How South Carolina Benefitted From The Volkswagen Settlement

All funds have been allocated.

The Volkswagen (VW) settlement includes both direct allocations to states via a Mitigation Fund and a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Technology investment fund, managed directly by Electrify America, a VW subsidiary. The VW settlement agreement can be accessed by clicking here (PDF).

Governor Henry McMaster announced the South Carolina Department of Insurance as the lead agency in administering South Carolina’s portion of the settlement. See the announcement here (PDF).

The final paperwork (PDF) for the Volkswagen Settlement's Environmental Mitigation Trust was filed, and the Trust Effective Date was October 2, 2017. States had 60 days to submit their Certification for Beneficiary Status, which will allow them to become Beneficiaries of the Trust.

On Tuesday, April 10, 2018, the South Carolina Department of Insurance announced (PDF) the release of the first draft of the State's Beneficiary Mitigation Plan (BMP) under the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. The Draft Mitigation Plan (PDF) details the state's overall goal for the use of the funds and the categories of eligible mitigation actions the state anticipates to be appropriate to achieve these goals, among other things.

The South Carolina Department of Insurance held a public comment and input meeting on the draft South Carolina Draft Beneficiary Mitigation Plan on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. Comments were accepted during this meeting and in writing until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, May 25, 2018.

On Wednesday, July 25, 2018, the South Carolina Department of Insurance released the second draft of the State's Beneficiary Mitigation Plan under the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. The second draft BMP (PDF) details the state's overall goal for the use of the funds and the categories of eligible mitigation actions the state anticipates to be appropriate to achieve these goals, among other things. It has been updated based upon the public comments and input received on the first draft.

Palmetto Clean Fuels submitted comments (PDF) on the Draft Mitigation Plan. The Energy Office also submitted comments (PDF) along with the investor-owned utilities, public power utility, and electric cooperatives.

On Wednesday, November 28, 2018, the South Carolina Department of Insurance released the state's Beneficiary Mitigation Plan (PDF) under the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. The BMP details the state's overall goals for the use of the funds and the categories of eligible mitigation actions the state anticipates to be appropriate to achieve these goals, among other things.