California Air Resources Board staff is proposing that $25 million in Proposition 1B bond funding go to diesel emissions reduction projects for the South Coast, Central Valley, San Francisco and San Diego air districts, mostly for truck retrofit and replacements.
These recommendations will be before the entire board for approval at a Jan. 24 hearing in Sacramento. If approved by the board, CARB staff will begin allocating the funds immediately to the air districts.
CARB also announced that it plans to allocate more than 75 percent of the overall $1 billion in 1B bond funding to be used toward reducing diesel pollution from trucks associated with goods movement around the state. The remaining 24 percent of funding, $240 million, will be earmarked for diesel emissions reductions from ships, harbor craft and locomotives.
“This strategy puts the lion’s share of the dollars where they’re needed most, on trucks traveling from the state’s ports and along our major transportation corridors,” says Mary Nichols, CARB chairman. “Within months of passing a new regulation aimed at cleaning up port trucks, we are following through with much-needed funding to help drivers retrofit and replace older, dirty engines.”
Proposition 1B was the transportation bond put on the ballot by the Legislature and before the voters in November 2006. The 2007-08 budget, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in August, funds the initial $250 million of the $1 billion set aside for air quality improvement projects in Proposition 1B.
CARB recently passed a series of measures that focus on reducing diesel emissions from trucks and ships, with more on the way in 2008. Much of these regulations require engine replacements and retrofits that 1B funding can help in terms of early compliance, such as the regulation aimed at cleaning up the state’s 20,000 port or drayage trucks.
For a breakdown of the projects designed to receive the proposed $25 million in 1B bond funding, click here.
