Butler is getting its first facility to fill vehicles with natural gas.

The Butler Transit Authority announced that it has received $1 million from the state Department of Environmental Protection to build a compressed natural gas, or CNG, facility in Butler.

The facility will be the first CNG fueling station for both public and commercial vehicles in central

Butler County.The station will be built on the authority’s property in the Pullman Center area. It will be available to authority vehicles, Butler Area Rural Transit (BART) vehicles and other commercial and private vehicles at separate nearby fueling areas.As part of the initiative, the transit authority has committed to buying four new natural gas-powered 45-foot coach buses and six 30-foot buses. The transit authority also is working with BART to replace 20 shuttle buses with natural gas-powered versions.Construction on the new CNG facility is to begin in 2013, and the facility is expected to be open by January 2014.