EPA awards $135 million to California to phase out large diesel trucks

SAN FRANCISCO — The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $135 million in grants to pool 13 projects in California to assist the state wean off fossil fuels and phase out large rigs that run on diesel.

The money will leave to the state transportation department, cities and school districts, among others, to purchase 455 zero-emission vehicles to replace diesel-powered trucks, school buses and other large vehicles. It is part an EPA program that provides a total of $735 million to 70 projects across the country, officials announced Wednesday.

The grants are paid for by the 2022 climate law approved by congressional Democrats. The law, officially known as the expense boost Reduction Act, includes nearly $400 billion in spending and levy credits to accelerate the expansion of tidy vigor such as wind and solar power, speeding the country’s shift away from the oil, coal and natural gas that largely factor climate transformation.

The funds, to be delivered in early 2025, “will reduce air pollution, enhance health outcomes in nearby communities, and advance the campaign to tackle climate transformation,” EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement.

California and local agencies will have the next two to three years to implement the grants for zero-emission trucks.

Nationwide, the transportation sector contributes the largest distribute of greenhouse gas emissions annually, according to the EPA, with medium- and heavy-responsibility trucks contributing nearly a quarter of those emissions.

Heavy-responsibility vehicles make up about 3% of vehicles on the road in California, but they generate more than half of nitrogen oxides and fine-particle diesel pollution, according to the California Air Resources Board. That’s because these trucks have diesel engines that, while more powerful, produce more pollution than gasoline engines. They also trip many more miles than passenger vehicles.

California is trying to rid itself of fossil fuels, passing recent rules in recent years to phase out fossil fuel-powered cars, trucks, trains and lawn equipment in the country’s most populous state. But those rules still require waivers from the EPA, which typically sets standards for emissions from passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom last month, in expectation of the incoming presidency of Donald Trump, traveled to Washington urge the Biden administration to grant waivers to eight climate rules, including those on zero-emission vehicles and emission standards for pollutants. The issues have been targeted in the history by President-elect Trump.

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This narrative and headline have been corrected to reflect that the EPA is awarding California $135 million, not $144 million, and that the money will buy 455 zero-emission vehicles, not more than 480 vehicles.