Southern California Air District Awarded $500 Million for Clean Cars and Trucks

Alenteshar Newspaper

This week, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) was awarded nearly $500 million in federal grants for clean transportation programs, making it the largest grant awarded across all 50 states. The agency is responsible for overseeing federal air quality standards in Los Angeles, Orange, and parts of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

The award is part of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program, which is one of the largest within the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This program provides $5 billion to states, municipalities, tribes, and other governments to reduce climate pollution. Entities in nearly every US state, along with D.C. and Puerto Rico, were required to develop a Climate Action Plan to apply for the program.

According to SCAQMD’s Climate Action Plan, the funding will aim to deliver the following benefits:

– Install over 1,000 medium and heavy-duty vehicle chargers and deploy 800 medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles and 18 electric locomotives.

– Reduce air pollutants from diesel emissions in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

– Create an estimated 470 high-quality jobs in California.

– Support an apprenticeship pipeline that will open pathways into high-quality union careers.

– Educate communities about electric vehicles to accelerate their deployment.

– Build resilience in the freight sector by modernizing vehicles and developing a skilled workforce to be better prepared for potential future world events.

In a press release over the weekend, the Biden Administration commented, “As climate change continues to fuel more extreme impacts on communities across the country, we are using every tool in our toolbox to reduce pollution, lower families’ energy costs, advance environmental justice, and make our communities more resilient.”

The funding comes amid a scorching heat wave impacting Southern California, where record-breaking temperatures mix with vehicle pollution to make smog and air quality in the region worse than usual. According to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report, the SCAQMD region is the most polluted in the country, mostly due to vehicle emissions. The region is also a hotbed for pollution from cargo boats, large trucks, and heavy rail originating from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Goods unloaded from cargo ships at the ports are largely transported to massive warehouses in the Riverside and San Bernardino regions, where more than half of the warehouse facilities violate clean air standards.

Yassi Kavezade, Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All Senior Campaign Advisor, released the following statement: This historic $500 million investment in zero-emission freight infrastructure is a lifeline for Southern California. With Los Angeles and the Inland Empire suffering from the nation’s most polluted air, this funding is crucial for protecting the health of the 17 million residents in the South Coast Air Basin. We’re committed to ensuring these dollars translate into cleaner air, green jobs, and environmental justice for our most impacted communities.

This initial round of funding from the federal government is by far the largest of the CPRG, with 92% of the funds being released. This means that Southern California and SCAQMD’s strategy will be a major component of the national investment to cut climate pollution.

Southern California Air District Awarded $500 Million for Clean Cars and Trucks

This week, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) was awarded nearly $500 million in federal grants for clean transportation programs, making it the largest grant awarded across all 50 states. The agency is responsible for overseeing federal air quality standards in Los Angeles, Orange, and parts of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

The award is part of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program, which is one of the largest within the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This program provides $5 billion to states, municipalities, tribes, and other governments to reduce climate pollution. Entities in nearly every US state, along with D.C. and Puerto Rico, were required to develop a Climate Action Plan to apply for the program.

According to SCAQMD’s Climate Action Plan, the funding will aim to deliver the following benefits:

– Install over 1,000 medium and heavy-duty vehicle chargers and deploy 800 medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles and 18 electric locomotives.

– Reduce air pollutants from diesel emissions in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

– Create an estimated 470 high-quality jobs in California.

– Support an apprenticeship pipeline that will open pathways into high-quality union careers.

– Educate communities about electric vehicles to accelerate their deployment.

– Build resilience in the freight sector by modernizing vehicles and developing a skilled workforce to be better prepared for potential future world events.

In a press release over the weekend, the Biden Administration commented, “As climate change continues to fuel more extreme impacts on communities across the country, we are using every tool in our toolbox to reduce pollution, lower families’ energy costs, advance environmental justice, and make our communities more resilient.”

The funding comes amid a scorching heat wave impacting Southern California, where record-breaking temperatures mix with vehicle pollution to make smog and air quality in the region worse than usual. According to the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report, the SCAQMD region is the most polluted in the country, mostly due to vehicle emissions. The region is also a hotbed for pollution from cargo boats, large trucks, and heavy rail originating from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Goods unloaded from cargo ships at the ports are largely transported to massive warehouses in the Riverside and San Bernardino regions, where more than half of the warehouse facilities violate clean air standards.

Yassi Kavezade, Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All Senior Campaign Advisor, released the following statement: This historic $500 million investment in zero-emission freight infrastructure is a lifeline for Southern California. With Los Angeles and the Inland Empire suffering from the nation’s most polluted air, this funding is crucial for protecting the health of the 17 million residents in the South Coast Air Basin. We’re committed to ensuring these dollars translate into cleaner air, green jobs, and environmental justice for our most impacted communities.

This initial round of funding from the federal government is by far the largest of the CPRG, with 92% of the funds being released. This means that Southern California and SCAQMD’s strategy will be a major component of the national investment to cut climate pollution.