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Air Quality

Funding Opportunities

TERP Programs

The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) is a set of grant programs designed to reduce emissions by providing financial incentives to individuals, companies and local governments to retrofit, repower or replace older, dirtier engines. The program is managed the the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Generally vehicles that travel mostly through Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties are eligible to receive funding under these programs, but some programs have a wider scope. The programs listed below are accepting applications.

Review all TERP programs.

Rebate Grants Program – Opening May 21, 2024

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) will accept grant applications for projects heavy-duty vehicles and equipment with new zero-emission or near zero-emission vehicles and equipment. Grants maybe eligible for up to 80 percent of the eligible cost Counties eligible in the CAPCOG region include Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson.
Grant amount available: Limited Funding will be available.
Applications open: May 21, 2024
Deadline: Eligible applications will be awarded in the order received. 
Learn more about the program.

Clean School Bus Program

The Texas Clean School Program is from public school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, and transportation systems provided by a county-wide school district that operate diesel-fueled school buses in Texas. It provides funding to replace or retrofit school buses so to reduce children’s exposure to diesel exhaust in and around diesel-fueled school buses.
Deadline: October 14, 2024, awarded on first come, first served
Learn more about the program.

Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program

Governor Greg Abbott selected the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) as the lead agency responsible for the administration of funds received from the Volkswagen State Environmental Mitigation Trust (Trust). A minimum of $209 million dollars will be made available for projects that reduce nitrogen oxides (NOX) in the environment.

Read more about the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program.

All-Electric

This grant replaces or repowers vehicles and equipment such as local freight trucks, school buses, shuttle buses, air port ground equipment, forklifts, refueling infrastructure and more. A complete list is on the TCEQ’s website. Eligible applicants include individuals, state and local governments, corporations, and any other legal entity. The priority areas for this grant include Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. The grant provides funding to replace or repower refuse vehicles with a diesel engine from a model year 1992-2009.
Funding Available: $86.8 million ($45.4 million already awarded)
Deadline: 5 p.m. August 31, 2025, or until suspended by the TCEQ.
Learn more and apply for the grant. 

CAPCOG Air Quality Funding Opportunities

The last funding opportunity CAPCOG managed was during the 2016-17 biennium. While there aren’t any current opportunities, CAPCOG does seek out ways to support local air quality projects within the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and through out the region to help reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions which contribute to ground level ozone pollution in the region.

Previous Opportunities
CAPCOG Regional Air Quality Grant

CAPCOG allocated $210,500 for 2016 and 2017 projects under the Regional Air Quality Grant to support the goals of the regional Ozone Advance Program (OAP) Action Plan. Eligible recipients included members of the Central Texas Clean Air Coalition with the exception of state and federal agencies. Eligible activities included projects that:

  • Reduced the O3-forming emissions of NOx or volatile organic compounds (VOC)
  • Shifted ozone-forming emissions to periods less likely to contribute to high O3
  • Assisted in the tracking and reporting of activities that generate NOx or VOC or activities that reduce NOx or VOC emissions
  • Assisted in providing alerts or information to populations sensitive to O3 pollution

Read the original announcement and review the previous grant process.

The Local Emissions Reduction Grant

CAPCOG allocated about $240,000 from its 2016-17 near-nonattainment area air quality planning grant for the CAPCOG Local Emission Reduction Grant Program. Organizations, such as local governments, regional government agencies, businesses, trade associations, institutions, and other nonprofit organizations, were able to apply for a grant with eligible activities targeted for commuter emission reduction projects and capital investment technology projects that reduced emissions. Organizations participating in the region’s OAP Action Plan had the opportunity to receive more funding per ton of emissions reduced.

Read the original announcement and review the previous grant process.