The Propane Council of Texas is looking forward to promoting clean-burning propane as an alternative fuel at many events in the Greater Houston area over the next couple months including the Texas Association of School Boards Annual Conference on September 23-25, 2016 at the George R. Brown Convention Center; and the Propane Emergencies Conference on September 26-27, 2016 at TEEX’s Brayton Training Field in College Station, TX. The propane emergencies training will include both emergency responders and propane industry and include an autogas safety segment.

In addition to promoting propane awareness through events, the Propane Council of Texas administers two propane incentive programs for on and off-road.

• Propane Vehicle Incentive Program
  Effective January 1, 2016, ProCOT has increased its perpetual funding cap from $15,000 to $30,000 per qualifying fleet and opened it up to existing fleets.

  ProCOT will cover the incremental cost up to $7,500 per qualifying propane vehicle purchase or conversion for private fleets. ProCOT defines a private fleet as a business or non-profit fleet with 3 or more vehicles. Propane companies are excluded for claiming the rebate for their company vehicles.

  For more about this program, please visit procot.org.

• Propane Mower  Incentive Program
  The Propane Council of Texas (ProCOT) has made changes to its Propane Mower Incentive Program for 2016. Effective January 1, 2016, ProCOT has increased its perpetual funding cap of $5,000 to $7,000 per qualifying entity.

  ProCOT will cover the incremental cost up to $1,000 per qualifying propane mower with a perpetual cap of $7,000 per qualifying entity. ProCOT’s state incentive can be coupled with the national incentive from the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), just as long as it does not supersede the incremental cost .

  Additionally, ProCOT has expanded the program now allowing dual-fuel propane mowers. Each propane commercial mower  must commit to consuming at least 500 gallons of propane a year to be eligible. Landscapers all across the country are switching to cleaner-burning propane, because of reduced maintenance, lower fuel costs, and its greener environmental footprint left behind from its lower emissions to its non-contamination of groundwater and soil.

  To learn more about the ProCOT propane mower incentive program, please visit procot.org.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has announced that up to $5.9 million in grants is being made available to encourage entities that operate large fleets of vehicles in Texas to replace diesel-powered vehicles with alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles.

Applications will be accepted until 5:00 p.m. CST, Tuesday, October 18, 2016.

The TCEQ Texas Clean Fleet Program (TCFP) grants are part of the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan, and are available to owners of fleets of 75 or more vehicles operated in Texas. Grant applicants must commit to replace at least 20 diesel-powered vehicles with hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.

Projects eligible for funding under this program must result in a reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions of at least 25%. Eligible projects may be limited to certain counties in Texas.

The eligible alternative fuels under this program are:

• Electricity;
• Compressed Natural Gas (CNG);
• Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG);
• Hydrogen;
• Propane (LPG); and
• Methanol (M85).

The TCEQ has scheduled four TCFP grant application workshops to review the grant requirements and the application process. All workshops are free and no registration is required:

Austin: September 19, 2016
1:30 p.m.
TCEQ’s Austin Office
Building F, 4th Floor, Room 4118
12100 Park 35 Circle
Austin, TX 78753

Arlington: September 20, 2016
2:00 p.m.
North Central Texas Council of Governments
616 Six Flags Drive
Arlington, TX 76011

Longview: September 21, 2016
2:30 p.m.
Longview Public Library, Moeschile Meeting Room
222 West Cotton Street
Longview, TX 75601

For up-to-date information on scheduled workshops, the grant application process, eligibility requirements, and copies of the application forms for the TCFP, visit the TERP web site, www.terpgrants.org or call 800-919-TERP (8377).