| TDEC Presents the Tennessee Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy Priority Climate Action Plan |
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TDEC submitted the first deliverable under its Tennessee Volunteer Emissions Reduction Strategy (TVERS), the Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP), in February. The PCAP demonstrates what is possible for future generations to enjoy Tennessee's economic prosperity and abundant natural resources. It supports investment in strategies that reduce emissions, strengthen the workforce, spur economic growth, and enhance health and quality of life. The TVERS planning team will virtually present on the PCAP on June 27 with two webinar options, one at 11:00 AM Central and the other at 6:00 PM Central. Register for the webinars here.
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New Fast Charge TN Site Open in Fayetteville |
Fayetteville Public Utilities, TDEC, and TVA recently held a ribbon-cutting for a new electric vehicle fast charging station at 110 College Street West in Fayetteville, TN. The station, which features two chargers with both CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, is the 19th site to go live as part of TDEC and TVA’s Fast Charge TN Network.
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EPA Announces Recipients of 2023 Clean School Bus Rebates |
EPA recently announced over $12 million for clean school buses in Tennessee under the 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Rebates. The rebates will support the replacement of 44 older, diesel buses with clean, alternate fueled school buses, including 37 all-electric buses, in eight Tennessee school districts.
This announcement brings the total number of all-electric school buses in Tennessee supported by EPA’s Clean School Bus Program to 89 buses in 19 school districts. Additional clean school bus funding is expected this year. Visit the Clean School Bus Program website for further information on all programs, and find additional information on Clean School Bus Program awards here.
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Metro Nashville Unveils Choose How You Move: Nashville’s Transportation Improvement Program |
Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell recently announced the details of Choose How You Move: Nashville’s Transportation Improvement Program. The plan focuses on four key areas: sidewalks, signals, service, and safety. This plan coincides with a transit referendum to pursue a dedicated funding source for transportation and infrastructure projects that will be on the November ballot. The plan was informed by more than ten years of transportation planning, including 70 existing community and neighborhood plans, as well as input from the public, two citizen advisory committees, and the Metro Council.
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New “Energizing Tennessee” Podcast Episodes from TAEBC |
Energizing Tennessee, a podcast from the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) and FirstBank, explores the latest news and insights about the advanced energy sector with experts sharing their thoughts on transportation electrification, workforce development, and the growing sector of advanced energy in Tennessee’s economy.
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In episode twenty-one, host Cortney Piper interviews Dr. Chris Burns, Chief Executive Officer of NOVONIX, a battery materials and technology company. Piper and Dr. Burns discuss recent investments from U.S. DOE, the company’s Riverside facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and what the company is doing to enable the widespread adoption of electric vehicles.
All episodes are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. Click here to listen.
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AI-Enabled Intelligent Transportation Systems Webinar |
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) will host a webinar on June 27 on artificial intelligence (AI) enabled intelligent transportation systems (ITS). U.S. DOT recognizes the promise AI offers for achieving considerable benefits in ITS, such as improving safety, mobility, equity, efficiency, accessibility, productivity, and resilience, and reducing individual and societal costs, emissions, and other negative environmental impacts.
This webinar will include three AI-focused presentations:
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AI-Enabled ITS Capability Maturity Models and Readiness Checklists
- AI-Based Decision Support System and Traffic Operations Strategic Plan
- Applications of AI in Transportation Planning
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EPA Clean School Bus Program: Joint Office Technical Assistance Webinars |
EPA and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation will host a series of webinars covering technical assistance topics related to clean school buses, supporting the EPA Clean School Bus Program. Register here for any webinar in the series.
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- June 26, 1:00 PM Eastern – Differences Between Electric School Buses and Internal Combustion Engine Buses, Electric School Buses Maintenance, and Bus Requests for Proposal Best Practices
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July 24, 1:00 PM Eastern – Battery Overview, Recycling/End-of-Life Options, and Warranties
- August 28, 1:00 PM Eastern – Building a Case for Electric School Buses in your Fleet, Including Benefits, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and Emissions Calculators
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September 25, 1:00 PM Eastern – Electrification Process including a Step-by-Step Guide for New Adopters
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Infraday Southeast Summit |
The fourth annual Infraday Southeast Summit will take place in Nashville on July 18. The event brings together policymakers, industry experts, researchers, and stakeholders to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to infrastructure development and modernization across the Southeastern U.S. The Summit will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive workshops on a range of topics, including transportation, energy, water, and communication infrastructure.
View the agenda and register for the Infraday Southeast Summit here.
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Tennessee Drone Symposium |
The inaugural Tennessee Drone Symposium will provide a forum for Tennessee stakeholders to collaborate on the future of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Future Mobility. The event, hosted by Middle Tennessee State University on August 13-14 in Murfreesboro, will bring together industry thought leaders, policymakers, and high-impact end-users from both local and national entities. On day one, speakers will address funding opportunities, UAS projects and research, and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Compliance in Tennessee. Day two will include technical demonstrations, flights, and skill testing. Register for the Symposium here.
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The 2024 Forth Roadmap Conference, an annual event that convenes leaders in the electric transportation space, will take place September 24-26 in Detroit, MI. The conference will allow attendees to forge relationships and gain valuable insights in a highly interactive format from industry and community leaders, including utilities, local governments, vehicle original equipment manufacturers, charging providers, technology startups, public interest groups, and communities.
View the agenda here and register here for the 2024 Forth Roadmap Conference.
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Save the Date: Tennessee Smart Mobility Expo |
The Tennessee Smart Mobility Expo will return to the Music City Center in Nashville April 2-3, 2025. Sign up here for email updates on speakers, registration details, and sponsorship opportunities.
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Clean Energy Technology Adoption Vouchers |
U.S. DOE recently announced $15 million in vouchers to accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies. Vouchers provide recipients with in-kind resources from supporting organizations, including DOE national labs.
Vouchers are available for the following topic areas:
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- Pre-Demonstration Commercialization Support - addresses key adoption risk areas faced by companies leaving the research and development stage.
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Performance Validation, Modeling, and Certification Support - enables third-party evaluation of technology performance, modeling resources, and attainment of certifications.
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Clean Energy Demonstration Project Siting/Permitting Support - helps authorities having jurisdiction (e.g., city or tribal governments) and related institutions (including but not limited to first responders, utilities, and transportation authorities) understand new clean energy technology benefits and challenges, evaluate siting and permitting best practices, develop streamlined permitting processes, and support community engagement on related issues.
- Commercialization Support from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - addresses key adoption risk areas faced by companies in the research and development stage.
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Commercialization Support from the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management - addresses key adoption risk areas faced by carbon management and resource sustainability innovators and technology developers, including for-profit firms working to commercialize a prototype.
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Planning and Validation of Industrial Decarbonization Projects - addresses key adoption risk areas faced by industrial facilities interested in decarbonizing their operations and commercialization hurdles faced by industrial decarbonization technology developers.
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Manufacturing Conversion, Retooling, and Retrofitting Support - addresses key adoption risk areas related to domestic supply chain availability; vouchers are meant to broaden the ecosystem of clean energy manufacturers through support such as feasibility studies to convert existing production lines, including, but not limited to, engineering studies, equipment and process reviews, and staff qualifications and workforce needs assessments.
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Applications to all voucher programs are due July 9.
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Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation Grants Program |
The U.S. DOT Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program provides grants to eligible public sector agencies to conduct demonstration projects and prototypes focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems that improve transportation efficiency and safety.
Applications are currently being accepted for FY 2024 Stage 1 Planning and Prototyping Grants. Later this year, recipients of Stage 1 grants will be eligible to expand their projects through the first of several Stage 2 Implementation Grant opportunities. Eligible applicants for the SMART Grants Program include states, political subdivisions of a state, tribes, public transit agencies and authorities, public toll authorities, metropolitan planning organizations, and groups of two or more of these eligible entities applying through a single lead applicant.
SMART grants may be used to carry out a project that demonstrates at least one of the following:
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- Coordinated automation
- Connected vehicles
- Sensors
- Systems integration
- Delivery/logistics
- Innovative aviation
- Smart grid
- Traffic signals
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Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program |
EPA recently announced up to $932 million in funding for heavy-duty vehicle replacement projects under the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program. Funding will support the adoption and deployment of eligible Class 6 and 7 zero-emission vehicles that will displace conventional vehicles while also funding zero-emission vehicle fueling infrastructure and workforce development and training.
Two separate sub-program competitions have been created under the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program:
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The School Bus Sub-Program for applicants replacing school buses.
- The Vocational Vehicles Sub-Program for applicants replacing non-school bus Class 6 and 7 vehicles, including box trucks, refuse haulers, dump trucks, street sweepers, delivery trucks, bucket trucks, and utility trucks.
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| Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program Round 2 |
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The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation recently announced the second round of funding under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program. This round of funding makes up to $1.3 billion available for electric vehicle (EV) charging and alternative fuel infrastructure in urban and rural communities and along designated highways, interstates, and major roadways.
The CFI program is administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and is open to state, regional, Tribal, and local government entities. CFI Round 2 will make $800 million available for new applications, with an additional $521 million in funding to be reserved for reconsideration of previously submitted applications that were not selected for funding but were rated either “Highly Recommended” or “Recommended” under the FY 2022/2023 Round 1 Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Additional information is available in the FHWA’s overview webinar slides here. New applications are due through Grants.gov by August 28. Previously unselected applicants from Round 1 may request that FHWA reconsider previously submitted applications by July 1.
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Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program |
The Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program, administered by U.S. DOT, funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. SS4A funds support communities in the development of road safety action plans and improve unsafe roadway corridors by implementing effective interventions. Additionally, these funds can be utilized to test out safety features such as separated bicycle lanes or curb extensions at intersections.
Eligible applicants may come from individual communities or groups of communities and may include metropolitan planning organizations, counties, cities, towns, other special districts that are subdivisions of a state, certain transit agencies, federally recognized Tribal governments, and multijurisdictional groups of eligible applicants.
Additional information is available on the SS4A FY 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity webpage and FAQs. Applications are due August 29.
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Technical Assistance for Bus Fleet Electrification |
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Technology Commercialization Fund Open Voucher Call |
The U.S. DOE Office of Technology Transitions and the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) recently announced the TCF Open Voucher Call program to connect the public with researchers from U.S. DOE National Labs, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The program will award up to 21 vouchers for $100,000 technical assistance redeemable at one of eight U.S. DOE national labs.
Awardees will be selected based on innovative ideas and concepts for advancing energy, sustainability, or other lab-supported initiatives. Participating national labs will provide awardees with expertise and lab validation capabilities to help them advance their concept closer to commercialization. An informational webinar will be held July 18 at 2:00 PM Eastern. Applications are due October 3.
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EPA Community Change Grant Program |
EPA announced $2 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act for the Community Change Grants Program. Funding is available for projects that deploy clean energy, reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input.
There are two separate tracks available:
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- Track I: Community-Driven Investments for Change, which is expected to award approximately $1.96 billion for 150 projects at $10-20 million each;
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Track II: Meaningful Engagement for Equitable Governance, which is expected to award approximately $40 million for 20 projects at $1-3 million each.
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Eligible applicants include partnerships between two community-based non-profit organizations and partnerships between a community-based non-profit organization and a local government, institution of higher education, or federally recognized tribe. View the Notice of Funding Opportunity and the Grants.gov page for additional information. Applications are due November 21.
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EV Preparedness Online Training |
The National Fire Protection Association has created online EV preparedness trainings that offer critical safety and emergency response strategies and procedures for EV incidents. Recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, these courses feature scenario-based learning, expert commentary and instruction, videos, images, and animations. Trainings include community preparedness training for diverse audiences such as the general public, EV fleet owners, and vehicle technicians, as well as EV safety trainings that address topics such as towing and salvaging and crash reconstruction.
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Updated Data for Transportation Electrification in the Southeast Report |
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Grants Contracts Administrator |
TDEC OEP is hiring a Grants Contracts Administrator to develop, track, and manage contracts and related compliance requirements for various clean energy grant programs and initiatives. The Grants Contracts Administrator will collaborate with TDEC OEP staff and stakeholders to design various clean energy grant programs and related collateral, serve as the TDEC OEP lead for the development of grant materials, and assist with grant monitoring and compliance.
Applications should be submitted through tn.gov/careers by July 8.
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For more information or to submit an idea for a future Monthly Transportation Edition, contact:
Audrey Jackson, Communications Officer
TDEC Office of Energy Programs
615-917-6683 or audrey.jackson@tn.gov
OR
Alexa Voytek, Deputy Director, OEP Programs
U.S. DOE State Energy Program / Innovation & Transportation / Communications
TDEC Office of Energy Programs
615-613-1096 or alexa.voytek@tn.gov
OR
Mark Finlay, Senior Energy Analyst, TDEC Office of Energy Programs
615-772-6011 or mark.finlay@tn.gov
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Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the State Energy Program Award Number DE-EE0009487
Disclaimer: This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.
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