The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has awarded around $1.7 million in funding through the Volkswagen Settlement Environmental Mitigation Trust to construct electric vehicle charging stations throughout the state.

According to a news release, one of the nine recipients is in a city in the KMMO listening area.
· City of Bethany;
· Nam Ho Development LLC in Cameron;
· SuperSonic Transportation LLC in Columbia;
· Evergy Inc. in Concordia;
· Empire District Electric Company in Joplin;
· Callaway Electric Cooperative in Kingdom City;
· Francis Energy in Rockport;
· MFA Oil in Sikeston; and
· Kum and Go LLC in Springfield.

In 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a complaint alleging between 2009 and 2016, Volkswagen had violated the Clean Air Act with the sale of motor vehicles equipped with emissions “defeat devices.” These devices allowed the vehicles to perform differently during normal vehicle operation than during emissions tests.

Missouri received approximately $41 million in trust funds for mitigation projects, to be distributed over several years. Approximately $6 million (15 percent) of Missouri’s allocation was dedicated to creating a network of electric vehicle charging stations.