subdivisions of state or local governments, and multi-state or multi-jurisdictional groups applying through a single lead applicant.

The Department of Transportation is making available $600 million under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 to national infrastructure investments. This appropriation is similar to the program funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or “TIGER Discretionary Grants,” program. Eligible projects include highway or bridge projects eligible under title 23, United States Code (including bicycle and pedestrian related projects); public transportation projects eligible under chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code; passenger and freight rail transportation projects; port infrastructure investments; and intermodal projects. FY 2014 TIGER also allows for up to $35 million (of the $600 million) to be awarded as grants for the planning of eligible transportation facilities. Eligible planning project include activities related to the planning, preparation, or design of a single surface transportation project, or activities related to regional transportation investment planning, including transportation planning that is coordinated with interdisciplinary factors including housing, economic development, stormwater and other infrastructure investments, and/or that addresses future risks and vulnerabilities, including extreme weather and climate change. Note: Applications open on April 3, 2014.
For more information, visit the Federal Register Funding Notice.

Tribal Climate Change Grant – $600,000

• Application Due: April 30, 2014
• Eligible Entities: Tribal governments

The Department of Interior is making available grants to support tribes that are addressing challenges of climate change in tribal communities. The grants will support planning for, and adapting to, future climate impacts on the entire range of tribal government functions and traditional use.
For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

Commercial Building Technology Demonstrations Grant – $10 million

• Application Due: May 19, 2014
• Eligible Entities: For-profit entities, educational institutions, nonprofits, state and local governments, federally recognized tribes.

The Department of Energy is making available grants to enhance and accelerate the deployment and adoption of a broad range of competitively solicited high-impact energy saving technologies as well as new technology integration approaches. Technologies selected under this funding opportunity will be ready for market adoption but may be underutilized due to market barriers, including perception of risk, gaps in information, and data on performance as well as cost.
For more information, visit the funding opportunity description.

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State and local officials interested in additional information about developing and implementing cost-effective climate and energy strategies that help further environmental goals and achieve public health and economic benefits may visit EPA’s State and Local Climate and Energy Program site. 

Clean Cities Launches iPhone App for Alternative Fueling Station Locations

Alternative fuel stations in the palm of your hand.

iPhone users now have access to a free app that locates fueling stations offering alternative fuels, including electricity, natural gas, biodiesel, E85, propane, and hydrogen. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed the new app for DOE’s Clean Cities program. It is available for download through Apple’s App Store.

The Alternative Fueling Station Locator app allows iPhone users to select an alternative fuel and find the 20 closest stations within a 30-mile radius. Users can view the locations on a map or as a list containing station addresses, phone numbers, and hours of operation.

“If you drive an electric vehicle, for example, you can now use your iPhone to easily identify, contact, and navigate to the charging station that is most convenient for you,” NREL Project Manager Trish Cozart said. “Generally, people don’t search for a station while they’re sitting at a computer; they need this information while they’re out and about, which makes a mobile application the ideal means to deliver it.”

The app draws information from Clean Cities’ Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), which houses the most comprehensive, up-to-date database of alternative fueling stations in the United States. The database contains location and contact information for more than 15,000 alternative fueling stations throughout the country.

“The number of alternative fuel vehicles on the road has been increasing steadily over the last two decades,” Cozart said. “Drivers and fleets have an unprecedented array of options to cut or eliminate petroleum use, and this new app serves as one more tool to facilitate these transitions.”

The AFDC is a comprehensive clearinghouse of information about advanced transportation technologies. The site offers unbiased information, data, and tools related to the deployment of alternative fuels and advanced vehicles.

In addition to the iPhone app, the AFDC provides multiple ways to access and use its alternative fueling station data. The Alternative Fueling Station Locator functions as a “widget,” meaning that users can embed the tool onto their own websites. The data are also available via data feeds that developers can access and use in their own mobile and Web applications. Provided through NREL’s developer site, developers can retrieve the data via a Web services API (application programming interface).

Courtesy of Clean Cities
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/news_detail.html?news_id=21037

CT Clean Cities Future Fuels Update

Greater New Haven Clean Cities was awarded an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant. The grant included $13.1 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Energy and $16.6 million in non-federal funds provided by over 30 partner organizations. The collaboration will lead to development and implementation of a state-wide fuel neutral effort that will deploy 267 alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and 5 public access and 5 private fleet access fueling stations as part of the Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels Project. You can learn more at the project’s website, http://www.ct-futurefuels.com/.

If you are interested in finding out more about what alternative fuels are best for your fleet visit http://www.afdc.energy.gov/ or email Lee Grannis at grannis@nhcleancities.org.

Below are graphs and charts that illustrate the Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuel results as of June 30, 2013.

This is total fuel sales from the beginning of the Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels Project
Q1 of FY 2011 through Q3 FY 2013.

The project consists of 7 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations of which 4 are public access stations and 3 are fleet only access stations, 1 liquefied natural gas (LNG) with CNG station where the LNG side is fleet only access, but the CNG is public access, 1 fleet only access biodiesel station of B20, and electric charging stations with 4 as public use and 4 for fleet only use.

Fuel sales for natural gas separated into CNG and LNG sales of in-project vehicles and out-of-project vehicles.
Data from the Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels Project.

The graph above illustrates how much fuel was used by vehicles that were obtained as part of the project and fuel used by vehicles that companies outside of the project purchased because it made economic sense to do so. This graph shows that businesses are finding it beneficial to switch their fleet from traditional petroleum fuel to alternative fuels. Below are the numbers as to the number and type of vehicles obtained through the project.

Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels Project vehicles by type and class.

The graph below gives the number of miles driven by in project vehicles by quarter. Thus far in the project over 20.2 million miles have been driven by these alternative fuel vehicles.

Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels Project vehicles cumulative miles driven by quarter.

If you would like to find out more, please visit the project website: http://www.ct-futurefuels.com/index.html. If you are interested in finding out more about what alternative fuels are best for your fleet visit http://www.afdc.energy.gov/.