Illinois EPA Announces Notice of Funding Opportunity for Public Light-Duty Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

SPRINGFIELD —Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Director John J. Kim today announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the purchase and installation of new Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC) light-duty electric vehicle charging stations at publicly accessible locations. This opportunity is being made available following the Pritzker Administration's commitment to focus Illinois' remaining Volkswagen (VW) Settlement funding on electric transportation and infrastructure. The NOFO and related documents have been posted to the Illinois EPA website.

"In Illinois, we are committed to clean energy—and that means making electric vehicle charging stations accessible at every turn," said Governor JB Pritzker. "With the remaining VW Settlement funding, we are investing in sustainable infrastructure to make electric vehicle adoption as easy as possible for Illinoisans, all while safeguarding our climate and our planet."

"Charging infrastructure is an essential component to Illinois' investment in electric vehicles," said Director Kim. "The VW Settlement funding provides a unique opportunity to reduce emissions and benefit the environment by investing in electric vehicles and infrastructure. We look forward to the continued expansion of EV throughout Illinois."

Through this funding opportunity, Illinois EPA intends to fund a percentage of DCFC light-duty electric charging stations to be located at publicly accessible locations (shopping centers, retail stores, gas stations, etc.) in the three priority areas outlined in the VW Beneficiary Mitigation Plan (BMP) and specified in the NOFO:

• Priority Area 1: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties, Oswego Township in Kendall County, and Aux Sable and Goose Lake townships in Grundy County.

• Priority Area 2: Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties.

• Priority Area 3: Champaign, DeKalb, LaSalle, McLean, Peoria, Sangamon, and Winnebago counties.

Eligible applicants include businesses (corporations, partnerships, sole-proprietorships, and limited liability companies), business trusts, or other legal business entities incorporated in or registered with the Illinois Secretary of State.

In April of 2022, Illinois EPA submitted a revised BMP to the VW Settlement Trustee, focusing Illinois' remaining $84.3 million on electric transportation and infrastructure. The goals of the revised plan include reducing nitrogen oxide emissions in areas where the affected VW vehicles were registered. The revised BMP takes into consideration areas that do not meet federal air quality standards for ozone and bear a disproportionate share of the air pollution burden, including environmental justice areas.

All required forms and information can be found on the Driving A Cleaner Illinois webpage: https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/air-quality/driving-a-cleaner-illinois/Pages/default.aspx. Applications for the VW Settlement - Public Light-Duty Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure NOFO will be accepted September 28, 2022 through 5:00 PM (CST) on December 30, 2022.

All applicants must pre-qualify through the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act Grantee Portal.