California Air Resources Board

SACRAMENTO - Today the California Air Resources Board handed the keys for a clean-running piece of machinery to a small-business owner to kick off a new loan program to help other small businesses in California purchase cleaner off-road equipment.

The loan assistance program, a joint program between ARB and the California Pollution Control Financing Authority’s California Capital Access Program, or CalCAP, uses federal money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and can also draw on funding from local air districts.

SACRAMENTO - The Air Resources Board is offering $5 million from the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to assist California small businesses replace, repower or retrofit their off-road diesel vehicles.

SACRAMENTO - The California Air Resources Board held its second CoolCalifornia.org Small Business Award ceremony today, honoring 23 small businesses from across the state for their climate-smart actions.

The program recognizes California small businesses that demonstrate leadership and made notable, voluntary achievements toward reducing their climate impact.

SACRAMENTO - The California Air Resources Board has fined three Europe-based shipping companies a combined $161,000 for failure to switch engines on their cargo vessels from dirty “bunker” fuel to cleaner, low-sulfur fuel upon entering Regulated California Waters, as required by state law.

SACRAMENTO - Data collected during a major 2010 state-federal atmospheric research project reveal that the first-in-the-nation regulation requiring ocean-going vessels to use clean fuel when near the California coast has been extremely effective in reducing sulfur dioxide pollution from ships.

The data were gathered during the CalNex 2010 field study organized by the California Air Resources Board and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

SACRAMENTO - ARB announces an early action compliance credit for trucking fleets that install a particulate filter by July 1, 2011, or that make a commitment to purchase a particulate filter by May 1, 2011.  By installing a particulate filter early on one truck, the fleet will be able to delay compliance for a second truck in the fleet until January 1, 2017.

SACRAMENTO - Today, the California Air Resources Board formally considered the first proposals from private companies for new ways to make low carbon transportation fuels under California’s program to reduce our dependence on petroleum and promote cleaner alternative fuels. The proposals included those from two manufacturers of Midwest ethanol -- the Archer Daniels Midland Company and POET – and ethanol made from Brazilian sugarcane.

SACRAMENTO - Today the Air Resources Board initiates the second year of grants totaling $19 million for hybrid vehicle technology that significantly reduces smog-forming and greenhouse gas emissions.

SACRAMENTO - Today the California Air Resources Board released a supplement to the environmental analysis of the Scoping Plan document of 2008. The Scoping Plan presents a mix of measures and approaches to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 as required under AB 32, California’s climate change legislation.

SACRAMENTO - Today, Chairman Mary D. Nichols released a letter sent to seven major automobile manufacturers challenging them to disavow claims made by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to Representatives Upton and Issa or risk returning to the environmental battles of the Bush era.