Project Background for Clean Off-Road Equipment Vouchers
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Project Background
The Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) is a program that incentivizes California fleets to purchase or lease cleaner off-road equipment. CORE provides a streamlined voucher process by which potential purchasers can receive funding to help offset the higher cost of cleaner off-road equipment. CORE is similar to the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP), which provides incentives for clean trucks and buses.
Guiding Legislation/Policy Drivers
In 2012, the legislature passed, and Governor Brown signed into law three bills - Assembly Bill (AB) 1532 (Pérez, Chapter 807, 2012), Senate Bill (SB) 535 (De León, Chapter 830), and SB 1018 (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Chapter 39, 2012) that established the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to receive auction proceeds from California’s Cap-And-Trade Program and to provide the framework for how the auction proceeds will be administered to further the purposes of AB 32 (Nunez, Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006). In 2017, AB 134 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 254) appropriated $140 million from the GGRF for demonstrating and deploying advanced technology in freight equipment. Of that appropriation, $40 million was allocated to this project, the Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE), by the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017-18 Funding Plan for Clean Transportation Incentives (FY 2017-18 Funding Plan), approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on December 14, 2017. Since that time, CORE has been allocated an additional $4.6 million from FY 2018-19 GGRF funding appropriated pursuant to SB 856 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 30 Statues of, 2018). In addition, FY 2021-22 Funding Planallocated $194.45 million to CORE. This includes $108.5 million via Low Carbon Transportation, $86.5 million via the Air Pollution Control Fund, which includes $30 million appropriated in SB 170 (Skinner, Chapter 240, Statues of 2021) to provide incentives for professional landscaping services in California operated by small businesses or sole proprietor to purchase zero-emission small off-road equipment. In addition, FY 2022-23 Funding Plan allocated $273 million to CORE via Low Carbon Transportation.
Project Funding/Allocations/History
- FY 2017-18--2018-19: $44 million
- FY 2021-22: $195 million
- FY 2022-23: $273 million
Funding Breakdown
| Fiscal Year | Funding Allocation | Incentive Funds | Administration | Outreach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2017-18--2018-19 | $44 M | $41 M | $2.4 M | $600 K |
| FY 2021-22 | $195 M | $176 M | $2.45 M | $1 M |
| FY 2022-23 | $273 M | $185 M | $0 | $0 |
Recent Project/Policy Changes
Staff will continue to adjust voucher levels in a way that moves the needle to advance technology, ensures equipment diversity, and maximizes the impact of available funding. Furthermore, as zero-emission technology matures with more off-road zero-emission makes and models commercially available for use in the off-road sector, equipment types may warrant a fixed incentive amount by equipment type. The need for additional telematic data will also be taken into consideration. Due to higher incremental costs and earlier stage of market development, staff is proposing to increase the maximum voucher from $500,000 to $1,000,000 for cargo handling equipment, commercial harbor craft, and locomotives.