Search Federal and State Laws and Incentives

Agriculture and Forestry Biofuel Production Grants

The Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund provides grants to promote and develop the agriculture and forestry industry in Virginia and create or expand value-added facilities, including qualified biofuel production facilities. Individual grants may not exceed $500,000 or 25% of qualified capital expenditures. Eligible applicants include local governments and other Virginia political subdivisions working with qualified businesses. Additional terms and conditions apply. For more information, see the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services website. (Reference Virginia Code 3.2-304)

Government Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Incentive

The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Transportation, offers up to $10,000 to state agencies and local governments for the incremental cost of new or converted AFVs. To be eligible, vehicles must comply with Buy America provisions or qualify for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, and must be garaged in areas of air quality nonattainment, as recognized by the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program. For more information, see the Virginia CMAQ Incentive Program website.

Port Drayage Truck Replacement and Retrofit Incentive

The Virginia Port Authority, in partnership with Virginia Clean Cities, offers regional Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement funds to retire aging drayage trucks and replace them with modern clean diesel vehicles. This program provides 50% of the cost to purchase new clean diesel drayage trucks, up to $30,000. For more information, including eligible vehicles, see the Green Operator website.

Transit Emissions Reduction Grants

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s (DRPT) Making Efficient + Responsible Investments in Transit (MERIT) program provides funding for capital improvement projects, including the purchase or lease of new electric, hybrid electric, or propane vehicles. Funding amounts vary based on the project type.

In addition, as part of the MERIT program, the Clean Transportation Voucher Program (Program) offers grants of up to 100% of the incremental cost for transit agencies to replace model year 2009 or older Class 7 and Class 8 diesel transit buses with all-electric buses and up to 100% of the purchase cost of associated charging infrastructure. Awards are capped at $300,000 per electric bus, including charging infrastructure, and $15,000 per propane bus. The Program is funded by Virginia’s portion of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust.

For more information, including program guidance and the application, see the DRPT MERIT website and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Volkswagen Settlement Agreements website.

Virginia's National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Planning

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) NEVI Formula Program requires the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to submit an EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan (Plan) to the DOT and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Office by August 1, 2022, describing how the state intends to distribute NEVI funds. Plans must be established according to NEVI guidance.

For more information about Virginia’s NEVI planning process, see the VDOT Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan website. For more information about Virginia’s NEVI plan, see the Joint Office’s State Plans for EV Charging website.