December 11, 2024
This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has tentatively selected 13 California applicants to receive $135.2 million total in grants to help purchase 455 zero-emission vehicles through the EPA’s new Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program.
“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.”
Included in the award was Pico Rivera, which has been tentatively selected to receive over $762,000 to replace three diesel vehicles—a bucket truck, a vacuum truck, and a dump truck— with zero-emission models to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and greenhouse gases. The project will directly improve air quality for community members, decrease climate pollution, and reduce city transportation costs.
Also included was Los Angeles Unified School District’s Transportation Services Division which has been tentatively selected to receive an anticipated $20.3 million to replace 50 fossil fuel-powered school buses with zero-emission electric models and install supporting electric charging infrastructure. This project will significantly reduce emissions that contribute to poor air quality and support workforce development activities to train and recruit local community members for zero-emission technology-related jobs.
EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act, will replace existing internal combustion engine heavy-duty vehicles nationwide with zero-emission vehicles, while also supporting the build-out of clean vehicle infrastructure as well as the training of workers to deploy these new zero-emission technologies. Together, the selected projects across the U.S. announced today will reduce harmful emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, support good-paying jobs, and improve air quality in communities across the country, particularly in those that have been disproportionately harmed by air pollution.
Across the nation, over 3 million Class 6 and Class 7 vehicles are currently in use, spanning many vehicle types and vocations. Many of these are older vehicles that emit higher levels of harmful pollutants like nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter, and greenhouse gases than newer vehicles. This pollution is associated with respiratory and cardiovascular disease, among other serious health problems. Children, older adults, those with preexisting cardiopulmonary disease, and those of lower socioeconomic status are particularly vulnerable to these health impacts. Decreasing pollution from heavy-duty vehicles helps protect the health of 72 million people living near truck freight routes in America.
