Committee reviews ZEV policy to pursue Climate Leaders certification; schools raise procurement and cost questions

Sustainable Westborough representatives asked the Westborough School Committee on Tuesday to support a proposed zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) purchasing policy that would be one requirement to apply for Massachusetts’ new Climate Leaders certification program.

Pete Dunneback, chair of Sustainable Westborough, said the Climate Leaders program is a statewide initiative that replaces and expands the old Green Communities grant program and that it will distribute larger grants to fewer certified municipalities. "The goal of the ZEV policy, as I believe you all know, is to obtain climate leader certification," Dunneback told the committee.

Jeff Levine, head of Sustainable Westborough’s Drive Green subcommittee, summarized the draft policy’s key points: an electric-first preference for new municipal and school vehicles; a hierarchy that supports plug-in hybrids if battery-electric is impracticable; and an exemption framework that defers to the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) criterion 4 for vehicle classes and dates. "Goal is to establish an electric-first purchasing priority," Levine said.

The policy would also incorporate the state anti-idling standard, require an annual town inventory of municipal and school vehicles and add reporting to DOER. Dunneback and Levine said Westborough expects to be eligible for larger state grant awards under Climate Leaders; Dunneback estimated the town could reasonably expect "about $1,000,000 or more over the first two or three years" if Westborough achieves certification, while noting that continued compliance and annual reporting would be required.

Committee members asked detailed questions about divisions of authority and the policy’s practical effects. School Committee members said the schools historically purchase vehicles from the school budget rather than through the town capital article process, and they asked whether the policy’s exemption review (which the draft assigns to the Capital Expenditure Committee) would interfere with the school committee’s fiscal authority under state law. Committee members were also concerned about near-term costs: school-owned vehicles total six, three of which might be covered by the policy; the town’s full inventory is roughly 146 vehicles, several of which are exempt by weight or role (for example, third-party-contracted buses and heavy equipment).

Committee members further flagged the need for charging infrastructure, potential utility upgrade costs and vehicle maintenance capacity. Speakers noted grant funding can offset infrastructure costs in some cases; one example cited in the meeting noted a municipal project that required significant electrical-system investment. Sustainable Westborough representatives said they would provide regular updates and that the policy is intended as a "best-effort" framework rather than a directive to spend beyond town fiscal controls.

Sustainable Westborough emphasized the policy will need town meeting approval for the specialized energy-code overlay (the ZEV-related code applies only to new construction) and that MGL and DOER rules could evolve. Multiple committee members said they wanted more detail on exemption procedures, capital-approval lines, and what adopting the policy would mean for the school department’s vehicle procurement process before any formal vote.

The committee did not adopt the policy at the meeting; Sustainable Westborough and staff were asked to return with clarifications on procurement pathways, exemption review and charging infrastructure planning.