Similar to larger settlements with cigarette makers over the health damages of smoking and BP from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, money for states affected by the VW scandal will be distributed by a trust and must be spent on eligible projects. One option would allow states to use the funds to cover up to 25 percent of the cost of a new passenger locomotive through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, a popular federal law that has replaced or cleaned up thousands of dirty vehicles during the past decade.