Governor Greg Abbott has selected the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to be the lead agency for purposes of Texas’ participation in the Environmental Mitigation Trust. This trust was established by the settlement of certain claims against Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche related to the car companies’ use of defeat devices to pass emission standard tests. Once Texas is certified as a beneficiary of the trust, the state’s allocation under the trust agreement is approximately $209 million, to be spent over a period of three to 10 years.
These settlement funds are required to be used to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, a pollutant released in greater quantities as a result of the defeat devices. The settlement identifies 10 categories of eligible mitigation actions for which settlement funds can be spent.
Under the settlement agreement, participating states are required to develop a draft mitigation plan outlining how the state intends to spend its share of the settlement funds. The settlement requires that draft plans be released for public input prior to being finalized.
See Environmental Mitigation Trust webpage for more information.
