New Mexico Environment Department applies for $577M in federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grants

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) submitted grant applications Monday to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) totaling $577 million as part of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program.

The two grant applications further New Mexico’s efforts to address climate change and air quality while expanding the economy and growing quality jobs. The grant applications focus on decarbonization of medium and heavy-duty vehicles, including semi-trucks and buses, traveling on Interstate 40 and financial incentives to defray the costs of those vehicles.

“New Mexico’s bold vision for clean transportation connects Western states and our local communities along the new ‘Zero40’ corridor,” said New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney. “If funded, New Mexico will build the necessary transportation infrastructure for local tourism and regional commerce while reducing carbon emissions and other air pollutants one mile at a time.”

Under the grant application for the “Zero40” corridor, NMED is leading an effort to establish eight clean transportation fueling centers along Interstate 40 — a major interstate freight route — in Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Each of the clean transportation centers will include heavy-duty charging stations and mobile hydrogen re-fueling stations for long-haul freight.

Zero40 includes three location sites in New Mexico — one in Sandoval and Bernalillo counties, one in the Greater Gallup area and one in Tucumcari. New Mexico’s portion of the Zero40 grant application is estimated to be approximately $250 million and will fund the clean transportation fueling component of planned manufacturing and logistics centers at the Bernalillo and Sandoval County location as part of the I-40 TradePort Corridor effort and the Greater Gallup area location where planning for an inland port and multi-fuel hub is underway.

The area in Sandoval and Bernalillo counties will feature a clean transportaion center that will serve electric and hydrogen-powered trucks and function as a logistics hub, attracting private investment. These manufacturing and distribution projects will facilitate the flow of trade to and through New Mexico.

Zero40 will also fund and anchor clean transportation fueling location in Tucumcari, already home to the North American Wind Research and Training Center at Mesalands Community College. Zero40 will add on to transportation decarbonization projects already underway from the Port of Los Angeles in California and assist with installing infrastructure to connect to additional points east. Project-wide, Zero40 is projected to create an estimated 3,800 direct and indirect jobs and, with a focus on low-income and underserved communities, and projected to decrease cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through 2050.

Under a separate grant application, NMED has requested funding for two state programs — the Clean Truck Incentive Program and the Efficient and Clean Operations for Schools, or “ECO Schools,” Program.

The Clean Truck Inventive Program aims to complement New Mexico’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rules adopted by the state last year as well as new EPA rules for heavy-duty vehicles by providing point-of-sale vouchers to fleet owners. The Clean Truck Incentive Program also will provide funding for charging or fueling infrastructure stations which may qualify those stations for clean fuel credits under New Mexico’s new Clean Transportation Fuels Standard passed last month.

“The Clean Truck Incentive Program will allow us to assist businesses as they begin to incorporate zero emission vehicles into their fleets,” said Michelle Miano, Environmental Protection division director at the New Mexico Environment Department. “It will also allow NMED to continue to fund the expansion of necessary clean fueling infrastructure, which we know is a critical need.”

The separate ECO Schools Program aims to provide funding for electric school buses and charging plugs for schools that serve low-income students and households. The ECO Schools program will also provide funding for project assistance so that the awardees of projects are able to stack the benefits from ECO Schools with existing renewable energy and efficiency cost saving opportunities. NMED estimates the Clean Truck Incentive Program will create an estimated 280 direct and indirect jobs, and ECO Schools will create an estimated 521 direct and indirect jobs. Collectively, the Clean Truck Incentive Program and ECO Schools are projected to reduce cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through 2050 and save New Mexicans over $8 million in health costs from air pollution.