King County received a financial boost in its efforts to promote green technology in the region with the recent adoption of legislation by the Metropolitan King County Council accepting $7.1 million in federal funding for clean, energy-efficient projects.

“Each of these projects is an investment in our future,” said King County Council Vice Chair Jane Hague, who sponsored the ordinance. “By using the funds to stimulate the clean vehicle industry, we not only are going to create jobs but we will also contribute to a cleaner future for our children.”

The funding is backed by federal grants as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Department of Energy’s Petroleum Reductions Technology Program awarded the Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition a $15 million competitive award in August. King County is a major partner on this project, and will be provided $1,540,000 of the total award to cover the incremental costs to purchase 28 hybrid Azure Dynamics minibuses that will be used in the King County Metro Transit ACCESS paratransit fleet.

The remaining amount of the purchase price of these vehicles will be funded in the proposed 2010 Transit budget. Other funding from this grant for the King County Department of Transportation’s Fleet Division will allow the purchase of hybrid vehicles, as well as funding for additional electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Details of this funding will be negotiated with the Clean Cities Coalition and the state Department of Ecology. The Clean Cities grant will allow the transportation department to reduce operating costs by reducing fuel consumption, help King County achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and address climate change, and help stimulate the clean vehicle sector. The expenditure of this grant will not increase county costs.

King County is anticipated to receive a total of $6,141,000 from this program under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.