HARRISBURG — A Potter County organization has received a state grant to switch to natural gas for their fleet vehicles.

Officials said REV Hoopes Trucking in Ulysses will receive $500,000 to purchase 20 LNG trucks, while REV LNG will garner $400,000 to purchase 16 LNG trucks.

All told, $7.3 million in Act 13 funding was allotted to 18 companies, organizations and partnerships statewide to make the switch to natural gas for their heavy-duty fleet vehicles.

Act 13 of 2012 was the single largest step in modernizing the state’s Oil and Gas Law in nearly three decades. It increased protections for private water supplies, empowered the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue larger fines and included one of the most progressive hydraulic fracturing fluid disclosure laws in the nation. Officials said the Act also authorized DEP to develop and implement the Natural Gas Energy Development program, funded by impact fees paid by natural gas operators. The program distributed up to $20 million in grants over three years, to help pay for the incremental purchase and conversion costs of heavy-duty natural gas fleet vehicles. 

Officials said eligible vehicles for all three rounds of the Natural Gas Energy Development program included those fueled with compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) or bi-fuel vehicles weighing 14,000 pounds or more.