The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) is a comprehensive set of incentive programs aimed at improving air quality in Texas.  The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) administers TERP grants and other TERP financial incentives. The Legislature established the TERP in 2001.  Programs falling under the TERP’s jurisdiction include:

• The TCEQ’s Emissions Reduction Incentive Grants (ERIG) Program, 
  which provides grants to eligible projects in nonattainment areas and affected counties.  The grants offset the incremental costs associated with reducing emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from high-emitting internal combustion engines.

• The New Technology Research and Development Program
  provides incentives to encourage and support research, development, and commercialization of technologies that reduce pollution in Texas. The program was formed as the TCEQ has taken over the functions of the Texas Council on Environmental Technology.

• The Heavy-Duty Motor Vehicle Purchase or Lease Incentive (HDPLI) Program,
  a statewide program to reimburse a purchaser or lessee of an eligible new on-road heavy-duty vehicle for the incremental costs of purchasing or leasing the vehicle in lieu of a higher-emitting diesel-powered vehicle. A heavy-duty vehicle is defined as a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more.

• The Light-Duty Motor Vehicle Purchase or Lease Incentive (LDPLI) Program,
  a statewide program to provide financial incentives (rebates) for the purchase or lease of an eligible new car and light truck, model year 2003 or newer. To be eligible, the vehicles must meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 2 Bin 4 or cleaner NOx emissions standards and must have been purchased or leased after August 1, 2002. The rebates are subject to available funding.

While most TERP funding to date has gone to replacing vehicles and engines with cleaner burning diesel engines, some TERP funding has been allocated for advanced technologies such as hybrid-electric drive systems, which have the promise of becoming low or zero-emission transportation solutions.  Under the New Technology Research and Development Program, fuel cells are a particular area of interest.

» For more information about The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan please visit:

www.tceq.state.tx.us/implementation/air/terp/