The Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee’s (MSRC) 2011-2012 Work Program has more than $26 million in funding available for four program categories and more than a dozen eligible projects designed to reduce harmful emissions from mobile sources.
“This year’s Work Program offers the largest amount of funding for clean air projects in recent memory,” explained Greg Winterbottom, chair of the MSRC. “We hope that the variety of projects will encourage all eligible applicants to apply for funding to help make their clean air projects a reality.”
The Infrastructure Program is offering $4.8 million in funding for CNG fueling stations and facility modifications. Two new opportunities are available under this program — an incentive of up to 50% of maintenance facility modification costs, not to exceed $75,000, and a $100,000 station funding bonus for facilities where more than 50% of the natural gas comes from renewable sources. Another new program element is that funding will be available for Phill CNG home refueling units.
The $6.5 million Local Government Match Program provides a “dollar-for-dollar” match to local agencies using their AB 2766 funds for projects such as new alternative fuel stations, upgrades and expansion of existing stations, existing maintenance facility upgrades, mobile hydrogen refueling, public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, and heavy- and medium-duty alternative fuel vehicles.
The Transportation Control Measures Program has $5.5 million in funding for projects aimed at curbing single-occupancy vehicle use in order to cut down on traffic congestion and reduce emissions. These projects include event center transportation services for large venues not sufficiently served by public transportation, research on multi-mobility hubs to develop transportation services to-and-from these hubs, a regional bikeshare program that will provide assistance to bikesharing ventures to purchase bicycles and supporting infrastructure, and incentives and public awareness campaigns for ridesharing.
The fourth program category is the $9.5 million Vehicle and Advanced Technology Program for vehicle retrofits, replacements and technology demonstration. Funding is available to replace medium-duty vehicles, as well as to purchase new CNG taxi cabs.
Other eligible projects include on-road heavy-duty vehicle replacement and repowers, the purchase of new CNG school buses and repowers for older CNG school buses to extend the lives of these vehicles, and a demonstration of the Cummins 11.9L advanced natural gas engine. The “Showcase III” program also falls under this program category, which provides funding to retrofit off-road heavy duty vehicles to demonstrate new technology to clean up dirty diesel construction equipment.
Program solicitations are available now on the MSRC's website at www.CleanTransportationFunding.org.
The MSRC allocates Clean Transportation Funding from a $4 surcharge on vehicle license fees, specifically to be used for local projects designed to reduce air pollution from mobile sources such as cars, trucks and buses. Thirty cents of every surcharge dollar goes into the MSRC fund. More than $290 million has been distributed for air pollution-reduction programs since the MSRC was established in 1990.
Clean Transportation Funding is heavily leveraged with investments from government agencies, as well as private sources, with billions of additional dollars contributed to projects throughout the region.
Membership of the MSRC is made up of representatives from the transportation agencies of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, as well as the Southern California Association of Governments — a designated regional rideshare agency — the California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
