The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its Clean New Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, recently announced it is awarding California with grants worth $135.2 million to fund 13 projects to help the state wean off fossil fuels and support zero-emission technology-related jobs.
The program's overall goal is to provide a total of $735 million for 70 projects in 27 states, three Tribal Nations, and one territory.
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For California, the money is specifically earmarked to purchase 455 zero-emission semi trucks and school buses to replace their C02-producing diesel counterparts. A total of 13 government agencies, including the cities of Santa Monica, Oakland, and Pasadena, the Los Angeles Unified School Districts, Oxnard School District, and the California Department of Transportation.
Santa Monica, for example, will replace four fossil-fuel street cleaners with electric versions while the South Coast Air District will get $34 million to buy 126 EV trucks.
"Heavy-duty vehicle pollution contributes to dangerous air quality across the country, especially here in California," said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “By replacing dirty heavy-duty vehicles with clean, zero-emission models, this funding will reduce air pollution, improve health outcomes in nearby communities, and advance the campaign to tackle climate change.”
The grants' funding, set to be delivered in 2025, comes from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes almost $400 billion in spending and tax credits to push the expansion of zero-emission technologies, wind and solar power, and to continue the country's overall transition away from fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas.
It remains to be seen whether the incoming Trump administration will rescind any of these funds.
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California Senator Alex Padilla, meanwhile, hailed the EPA's announcement.
“Reducing heavy-duty vehicle and school bus pollution is essential to protecting Californians’ public health and combating the climate crisis. This substantial Inflation Reduction Act investment will replace diesel-powered vehicles and fossil fuel-powered school buses with zero-emission alternatives, delivering cleaner air and creating good-paying jobs for the communities most impacted by pollution across our state.”
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As a refresher, the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program consists of two sub-programs: a school bus sub-program that aims to deliver about 70 percent of total funding to school bus replacement projects, and a vocational vehicles sub-program whose goal it to provide 30 percent of total funding to vocational vehicle replacement projects.
