II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 432 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry 

out a pilot program to award grants for the electrification of certain 

refrigerated vehicles, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2021 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to carry out a pilot program to award grants 

for the electrification of certain refrigerated vehicles, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fostering and Real5 izing Electrification by Encouraging Zero Emission Re6 frigeration Trucks Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘FREEZER 

7 Trucks Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR THE ELECTRIFICATION OF 

2 CERTAIN REFRIGERATED VEHICLES. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ6 mental Protection Agency. 

7 (2) DIESEL-POWERED TRANSPORT REFRIGERA8 TION UNIT.—The term ‘‘diesel-powered transport re9 frigeration unit’’ means a transport refrigeration 

10 unit that is powered by an independent diesel inter11 nal combustion engine. 

12 (3) ELECTRIC TRANSPORT REFRIGERATION

13 UNIT.—The term ‘‘electric transport refrigeration 

14 unit’’ means a transport refrigeration unit in which 

15 the refrigeration or climate-control system is driven 

16 by an electric motor when connected to shore power 

17 infrastructure or other equipment that enables 

18 transport refrigeration units to connect to electric 

19 power, including all-electric transport refrigeration 

20 units, hybrid electric transport refrigeration units, 

21 and standby electric transport refrigeration units. 

22 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means— 

24 (A) a regional, State, local, or Tribal agen25 cy, or a port authority, with jurisdiction over 

26 transportation or air quality; 


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1 (B) a nonprofit organization or institution 

2 that— 

3 (i) represents, or provides pollution 

4 reduction or educational services to, indi5 viduals or organizations that own or oper6 ate heavy-duty vehicles or fleets of heavy7 duty vehicles; or 

8 (ii) has, as the principal purpose of 

9 the organization or institution, the pro10 motion of air quality; 

11 (C) an individual or entity that is the 

12 owner of record of a heavy-duty vehicle or a 

13 fleet of heavy-duty vehicles that operates for the 

14 transportation and delivery of perishable goods 

15 or other goods requiring climate-controlled con16 ditions; 

17 (D) an individual or entity that is the 

18 owner of record of a facility that operates as a 

19 warehouse or storage facility for perishable 

20 goods or other goods requiring climate-con21 trolled conditions; and 

22 (E) a hospital or public health institution 

23 that utilizes refrigeration for storage of perish24 able goods or other goods requiring climate-con25 trolled conditions. 


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1 (5) HEAVY-DUTY VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘heavy2 duty vehicle’’ means— 

3 (A) a commercial truck or van— 

4 (i) used for the primary purpose of 

5 transporting perishable goods or other 

6 goods requiring climate-controlled condi7 tions; and 

8 (ii) with a gross vehicle weight rating 

9 greater than 6,000 pounds; and 

10 (B) an insulated cargo trailer used in 

11 transporting perishable goods or other goods re12 quiring climate-controlled conditions when 

13 mounted on a semitrailer. 

14 (6) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro15 gram’’ means the pilot program established under 

16 subsection (b). 

17 (7) SHORE POWER INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 

18 term ‘‘shore power infrastructure’’ means electrical 

19 infrastructure that provides power to the electric 

20 transport refrigeration unit of a heavy-duty vehicle 

21 when the heavy-duty vehicle is stationary on a prop22 erty where the heavy-duty vehicle is parked or load23 ed, including a food distribution center or other loca24 tion where heavy-duty vehicles congregate. 


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1 (8) TRANSPORT REFRIGERATION UNIT.—The 

2 term ‘‘transport refrigeration unit’’ means a climate3 control system installed on a heavy-duty vehicle for 

4 the purpose of maintaining the quality of perishable 

5 goods or other goods requiring climate-controlled 

6 conditions. 

7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM.—The Ad8 ministrator shall establish a pilot program to award funds, 

9 in the form of grants, rebates, and low-cost revolving 

10 loans, as determined appropriate by the Administrator, on 

11 a competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out projects 

12 described in subsection (c). 

13 (c) PROJECTS.—An eligible entity receiving an award 

14 of funds under the pilot program may use those funds only 

15 for 1 or more of the following projects: 

16 (1) TRANSPORT REFRIGERATION UNIT RE17 PLACEMENT.—A project to retrofit a heavy-duty ve18 hicle by— 

19 (A) replacing or retrofitting an existing 

20 diesel-powered transport refrigeration unit in 

21 the heavy-duty vehicle with an electric transport 

22 refrigeration unit; and 

23 (B) retiring the replaced diesel-powered 

24 transport refrigeration unit for scrappage. 


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1 (2) SHORE POWER INFRASTRUCTURE.—A 

2 project to purchase and install shore power infra3 structure or other equipment that enables transport 

4 refrigeration units to connect to electric power and 

5 operate without using diesel fuel. 

6 (d) MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.—The amount of an award 

7 of funds under the pilot program to an eligible entity shall 

8 not exceed— 

9 (1) with respect to the costs of a project de10 scribed in subsection (c)(1), 75 percent of those 

11 costs; and 

12 (2) with respect to the costs of a project de13 scribed in subsection (c)(2), 55 percent of those 

14 costs. 

15 (e) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive an 

16 award of funds under the pilot program, an eligible entity 

17 shall submit to the Administrator an application at such 

18 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 

19 the Administrator may require, including— 

20 (1) a description of the air quality in the area 

21 served by the eligible entity, including a description 

22 of how the air quality is affected by diesel emissions 

23 from heavy-duty vehicles; 

24 (2) a description of the project proposed to be 

25 carried out by the eligible entity, including— 


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1 (A) any technology to be used or funded by 

2 the eligible entity; and 

3 (B) a description of the heavy-duty vehicle 

4 or vehicles of the eligible entity that will be ret5 rofitted, if any, including— 

6 (i) the number of those heavy-duty ve7 hicles; 

8 (ii) the uses of those heavy-duty vehi9 cles; 

10 (iii) the locations where those heavy11 duty vehicles dock for the purpose of load12 ing or unloading; and 

13 (iv) the routes driven by those heavy14 duty vehicles, including the times at which 

15 those heavy-duty vehicles are driven; 

16 (3) an estimate of the cost of the project pro17 posed to be carried out by the eligible entity; 

18 (4) a description of the age and expected life19 time control of the equipment used or funded by the 

20 eligible entity; and 

21 (5) a description of the provisions for the moni22 toring and verification of the project proposed to be 

23 carried out by the eligible entity, including to verify 

24 the scrappage of any replaced diesel-powered trans25 port refrigeration units. 


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1 (f) PRIORITY.—In awarding funds under the pilot 

2 program, the Administrator shall give priority to proposed 

3 projects that, as determined by the Administrator— 

4 (1) maximize public health benefits; 

5 (2) are the most cost-effective; and 

6 (3) will serve the communities that are most 

7 polluted by diesel motor emissions, including com8 munities that the Administrator identifies as being 

9 in either nonattainment or maintenance of the na10 tional ambient air quality standards for a criteria 

11 pollutant under section 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 7409), particularly for— 

13 (A) ozone; and 

14 (B) particulate matter. 

15 (g) DATA RELEASE.—Not later than 120 days after 

16 the date on which an award of funds is made under the 

17 pilot program, the Administrator shall publish on the 

18 website of the Environmental Protection Agency, in a 

19 downloadable electronic database, information with re20 spect to that award of funds, including— 

21 (1) the name and location of the recipient; 

22 (2) the total amount of funds awarded; 

23 (3) the intended use or uses of the awarded 

24 funds; 


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1 (4) the date on which the award of funds was 

2 approved; 

3 (5) if applicable, an estimate of any air pollu4 tion or greenhouse gas emissions avoided as a result 

5 of the project funded by the award; and 

6 (6) any other data the Administrator deter7 mines to be necessary for an evaluation of the use 

8 and effect of awarded funds provided under the pilot 

9 program. 

10 (h) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

11 (1) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

12 than 1 year after the date of the establishment of 

13 the pilot program, and annually thereafter until the 

14 amounts made available to carry out this section are 

15 fully expended, the Administrator shall submit to 

16 Congress and make available to the public a report 

17 that describes, with respect to the applicable year— 

18 (A) the number of applications for awards 

19 of funds received under the pilot program; 

20 (B) all awards of funds made under the 

21 pilot program, including a summary of the data 

22 described in subsection (g); 

23 (C) the estimated reduction of annual 

24 emissions of air pollutants regulated under sec25 tion 109 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409) 


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1 and greenhouse gas emissions that is associated 

2 with the awards of funds made under the pilot 

3 program; 

4 (D) the number of awards of funds made 

5 under the pilot program for projects that serve 

6 communities described in subsection (f)(3); and 

7 (E) any other data the Administrator de8 termines to be necessary to describe the imple9 mentation, outcomes, or effectiveness of the 

10 pilot program. 

11 (2) FINAL REPORT.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

13 shall submit to Congress and make available to 

14 the public a report containing the information 

15 described in subparagraph (B) on the date that 

16 is the earlier of— 

17 (i) the date that is 1 year after the 

18 date on which the amounts made available 

19 to carry out this section are fully ex20 pended; and 

21 (ii) the date that is 5 years after the 

22 date on which the pilot program is estab23 lished. 

24 (B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The in25 formation referred to in subparagraph (A) is— 


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1 (i) all of the information collected for 

2 the annual reports under paragraph (1); 

3 (ii) any benefits to the environment or 

4 human health that could result from the 

5 widespread application of electric transport 

6 refrigeration units for short-haul transpor7 tation and delivery of perishable goods or 

8 other goods requiring climate-controlled 

9 conditions, including in low-income com10 munities and communities of color; 

11 (iii) any challenges or benefits that re12 cipients of awards of funds under the pilot 

13 program reported with respect to the inte14 gration or use of electric transport refrig15 eration units and associated technologies; 

16 (iv) an assessment of the national 

17 market potential for electric transport re18 frigeration units; 

19 (v) an assessment of the challenges 

20 and opportunities for widespread deploy21 ment of electric transport refrigeration 

22 units, including in urban areas; and 

23 (vi) recommendations for how future 

24 Federal, State, and local programs can 

25 best support the adoption and widespread 


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1 deployment of electric transport refrigera2 tion units. 

3 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

5 appropriated to carry out this section $30,000,000, 

6 to remain available until expended. 

7 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Admin8 istrator may use not more than 1 percent of the 

9 amounts made available under paragraph (1) for ad10 ministrative expenses to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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