SACRAMENTO - Today the Air Resources Board approved $27 million for its Air Quality Improvement Program, a statewide effort to provide incentives for the purchase of advanced-technology passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks.

ARB will use the majority of those funds for its California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project to provide incentives for the purchase of zero-emission and plug-in hybrid passenger cars. Complementing this investment will be up to an additional $5 million dollars from the California Energy Commission.

"This unique incentive program makes ultra-clean cars affordable for more Californians, helps slash smog-forming pollution and cuts greenhouse gas emissions. By expanding the market for the world's most advanced technology vehicles, California remains the global center for clean cars and generates a wide range of new jobs to manufacture, service and fuel them," said ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols.

Ten million dollars will go to incentives for hybrid and zero-emission trucks and buses. Another $2 million of funding will be used for advanced-technology demonstration projects supporting the commercialization of new vehicle and equipment technologies to help pave the way for healthier air for California.

Since this program began in 2008, there have been more than 7,500 passenger cars and over a thousand trucks or buses that have received incentives through the Air Quality Improvement Program.

The program is designed to accelerate the number of ultra-clean vehicles sold in California and help establish a sustainable market for them. The program also supports the comprehensive Advanced Clean Car regulation ARB adopted earlier this year. That regulatory package builds on California's already tough standards to reduce smog-forming and greenhouse gas emissions, including a separate requirement that one in seven new cars sold in 2025 in California be zero emission.

Information on the rebate project, including an application and required documents, list of eligible vehicles and real-time funding status is available at: www.cvrp.energycenter.org (http://www.cvrp.energycenter.org)

The vehicle rebate project is one of several consumer incentives funded under the California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007 (AB 118). The Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) is a voluntary incentive program created under that law, allowing up to $40 million per year, depending on revenues, through 2015 for ARB to fund advanced technologies needed to meet long-term air quality and climate change goals. The State's early investment in zero-emission and plug-in hybrid technologies will prime the market for the larger number of these vehicles needed over the next decade and beyond to promote a cleaner and healthier environment.