CDPHE selects second round of Clean Fleet Vehicle and Technology Grant Program recipients

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has selected a second round of projects for a grant program to fund low- to zero-emission vehicles. The Clean Fleet Vehicle and Technology Grant Program is for businesses, local governments and other organizations to fund low- or zero-emission vehicles for use in fleet operations. This announcement comes after CDPHE reopened the grant program in April 2024.

On Sept. 26, the department’s Clean Fleet Enterprise Board voted to move forward with funding 23 projects for the grant program. The program’s scoring criteria for applicants considered factors such as expected benefits to the community and applicants’ plans to transition to low- or zero-emission vehicles. For transition plans, the review committee examined if the applicant considered infrastructure needs, permitting and other support for the project.

“We’re committed to a healthy future where clean transportation and technology help Coloradans breathe easy,” CDPHE Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan says. “This grant program gives organizations—especially local and smaller operations—access to more clean vehicle choices that help save money in the long-term, while reducing harmful emissions.”

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The Clean Fleet Vehicle and Technology Grant Program is reimbursement-based, so specific funding amounts may vary depending on the equipment recipients choose to purchase. Selections could receive up to $20.5 million combined once the state finalizes its contracts, CDPHE says. The department will initiate the formal grant award process after selected projects have met all legal and administrative requirements.

The review committee’s selected waste operations include Allied Waste Systems, Commerce City; Allied Waste Systems, Fort Collins; and WM of Colorado Inc.

Selected organizations are permitted to use funding to purchase low- or zero-emission fleet vehicles, including electric, hydrogen and recovered methane vehicles.

The department says it intends to continually reopen this vehicle grant program over the next decade as funding allows, with the next round of applications opening in 2025.

Parties eligible for CDPHE’s Clean Fleet Vehicle and Technology Grant Program also are eligible for the Colorado Energy Office’s Fleet-ZERO Grant Program. This grant program offers funding for electric vehicle charging technology for fleets.