On 18 August 2020, $27 million in funding will be available in California to replace higher polluting trucks with zero-emission vehicles. The funding is part of the Volkswagen (VW) Environmental Mitigation Trust program, which is intended to fund projects that will fully mitigate the excess nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions caused by the vehicles included in the VW settlement.

This is the first installment from the $90 million available for the Zero-Emission Class 8 Freight and Port Drayage Trucks category and will provide funding to replace freight trucks (including drayage), waste haulers, dump trucks, and concrete mixers.

Existing vehicles must be engine model years 1992 to 2012, in compliance with all applicable regulations, and scrapped in exchange for a zero-emission replacement vehicle. Private and public entities that own and operate eligible vehicles in the State may apply.

Applicants must be able to meet basic project requirements which include:

• Ownership: Proof of ownership for at least one year.

• Operation: Operate old and new vehicle at least 75% of the time within California.

• Scrapping: Existing vehicle must be scrapped.

• Replacement: New vehicle must be a zero-emission vehicle.

• Certification: New vehicle must be certified or approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) or eligible under the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP).

Maximum funding will not exceed $200,000 per eligible replacement vehicle. The second installment of funds for this category is expected to be released within the next few years.

Eligible participants will be awarded funding on a first-come, first-served basis. South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) will administer the funding statewide with CARB providing program and fiscal oversight. Applications for the program will be accepted online only, beginning Tuesday, 18 August 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT.

The Zero-Emission Class 8 Freight and Port Drayage Trucks category is one of five categories that will be funded from California’s $423-million allocation of the VW Environmental Mitigation Trust. CARB estimates funding for all five categories will result in more than 10,000 tons of NO_x reductions over a 10-year period.

The four other project categories under the VW Environmental Mitigation Trust program in California, and the regional air quality agency assigned to administer the funds statewide on behalf of CARB, are:

• Zero-Emission Transit, School and Shuttle Bus Projects, administered statewide by San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

• Combustion Freight and Marine Projects, administered statewide by South Coast AQMD.

• Zero-Emission Freight & Marine Projects, administered statewide by Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD).

• Light-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure (Charging Stations and Hydrogen Fueling Stations), administered statewide by BAAQMD.