The Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) released a finished Model Rule last week that program participants will use to develop their own regulations to reduce emissions from transportation fuels through a cap-and-trade program.
TCI also released a draft framework for public engagement, draft model implementation plan and draft proposed strategies for regional collaboration.
The Model Rule incorporates changes to the program (TCI-P) draft model rule released in March based on suggestions from stakeholder groups and companies. An original allocation of 35% of state or jurisdiction funding for communities overburdened by pollution and underserved by public transportation becomes a minimum commitment in the Model Rule, and each participant must create an Equity Advisory Body Membership.
In addition, the Model Rule aims to create well-paying jobs for low-income and environmental justice communities. People who were formerly incarcerated will be eligible for employment opportunities.
The changes are “reflective of the values of the people who are participating,” said Vernice Miller-Travis, executive vice president of the Metropolitan Group, a social change agency.
People at risk from pollution and living near highways can “come to the table” and “decide what [transportation] will look like for the next generation,” Miller-Travis said during a webinar Thursday.
Connecticut raised its funding allocation for environmental justice communities to 50% from 35% after meeting almost weekly with community leaders and “some youth,” said Garrett Eucalitto, deputy commissioner of the Department of Transportation.
Lawmakers in Connecticut failed to pass legislation authorizing state participation in TCI-P before the end of the regular legislative session last week, but Eucalitto confirmed that Gov. Ned Lamont is still committed to participating in the program.
However, TCI-P will not be part of the state’s two-year budget, according to Democratic leaders in the General Assembly. (See TCI-P Faces Uncertain Future in Connecticut.)
Eucalitto said Connecticut would use the program to electrify its public bus and school bus fleets and invest in air quality monitoring to better understand pollution quantities at the local level.
The draft strategies for regional collaboration also include air quality monitoring to “ensure transparency in effectiveness” of the program, said Terry Gray, deputy director of environmental protection in Rhode Island.
In Massachusetts, state officials worked with local nonprofit GreenRoots under TCI-P to establish community air quality monitoring in Chelsea and Boston to establish hot spots that need to be prioritized.
“As we plan for the summer and fall, it is the right time to come forward if you haven’t participated already,” said Katie Theoharides, secretary of energy and environmental in Massachusetts, during the webinar.
TCI is accepting feedback on the draft plans through Aug. 13.