Tech Question of the Month: What alternative fuel and advanced vehicle funding opportunities are there for Native American tribes?

What alternative fuel and advanced vehicle funding opportunities are there for Native American tribes?

As you are already aware, you may refer to the Alternative Fuels Data Center Laws and Incentives database (https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/) for information on current incentives and laws pertaining to alternative fuels and advanced vehicles. The Search page (https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/search) allows you to identify specific incentives by jurisdiction (e.g., federal, Utah), technology/fuel type (e.g., all), incentive type (e.g., grants, tax incentives, rebates, other incentive), and user type (e.g., tribal government). You may view federal and Utah incentives at https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/fed_summary and https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/state, respectively. In particular, you may be interested in the following federal incentives and programs for alternative fuels:

Additional Funding Resources

You may refer to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) Technical Assistance and Resources for Tribal Nations page (https://driveelectric.gov/tribal-nations/) for additional funding opportunities, access to Joint Office technical assistance, and additional resources for Tribal Nations such as Justice40 information, best practices to deploying zero-emission transportation infrastructure, webinars, and presentations.

You may also be interested in the White House Building a Better America page (https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/guidebook/) for more information on programs established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. For more information on programs established by the Inflation Reduction Act, see the White House Inflation Reduction Act Guidebook page (https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/inflation-reduction-act-guidebook/). Federal agencies are directed to add more requirements and parameters to the incentives and funding programs as they’re created.

Further, you may also refer to the following websites to identify additional transportation-related funding opportunities:

  1. Grants.gov – http://www.grants.gov/
    1. This provides information in a standardized format across federal agencies and includes a “Search Grants” feature to help applicants find potential funding opportunities.
  2. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Funding Opportunity Exchange – https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/
    1. DOE makes funding available through competitive funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), published on grants.gov or the EERE Exchange. You may review frequently asked questions about a specific FOA or general guidance at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/FAQ.aspx.

 Clean Cities in Action

It may be worth noting that coalitions are already involved in projects with Tribal Nations. As you may know, you may refer to Vehicle Technologies Office funded projects on the Clean Cities Network Partnerships & Projects Search Page (https://cleancities.energy.gov/partnerships/search/). One example is the Upper Midwest Inter-Tribal Electric Vehicle Charging Community Network.