California Air Resources Board

Current Incentives

These amounts represent current and historic incentives provided by CC4A. With the Board’s approval of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 Funding Plan, those amounts have since been increased in response to public comment. Please contact local air districts for the effective date of increased incentive amounts.

Who is eligible 

Income eligible residents that are residing near or in disadvantaged communities and currently live in participating air districts are eligible to participate in the program. CARB recognizes that there are geographical limitations with the 5 participating air districts and to ensure access, CARB is currently selecting an administrator who will be implementing a statewide program with a commitment to focus benefits to communities most in need including tribal, rural, and low-income communities where access to reliable transportation would be a benefit.

How it’s administered

Clean Cars 4 All is currently administered in the five largest air districts in California: South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (APCD), Bar Area AQMD, Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD, with and upcoming program in San Diego APCD.

In addition to district administered programs, the statewide program will expand to reach communities that have not been reached by district programs that would include rural, tribal, and low-income communities and other populations. The district programs will expand to all areas of their respective jurisdiction with the single third-party administrator serving all other areas of California. All areas of the state would either be served by the expanded district programs or by the third-party administrator. The third-party administrator will be selected through a competitive solicitation that was released March 2023.

Where and when it’s offered

Interested participants should apply through the air district that serves their location. 

Participation Requirements

CARB sets baseline guidelines that program administrators must follow. These include the following:

• An individual must be the registered owner of the vehicle with vehicle title issued in their name and must demonstrate that they are a California resident.
• A vehicle owner or joint vehicle owner may not have received more than one Clean Cars 4 All incentive.
• An individual must have a household income of less than or equal to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level.  Federal Poverty Level is defined by  the U.S. Department of Health and Human services here.
• An individual must scrap a functional vehicle.  Scrapped vehicles may be registered or unregistered. Additional information regarding scrap vehicle and other eligibility criteria can be found here.
• Replacement vehicles must be 8 years old or newer and can include conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or zero-emission vehicles including battery electric and fuel cell.  New and used replacement vehicles are eligible.
• CARB sets baseline guidelines for basic eligibility requirements such as income and vehicles, participating Districts’ have the discretion to enact more stringent requirements. Additional information for District participation requirements can be found here.

Announcements and Upcoming Activities

CARB is working to expand the CC4A program statewide. To best facilitate this, a joint solicitation with the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program and CC4A was launched in March 2023. This solicitation for a third- party administrator will assist in the streamlining of light-duty vehicle purchase incentive programs, an effort that stakeholders have advocated for through the public process.

In addition to this streamlining effort, CARB will be implementing a needs-based model in the statewide program to better provide equitable access to priority populations and to underserved communities. Additional information regarding the needs-based model can be found here.