Section 19: Electric Vehicle Adoption Incentive Trust Fund; rebate and incentive program for purchase of qualifying zero-emission vehicle
Section 19. (a) There shall be an Electric Vehicle Adoption Incentive Trust Fund to be expended, without further appropriation, by the department of energy resources for funding electric vehicle incentive programs consistent with this section. The fund shall be credited with: (i) money from public and private sources, including gifts, grants and donations; (ii) interest earned on such money; (iii) any other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund; and (iv) any funds provided from other sources. No expenditure from the fund shall cause the fund to be deficient at the close of a fiscal year. Revenues deposited in the fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund and shall be available for expenditure in the following fiscal year.
(b)(1) The department shall establish a program of rebates and other financial incentives to parties, including federally recognized and state acknowledged tribes in the commonwealth, that purchase or lease a new or used qualifying zero-emission vehicle in the commonwealth. The program shall apply to individual and corporate fleet purchases and leases of passenger cars and light duty, medium duty and heavy duty trucks, buses and vans; provided, however, that no rebate or other financial incentive shall be made available under this section for a used zero-emission vehicle that was bought new or used within the previous 24 months, a zero-emission vehicle that is a passenger car or light duty truck with a sales price that exceeds $55,000 or for a zero-emission vehicle that is leased for a period of less than 36 months. The department shall set a maximum sales price for medium duty or heavy duty trucks, buses and vans.
(2) The program may include a point-of-sale rebate model for individual purchases that offers consumers savings at the point of purchase or lease.
(3) The department shall offer a program to provide low-income individuals with a $1,500 rebate which shall be in addition to the rebate provided for in subsection (c); provided, however, that the department shall establish income guidelines and other requirements for said low-income program.
(c) The department shall provide a rebate of not less than $3,500 and not more than $5,000 for a qualifying zero-emission vehicle that is a passenger car or a light duty truck and meets the requirements under subsection (b).
(d) The department shall provide a rebate, to be set by the department, which shall not be less than $4,500, for the purchase or lease of: (i) a qualifying zero-emission vehicle that is a medium duty or heavy duty truck, bus or van; or (ii) a qualifying zero-emission vehicle under said subsection (b) if an individual is purchasing or leasing the vehicle and trading in a vehicle with market value that has an internal combustion engine that is not an electric vehicle as defined in section 16; provided, however, that the vehicle with an internal combustion engine has been continuously registered for the previous 2 years: (A) in the commonwealth; and (B) to the consumer or the consumer's immediate family; provided further, that within a fiscal year, the total dollar value of rebates provided pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed a percentage, which shall be established by the department, of the total dollar value of rebates projected to be provided pursuant to this section within said fiscal year; provided further, that the department shall make reasonable efforts to achieve accuracy in making said projection.
(e) The department shall publish and regularly update cumulative data regarding usage of the programs established pursuant to this section including, but not limited to, the number and dollar value per calendar year of rebates and incentives provided, sortable by: (i) zip code, municipality, make, model, dealership and whether ownership is personal or corporate; (ii) vehicle type; and (iii) vehicle weight. Such information shall be published annually, not later than September 30, on a website maintained or provided for by the department. Annually, the department shall compile the data required to be collected under this subsection in a report to be filed not later than September 30 for the previous calendar year with the senate and house committees on ways and means, the joint committee on transportation and the joint committee on telecommunications, utilities and energy. The report shall include an analysis of the programs established in this section including, but not limited to, by examining historic and present participation of low-income and moderate-income households, examining participation among demographic groups, including data by race and ethnicity, and recommending strategies and investments to reduce or eliminate any disparities in program participation ; provided, however, that, every 3 years, the report shall also examine the cost-effectiveness of the programs in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, using recent multi-year data. Annually, not later than June 30, the department shall provide the underlying disaggregated dataset used to populate the database including, but not limited to, vehicle-level data, to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
(f) The department shall establish a linguistically diverse and culturally competent outreach campaign, which shall be print accessible and accessible to English language learners, to inform dealers, vehicle salespeople, consumers and businesses in underserved communities, communities with high percentages of low-income households and communities with high proportions of high emissions vehicles about the programs and incentives established pursuant to this section. The department may expend not more than 5 per cent of money in the fund for said outreach campaign.
(g) The department may promulgate regulations to implement this section.