VW’s Dieselgate: Here’s How North Carolina Spent $92M

(TNS) — North Carolina has finished spending the funds the state received from the Volkswagen cheat-device scandal, using the money to boost the number of electric vehicle chargers and electric, heavy-duty vehicles like school buses and garbage trucks.

In total, North Carolina received about $92 million from the settlement. Those funds were administered by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Here’s what to know about the money.

WHAT WAS THE VOLKSWAGEN SCANDAL?

Between 2009 and 2016, Volkswagen sold 590,000 diesel-engine vehicles with devices designed to cheat on federal emissions tests. The software was particularly focused on fooling federal tests that measured the levels of nitrogen oxides, also known as NOx.

When the vehicles were on the road, they emitted significantly higher levels of NOx, pollution that could help smog and soot form, than they did in tests. NOx has been linked with aggravated respiratory diseases and could be a cause of asthma in children, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The scandal was sometimes called “Dieselgate” or “Emissionsgate.” Volkswagen agreed to a $14.7 billion settlement, which included $2.7 billion for an independent mitigation trust that would be administered by local governments in an effort to reduce NOx emissions from transportation.

HOW DID NORTH CAROLINA SPEND ITS MONEY?

Projects funded with the settlement money were meant to reduce the amount of NOx emissions, because that was the pollutant on which Volkswagen was charged with trying to fool regulators.

Per the terms of the agreement, as much as 15% of the state’s settlement funds could be used on charging infrastructure. North Carolina committed to spending that full amount.

“We had a lot of input on charging infrastructure that’s needed across the state,” Brian Phillips, DEQ’s Mobile Sources Compliance Branch supervisor, told The News & Observer.

Across two phases of the program, DEQ funded:

• 901 Level 2 electric vehicle chargers at 224 sites.
• 350 lower-emission vehicles to replace heavy-duty vehicles like school buses, dump trucks and transit buses.
• 186 DC fast chargers at 86 sites.
• 84 electric, zero-emission vehicles to replace heavy-duty vehicles.

HOW WILL THESE PROJECTS HELP THE CLIMATE, ENVIRONMENT?

DEQ has estimated that the projects it funded will prevent 377 tons of NOx from entering the atmosphere. In addition, DEQ officials said the projects will result in lifetime emissions reductions of:

• 33,327 tons of greenhouse gases.
• 143.8 tons of carbon monoxide.
• 42.3 tons of hydrocarbon emissions.
• 20.1 tons of particulate matter.

WHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA WAS THE MONEY SPENT?

The majority of funds allocated by the settlement ended up going to rural areas, Phillips said. That was guided by the stakeholder process the department began after receiving the money.

“We received a lot of input to not forget the rural counties,” Phillips said.

To make sure that was the case, DEQ asked transportation officials for data on where vehicles are registered, determining that 68% of the state’s vehicles are in urban counties and 32% are in rural counties.

Still, once all of the projects were funded, 57% of the funds had gone to rural counties.

HOW DOES THIS FIT WITH OTHER NC CLEAN ENERGY EFFORTS?

Gov. Roy Cooper has maintained that North Carolina needs to remove carbon emissions from its transportation sector.

In Executive Order 246, Cooper set a goal of a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. With 35.9% of emissions, transportation is North Carolina’s largest contributor of climate-warming greenhouse gases.

Cooper also set a target of 1.25 million zero-emission vehicles registered in the state by 2030. In August, there were 55,502 electric vehicles registered in the state, according to DOT data.

Phillips, of DEQ, said the charging stations installed with the Volkswagen money are in line with those goals.

“We already saw more infrastructure that would not have been installed without this program, and we’re also replacing older diesel vehicles with cleaner vehicles and electric vehicles, as well. Even though they are not light-duty vehicles, they do impact the state emissions,” Phillips said.

PROJECTS IN RALEIGH, WAKE COUNTY

Wake County offers a significant cross-section of the kinds of projects that were funded with VW settlement money. Those projects included:

• $450,597 to buy three N.C. Department of Public Safety short-haul diesel trucks with lower emissions.
• $435,153 to replace the Raleigh Trolley.
• $245,360 to replace two school buses with lower-emission models.
• $150,169 to install two DC fast chargers at Lowes Foods in Brier Creek.
• $143,933 to install 20 Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations across N.C. State University’s Dan Allen, Coliseum and Oval West parking decks.
• $100,000 to partially fund four DC fast chargers at the Market at Colonnade at Six Forks Road and Colonnade Center Drive.
• $92,000 to install two DC fast chargers in North Hills’ Lassiter area.
• $69,231 to install two DC fast chargers at Stop N Go, 1900 E. Williams St., Apex.
• $36,880 to install four Level 2 chargers at Umstead State Park.
• $36,000 to install a DC fast charger at Sheetz, 4010 Convenience Lane, Cary.
• $36,000 to install a DC fast charger at Sheetz, 600 Corporate Center Dr., Raleigh.
• $34,936 to install four Level 2 chargers at the N.C. Department of Transportation’s main offices.
• $27,065 to install two Level 2 chargers at the N.C. Museum of Natural Science’s Prairie Ridge ecostation.
• $25,000 to install 12 Level 2 chargers at the Southport Innovation Center in Morrisville.
• $25,000 to install eight Level 2 chargers at the Raleigh Iron Works parking garage.
• $25,000 to install eight Level 2 chargers at the Timber Drive Professional Park in Garner.
• $25,000 to install six Level 2 chargers at the Town of Morrisville’s town hall.
• $25,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at the Wake Tech Perry Health Sciences Campus.
• $24,000 to install eight Level 2 chargers at a workplace at 3020 Carrington Mill Blvd.
• $24,000 to install eight Level 2 chargers available to the public at 5221 Paramount Parkway, Morrisville.
• $24,000 to install six Level 2 chargers at a workplace at 613 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh.
• $24,000 to install six Level 2 chargers at a workplace at 702 Oberlin Road, Raleigh.
• $24,000 to install six Level 2 chargers at a workplace at 811 Spring Forest Road, Raleigh.
• $24,000 to install six Level 2 chargers at Brea Wendell Falls apartments in Wendell.
• $24,000 to install six Level 2 chargers at Greystone at Widewaters apartments in Knightdale.
• $24,000 to install six Level 2 chargers at Litchford 315 Apartments in Raleigh.
• $22,173 to install six Level 2 chargers at the Adult Corrections administrative complex.
• $20,965 to install two Level 2 chargers at the Umstead State Park visitors center.
• $16,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at the TSC shopping plaza in Fuquay Varina.
• $16,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at Live on Hillsborough student housing in Raleigh.
• $16,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at Raynor Meadows apartments in Garner.
• $16,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at the Town of Apex’s Public Works Department.
• $16,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at University Suites student housing in Raleigh.
• $16,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at Village Green student housing in Raleigh.
• $12,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at a Weston hotel in Cary.
• $12,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at the Triangle Tech Center in Raleigh.
• $12,000 to install four Level 2 chargers at an office building at 1616 East Millbrook Road in Raleigh.
• $10,000 to install two Level 2 chargers on Hargett Street.
• $10,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at the N.C. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Sciences Center.
• $10,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at the Raleigh Municipal Building complex.
• $10,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at the Town of Holly Springs’ Fire Station No. 2.
• $10,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at the Town of Rolesville’s town hall.
• $8,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at Centennial Ridge student housing in Raleigh.
• $8,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at Centennial Village student housing in Raleigh.
• $8,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at the Community United Church of Christ.
• $8,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at the Doubletree by Hilton Crabtree Valley Mall.
• $8,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at an office building at 121 Edinburgh South Dr., Cary.
• $8,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at Skyhouse Raleigh.
• $8,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at the Town of Apex’s Public Utilities Department.
• $6,000 to install two Level 2 chargers at Chatham Walk condominiums in Cary.

This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.

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