| (a) Eligible projects include:
(1) diesel oxidation catalysts for school buses built
before 1994;
(2) diesel particulate filters for school buses built
from 1994 to 1998;
(3) the purchase and use of emission-reducing add-on
equipment for school buses, including devices that reduce crankcase
emissions;
(4) the use of qualifying fuel;
(5) other technologies that the commission finds will
bring about significant emissions reductions; and
(6) replacement of a pre-2007 model year school bus.
(b) The commission may limit funding under a particular
funding round to certain areas of the state, types of applicants,
and/or types of projects. The commission may place a priority on funding
for projects conducted in areas that do not attain certain national
ambient air quality standards.
(c) Prior to each funding period, the commission may
establish priorities and other criteria for reductions in diesel exhaust
emissions to be achieved by projects funded during that period, including
designation of additional pollutants to be addressed. A proposed project
must achieve a reduction in emissions of diesel exhaust compared with
the baseline emissions according to the percentage reduction level
and other priorities established by the commission. The commission
may also establish maximum levels for the funding awarded in relation
to the emission reductions projected to be achieved by a project,
in order to maximize the use of available funds.
(d) A school bus proposed for retrofit must be used
on a regular, daily route to and from a school during the school year
and have at least five years of useful life remaining unless the applicant
agrees to remove the retrofit device at the end of the life of the
bus and reinstall the device on another bus.
(e) A school bus proposed for replacement must:
(1) be of a pre-2007 model year;
(2) have been owned and operated by the applicant for
at least two years before submission of the grant application;
(3) be in good operational condition; and
(4) be currently used on a regular, daily route to
and from a school during the school year.
(f) A school bus proposed for purchase to replace a
pre-2007 model year school bus must be of the current model year or
the year before the current model year at the time of submission of
the grant application.
(g) A school bus acquired to replace an existing school
bus must be purchased and the grant recipient must agree to own and
operate the school bus on a regular, daily route to and from a school
during the school year for at least five years after a start date
established by the commission, which will be based on the date the
commission accepts documentation of the permanent destruction or permanent
removal of the school bus being replaced.
(h) A school bus replaced under this program must be
rendered permanently inoperable by crushing the bus, by making a hole
in the engine block and permanently destroying the frame of the bus,
or by another method approved by the commission, or be permanently
removed from the state to a destination outside of the United States,
Canada, or the United Mexican States.
(i) An application for a grant under this program is
only eligible if it is made on the form provided by the commission
and contains the information required by the commission.
(j) A recipient of a grant under this division shall
use the grant to pay incremental costs of the project for which the
grant is made, which may include the reasonable and necessary expenses
incurred for the labor needed to install emissions-reducing equipment.
The recipient may not use the grant to pay the recipient's administrative
expenses.
(k) Projects funded with a grant from this program
may not be used for credit under any state or federal emissions reduction
credit averaging, banking, or trading program except as provided under
Texas Health and Safety Code, §386.056.
(l) A proposed project as listed in subsection (a)
of this section is not eligible if it is required by any state or
federal law, rule or regulation, memorandum of agreement, or other
legally binding document. This subsection does not apply to an otherwise
qualified project, regardless of the fact that the state implementation
plan assumes that the change in equipment, vehicles, or operations
will occur, if on the date the grant is awarded the change is not
required by any state or federal law, rule or regulation, memorandum
of agreement, or other legally binding document or the purchase of
an on-road diesel or equipment required only by local law or regulation
or by corporate or controlling board policy of a public or private
entity.
(m) If a grant recipient fails to meet the terms of
a project grant or the conditions of this division, the executive
director can require that the grant recipient return some or all of
the grant funding to the extent that emission reductions are not achieved
or cannot be demonstrated.
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