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Form : B-52 7118191 DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION 3 DEPARTMENT: Mass Transit Agency DATE: 113012023 STAFF CONTACT: John Andoh PHONE: 808-961-8555 A. REQUEST: To request a bill to appropriate $1,765,000 in Volkswagen Settlement Funds from the State of Hawai'i Energy Office passed through to the Hawai'i Department of Transportation to provide match funding to the Lo-No Emissions grant program (Section 5339 (c)) to cover to purchase replacement transit buses that are battery electric. B. BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION (USE ADDITIONAL SHEETS AS NEEDED): The County was successful in receiving Volkswagen Settlement Funds from the State of Hawai'i Energy Office passed through to the Hawai'i Department of Transportation to cover the purchase of replacement battery electric buses. The "Volkswagen (VW) Settlement" is a series of legal settlements between various United States agencies, the State of California, and six VW-related entities — including VW, Audi, and Porsche —to resolve multiple criminal and civil enforcement cases against VW stemming from violations to the Clean Air Act (CAA) and efforts to conceal these violations. VW was charged with selling approximately 590,000 model year 2009 to 2016 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter diesel motor vehicles equipped with computer "defeat devices" that falsified emissions testing results and enabled these vehicles to emit air pollution significantly in excess of CAR limits. A primary emission of concern produced by the non-compliant vehicles, nitrogen oxides (NOx), is a significant health concern that contributes to the formation of smog and is linked to numerous respiratory- and cardiovascular-related health effects. HDOT worked with the State Energy Office to allocate these funds to each County to be able to purchase battery electric buses, leveraging FTA Section 5339 funds that was awarded to HDOT and suballocated to the County. y SIGNED: _ DATE: 1/30/2023 Department Head