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Please find the following California Air Resources Board news
release regarding the initial proposed $25 million in Bond 1B
funding.

You may also view the news release here:
http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/nr010308.htm

Thank you,
Gennet Paauwe
Office of Communications
California Air Resources Board

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Release 08-01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
January 3, 2008 

Contact:
Leo kay
(916) 322-2990
www.arb.ca.gov 

ARB announces initial proposed $25 million in Bond 1B funding
Monies will retrofit or replace 1,000 old, polluting trucks 


SACRAMENTO -California Air Resources Board staff is proposing
that $25 million in Proposition 1B Bond funding go to diesel
emission reduction projects for the South Coast, Central Valley,
San Francisco and San Diego air districts, mostly for truck
retrofit and replacements. These recommendations will be before
the entire Board for approval at a January hearing in
Sacramento. 

ARB also announced that it plans to allocate more than 75
percent of the overall $1 billion in Bond 1B funding to be used
toward reducing diesel pollution from trucks associated with
goods movement around the state. The remaining 24 percent of
funding, $240 million, will be earmarked for diesel emission
reductions from ships, harbor craft and locomotives. 

"This strategy puts the lionís share of the dollars where
theyíre needed most: on trucks traveling from the state's ports
and along our major transportation corridors," said ARB Chairman
Mary Nichols. "Within months of passing a new regulation aimed at
cleaning up port trucks we are following through with much-needed
funding to help drivers retrofit and replace older, dirty
engines."

See below for the breakdown of the initial $25 million in Bond
1B funding:

Staff Recommendations for Early Grant Projects
 
Bond Funding (% of Total)
 Trade Corridor Air District Project(s) 
$13.8 M (55%) Los Angeles/ Inland Empire South Coast AQMD •
Replace 130 port trucks in lease-to-own program
• Replace 130 other trucks
 
$5.7 M (23%) Central Valley San Joaquin Valley APCD • Retrofit
450 trucks
• Replace 60 pre-1996 trucks
 
$0.8 M (3%) Central Valley Sacramento Metro AQMD • Replace 15
trucks
 
$3.4 M (14%) Bay Area Bay Area AQMD • Install grid-based shore
power at 2 ship berths
• Retrofit 75 port trucks
 
$1.3 M (5%) San Diego/Border Region San Diego APCD & 5 partners

(incl. Imperial APCD) • Replace 10 pre-1995 port trucks or
retrofit up to 115 port trucks
• Retrofit 115 trucks in Imperial Valley
 
$25 M TOTAL 

If approved by the Board at its Jan. 24 hearing in Sacramento,
ARB staff will begin allocating the funds immediately to the air
districts.

ARB staff is basing its proposed distribution of funds to
specific air district projects using three criteria: population,
the contribution of emissions from goods movement sources, and
the need for new emission reductions to meet federal health
standards. Staff also leaned heavily toward projects that would
have benefits statewide. Thus, trucks traveling from the Los
Angeles ports to the Inland Empire, highways 5 and 99 in the
Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the San Diego
border region will achieve emission benefits far beyond their
home of origin.

Proposition 1B was the transportation bond put on the ballot by
the Legislature and before the voters in November 2006. The
2007-08 Budget, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in August,
funds the initial $250 million of the $1 billion set aside for
air quality improvement projects in Proposition 1B. 

The Board is focused on funding projects that reduce emissions
and health risk, incorporate simplicity and efficiency, ensure
cost-effectiveness, and leverage other funding source. Go to
www.arb.ca.gov for application criteria.

ARB has recently passed a series of measures that focus on
reducing diesel emissions from trucks and ships, with more on
the way in 2008. Much of these regulations require engine
replacements and retrofits that 1B funding can help in terms of
early compliance, such as the regulation aimed at cleaning up
the state's 20,000 port, or "drayage" trucks. ARB estimates that
this regulation alone will prevent 1,200 premature deaths from
2009 through 2020, with benefits being the most dramatic in the
communities where port trucks are heavily concentrated.


The Air Resources Board is a department of the California
Environmental Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and
protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through
effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and
considering effects on the economy. The ARB oversees all air
pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain
health based air quality standards.


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