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DES highlights climate investments: federal grants, Climate Action Fund allocations and solar projects
Summary
Department of Environmental Services outlined multiple climate investments in its FY26 proposal including federal grants, new Climate Action Fund recommendations, on-site renewable projects and a pilot for public-safety EV home charging.
At a March work session, Arlington's Department of Environmental Services detailed its climate-related budget items and recent federal grant awards, telling the County Board the proposed FY26 funds support energy projects, a forthcoming countywide climate action plan and ongoing greenhouse gas tracking.
DES said it secured several federal grants: a $268,000 U.S. Department of Energy e-bike voucher program, a $980,000 Environmental Protection Agency environmental justice grant aimed at underserved communities, and a $400,000 Federal Highway Administration award (as a subrecipient under a regional grant) to support public chargers. DES staff also described ongoing efforts to obtain EPA support toward purchases of battery-electric school buses; vendor-level grants of roughly $200,000 per bus were cited as part of that funding picture.
Nut graf: The proposed FY26 package includes discretionary Climate Action Fund recommendations and PAYGO investments to accelerate municipal electrification and renewable installations while DES prepares a countywide climate action plan led by the Climate Policy Office. Staff said the county's latest greenhouse gas inventory shows a roughly 35% drop in emissions since 2007 but added refrigerant fugitive emissions now account for a measurable share of scope 1 totals under updated reporting rules.
DES staff listed Climate Action Fund proposed allocations that appear in the FY26 package: an additional $1,000,000 for electrification work at Madison Community Center, $300,000 for renewable energy installations, $500,000 to develop the county climate action plan, and a remaining unallocated balance of $700,000 for board consideration. Staff previewed PAYGO investments for on-site renewable installs at three county facilities (Shirlington Library, the RPC residential program center, and Fire Station 3), $250,000 in fleet EV chargers and $707,000 for energy performance upgrades at county buildings.
The department also described a small pilot to evaluate take-home EV charging for some public-safety employees. DES said the pilot will test cost, mission impacts and administrative controls by equipping a small number of vehicles and consolidating lessons before scaling.
Ending: Board members and climate commission representatives praised the county's approach but pressed DES to ensure adequate staffing for the implementation work. Cindy Lewin, chair of the County's Climate Commission (C2E2), told the board the air-team implementation capacity is a continuing concern and asked that staff monitor resourcing closely.
