Texas recently passed legislation aimed at adding more alternative fuel vehicles to both state agency and private vehicle fleets.


The Texas Clean Fleet Program, SB1759, which takes effect Sept. 1, will provide grant funding to private fleet owners willing to replace medium- and heavy-duty diesel trucks with vehicles running on alternative fuels, such as natural gas.

To fund the initiative, the state has set aside $6 million per fiscal year for 2010 and 2011. The state expects to continue the program through August 2017, which would amount to about $48 million over the course of eight years, if funding stays the same. The new program is an amendment to the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, a program adopted in 2001 to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel engines.

Texas also passed legislation geared towards vehicles run by state agencies, HB 432. This law amends the Fleet Alternative Fuel Program and requires that half of the state's 27,000 fleet vehicles use alternative fuels like compressed natural gas 80 percent of the time. The state will allow exceptions for law enforcement or emergency vehicles, or if an agency proves that it is not cost-effective.

The legislation takes effect on Sept. 1, 2010, but it will likely be phased-in as diesel and gasoline-powered state fleet vehicles come up for replacement.

Clean Energy, a provider of natural gas for transportation in North America, announced its approval and support for both new regulations this week.