It could come down to the age-old quandary about money: Avoid spending it all in one place, or focus it on a single thing to maximize its impact in a chosen area?
That’s just one part of the debate about how Missouri should spend its share of settlement money from the Volkswagen emissions scandal. Though officials at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources are still examining a wide range of uses for the payout, data and citizen feedback are helping some options — such as funding upgrades for cleaner school buses — emerge as strong contenders.
Based on the 7,500 affected Volkswagens in the state, Missouri is entitled to $41 million out of the company’s $14 billion overall settlement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2016, after the company outfitted diesel vehicles with “defeat device” software to cheat on emissions testing.
The sum given to Missouri and other states is broadly targeted toward “mobile sources” of air pollution, particularly for nitrogen oxide emissions linked to respiratory health issues. The DNR intends to distribute the money through an application-based process within a 10-year period.
But as shown at a Monday meeting in Jefferson City — the latest of six public hearings on the matter held by the DNR over the last several months — there are many competing considerations for how the money would best be spent.
Possible projects across more than a half-dozen categories of vehicles are eligible for the funds, spanning everything from different classes of road vehicles to trains, ferries and tugboats. Up to one-third of Missouri’s money can be used in each of the first two years of the 10-year window for disbursement, with the remaining amount eligible to be spent after that.
The DNR tentatively aims to release a draft plan in March for spending the money. That eventual plan must include an overall goal for the funds, estimations of emission benefits and consideration of air quality benefits in areas with “air pollution burdens,” such as nonattainment areas, where pollutants exceed health standards.
At this stage of the process, funding upgrades for cleaner school buses is one area that has seen an especially strong show of support, with proponents touting that such a measure would protect the health of children — a population more susceptible to harm from nitrogen oxide emissions.
Kyra Moore, director of the DNR’s Air Pollution Control Program, said the department is leaning toward giving at least part of the money toward the cause — the strongest assurance given to any single category.
“The one area that we seem to have a major consensus on is that some of the money should be used for school bus replacement,” said Moore, adding that a precise amount destined for bus upgrades remains to be seen. “We’re not ready to say we’re going to go all in or give 50 percent to school buses.”
Buses would need to be 2009 models or older to be eligible for replacement through the program. The department said that 565 of the 596 school districts in the state have at least one eligible bus.
Although money from the Volkswagen trust can be used to cover the full cost of government — or school — owned buses, Moore said that “a fairly large consensus” would like recipients in Missouri to cover some of the costs “and not get something for free.” In those scenarios, the settlement money would round out a to-be-determined share of the approximately $90,000 sticker price for new diesel-engine buses.
Other possible uses are still up for consideration. The department used data from the National Association of State Energy Offices to examine cost comparisons of nitrogen oxide reduction measures across each eligible vehicle category.
Perhaps surprisingly, tugboats would have by far the lowest cost per pound of reducing the pollutant, followed by other non-road vehicles.
But on-road uses for the money remain popular, as evidenced by two surveys of interested members of the public, conducted by the department to help inform its decision-making process. One source of particular enthusiasm is a push for the money to be invested in electric vehicle infrastructure, such as charging stations, to help enable more widespread use of the technology.
But with all the possible uses for the money — and so many competing factors for consideration — some say the biggest question could be whether to spread the $41 million across multiple categories or go “all in” on one area.
“When you look at the needs statewide over 10 years, that can really be spread so thinly that it can really have a negligible effect,” said Steve Ahrens, executive director of the Missouri Propane Gas Association, and a participant at the latest meeting.
Ahrens mentioned that other states have made singularly focused commitments with their Volkswagen settlement money, and he would like to see Missouri follow suit, however the DNR chooses to spend it.
He is among those pulling for school bus upgrades, suggesting that other types of projects may be able to explore separate revenue streams. School districts and other state-funded entities, he said, do not have that opportunity.
“Some of the other for-profit players out there have the levers to get where they need to get otherwise,” Ahrens said. “School districts don’t.”
The DNR plans to hold another public meeting on the matter in February.