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Volkswagen settlement money available for bids; some earmarked for school bus projects

FILE - In this Thursday, April 21, 2016, file photo, Joyce Ertel Hulbert, owner of a 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI, holds a sign while interviewed outside of the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. Loyal owners of Volkswagen diesel cars understandably felt betrayed when they learned the German automaker had rigged the testing process to bypass U.S. emissions standards. Thanks to the settlement announced in June, people who bought or leased the affected vehicles are sorting through a complex set of tables and charts to find out what they will be paid, or they are waiting to see if a fix will be available to prevent excess release of pollutants. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, April 21, 2016, file photo, Joyce Ertel Hulbert, owner of a 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI, holds a sign while interviewed outside of the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. Loyal owners of Volkswagen diesel cars understandably felt betrayed when they learned the German automaker had rigged the testing process to bypass U.S. emissions standards. Thanks to the settlement announced in June, people who bought or leased the affected vehicles are sorting through a complex set of tables and charts to find out what they will be paid, or they are waiting to see if a fix will be available to prevent excess release of pollutants. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) FILE - In this Thursday, April 21, 2016, file photo, Joyce Ertel Hulbert, owner of a 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI, holds a sign while interviewed outside of the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco. Loyal owners of Volkswagen diesel cars understandably felt betrayed when they learned the German automaker had rigged the testing process to bypass U.S. emissions standards. Thanks to the settlement announced in June, people who bought or leased the affected vehicles are sorting through a complex set of tables and charts to find out what they will be paid, or they are waiting to see if a fix will be available to prevent excess release of pollutants. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

By Mark Pace 1 min read

A portion of the money from a historic settlement with Volkswagen for its 2015 diesel emissions cheating scandal is available for bid.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation released its first solicitation for projects under its $45.7 million trust that holds the state’s allocation of the settlement. The initial solicitation will award $8.7 million to eligible Class 4-8 school bus projects to public, nonprofit and private fleets seeking to replace a minimum of one eligible school bus with new diesel, alternate fueled or all-electric school bus.

Eligible applicants are limited to one application seeking $750,000 or less.

The application process is open until 5 p.m. EST Dec. 14. Applications must be submitted electronically at https://tdec.smartsimple.com/. TDEC will host an application workshop Oct. 16 at Wilson County Schools Administrative and Training Complex in Lebanon, Tenn.

TDEC will release additional solicitation opportunities for other projects in the coming months.

Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @themarkpace and on Facebook at ChattanoogaOutdoorsTFP.