Environmental legal policies require deliberation and careful planning to ensure that actions are more beneficial than harmful. The Texas Commission on  Environmental Quality (TCEQ) highlights how their agency issued the first 11 contracts as part of the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust settlement. This settlement focuses on mostly school district diesel bus replacement and is in response to litigation over emissions from devices found installed on VW vehicles and its subsidiaries. 

The emissions from antiquated diesel school busses have a negative impact on the environment and ozone. Therefore, areas near or above the standard for National Ambient Air Quality will be designated priority areas. These areas will be closely monitored going forward to make sure that the devices installed on the outdated busses are not putting greater strains on the environment

The settlement agreement stipulates that VW must pay approximately $2.9 billion into a trust that will be distributed to all 50 states including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The totals for texas is $209 million and Gov. Greg Abbot has designated TCEQ as the distributor for Texas’ portion of the funds. 

These initial 11 contracts are awarded as follows:

• $5,704,160.70 to four entities in the Austin Area
• $5,945,993 to two entities in the San Antonio Area
• $1,391,480 to two school districts in the Houston Area
• $811,800 to two school districts in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area
• $729,073 to a school district in Bell County

The AL Law Group understands the intricacies of legal policy. Our group strives to be informed of current legal practices in order to identify environmental legal challenges and provide sustainable solutions. 

For more information about the AL Law Group and our environmental legal services contact us today!