CARB Approves $663 Million For Clean Trucks, Low-Income Communities

California wants more environmentally friendly vehicles on the road so much so that the state has approved $663 million to do just that.

The main purpose of the funding approved by the California Air Resources Control Board, or CARB, is to eliminate diesel emissions.

“This investment will continue to drive the market for new vehicle technologies, and put more ultra-clean and zero-emission trucks, buses and cars into the communities across California that need them the most,” CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols said in a press release.

The Fiscal Year 2017-18 Funding Plan for Clean Transportation Incentives calls for more investment in zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses, as well as zero-emission freight facilities.

“They can leapfrog ahead of conventional technologies and start to move towards the cleanest available engines, and really help to clean up our air,” says Bill Magavern with the Coalition for Clean Air.  

It also adds funds to existing programs that offer vehicle rebates for people interested in zero-emission and plug-in hybrid cars. Most of the funds come from California’s cap-and-trade program.

Around $125 million is set aside to get clean cars and buses into disadvantaged communities affected by the worst air pollution in the state.

“It’s the largest amount of clean transportation funding that we’ve ever had in one year,” says Magavern. “But we’re going to need to continue to build on that in order to get the dirtiest vehicles off the roads.”