As Introduced

134th General Assembly

Regular Session S. B. No. 32

2021-2022

Senator Rulli

A BILL

To enact section 5501.92 of the Revised Code to require the Director of Transportation to establish an electric vehicle charging station grant rebate program and to make an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 5501.92 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 5501.92. (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Charging port" means each plug on an EV charging station.

(2) "CCS1 connector" means a direct current fast charger that provides electricity to an electric vehicle at a charge rate of at least seventy-five kilowatts per hour and at least four hundred volts and requires a dedicated circuit.

(3) "DCFC charging station" means a direct current fast charging electric vehicle charging station with a CCS1 connector that provides electricity to an electric vehicle at a charge rate of at least seventy-five kilowatts per hour and at least four hundred volts and requires a dedicated circuit.

(4) "EV charging station" means a level 2 charging station or a DCFC charging station.

(5) "Internal Revenue Code" has the same meaning as in section 5747.01 of the Revised Code.

(6) "J1772 connector" means a level 2 charger that provides electricity to an electric vehicle by two hundred forty volts or two hundred eight volts and requires a dedicated circuit of between twenty and one hundred amperes.

(7) "Level 2 charging station" means an electric vehicle charging station that provides electricity to an electric vehicle by at least two hundred eight volts and requires a dedicated circuit.

(8) "Political subdivision" means a municipal corporation or county.

(9) "School" means a school operated by the board of education of a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district, the governing board of an educational service center, the governing authority of a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, the governing body of a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics school established under Chapter 3326. of the Revised Code, the board of trustees of a college-preparatory boarding school established under Chapter 3328. of the Revised Code, or state institution of higher education.

(10) "State institution of higher education" has the same meaning as in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director of transportation shall establish an EV charging station grant rebate program to provide reimbursement for the purchase of EV charging stations. In establishing the program, the director shall do all of the following:

(1) Establish an application procedure and application requirements, including a requirement that the applicant own the EV charging station and that the EV charging station be installed in this state;

(2) Limit applicant eligibility to the following applicants:

(a) Commercial entities with an Ohio address;

(b) Nonprofit organizations;

(c) State agencies and political subdivisions;

(d) Schools.

(3) Establish the following categories of EV charging stations that are eligible for rebates under the program:

(a) Public level 2 charging stations with J1772 connectors that are accessible to the public and allow any electric vehicle to charge;

(b) Workplace level 2 charging stations with J1772 connectors that are accessible to employees of a particular workplace as an incentive for employment or part of a sustainable workplace campaign and that may be publicly accessible;

(c) Fleet level 2 charging stations that are dedicated to charging workplace fleet vehicles that do not require the use of J1772 connectors;

(d) Multifamily level 2 charging stations with J1772 connectors that provide electric vehicle charging to residents of a multifamily town home, apartment, or condominium complex that is either for the exclusive use of those residents or for the use of those residents and the general public. Such charging stations are eligible for a rebate under division (B)(3)(d) of this section only if the multifamily town home, apartment, or condominium complex has at least four units.

(e) Publicly accessible DCFC charging stations placed at locations along the state highway system and rural areas for the purpose of reducing range anxiety.

(4) Require as a condition of eligibility that public, workplace, and multifamily level 2 charging stations be listed on the United States department of energy's alternative fuel data center;

(5) Limit the number of charging ports eligible for a rebate grant at each location as follows:

(a) For public and workplace level 2 charging stations, thirty charging ports;

(b) For fleet charging stations owned by a commercial applicant, thirty charging ports;

(c) For multifamily town home, apartment, or condominium complex level 2 charging stations and for fleet charging stations owned by a school, state agency, political subdivision, or nonprofit organization, ten charging ports;

(d) For DCFC stations, thirty charging ports.

(6) Distribute rebate grants in accordance with the following reimbursement rates:

(a) For commercially owned public, workplace, and fleet level 2 charging stations, the rebate is seventy-five per cent of the cost of each level 2 charging station up to a maximum three thousand five hundred dollars per charging port;

(b) For public, workplace, and fleet level 2 charging stations owned by a school, state agency, political subdivision, or nonprofit organization, the rebate amount is ninety per cent of the cost of each level 2 charging station up to a maximum of three thousand five hundred dollars per charging port;

(c) For any multifamily level 2 charging station, the rebate amount is ninety per cent of the cost of each level 2 charging station up to a maximum of three thousand five hundred dollars per charging port;

(d) For DCFC charging stations, seventy per cent of the cost of the DCFC charging station up to a maximum of fifteen thousand dollars per charging port.

(7) Allow rebate grants for any combination of the following expenses:

(a) The costs of purchasing EV charging stations and the associated charging ports;

(b) Not more than fifty per cent of associated installation costs.

(8) Establish any other requirements or procedures necessary for the administration and implementation of the program.

(C) The director shall provide rebate grants under the program only for EV charging stations purchased and installed between the effective date of this section and December 31, 2030. The director may limit the number of rebate grants awarded based on funding limitations.

Section 2. All items in this act are hereby appropriated as designated out of any moneys in the state treasury to the credit of the designated fund. For all operating appropriations made in this act, those in the first column are for fiscal year 2022 and those in the second column are for fiscal year 2023. The operating appropriations made in this act are in addition to any other operating appropriations made for the FY 2022-FY 2023 biennium.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION REBATES

The foregoing appropriation item 772503, Electric Vehicle Charging Station Rebates, shall be used for the EV Charging Station Rebate Grant Program established in section 5501.92 of the Revised Code.

Of the foregoing appropriation item 772503, Electric Vehicle Charging Station Rebates, $500,000 in fiscal year 2022 shall be used to conduct a feasibility study for an autonomous and electric vehicle smart logistics corridor in Trumbull County.

Section 3. Within the limits set forth in this act, the Director of Budget and Management shall establish accounts indicating the source and amount of funds for each appropriation made in this act, and shall determine the form and manner in which appropriation accounts shall be maintained. Expenditures from operating appropriations contained in this act shall be accounted for as though made in the main operating appropriations act of the 134th General Assembly.

The operating appropriations made in this act are subject to all provisions of the main operating appropriations act of the 134th General Assembly that are generally applicable to such appropriations.