SACRAMENTO - California Air Resources Board staff is proposing that $25 million in Proposition 1B Bond funding go to diesel emission reduction projects for the South Coast, Central Valley, San Francisco and San Diego air districts, mostly for truck retrofit and replacements. These recommendations will be before the entire Board for approval at a January hearing in Sacramento.

ARB also announced that it plans to allocate more than 75 percent of the overall $1 billion in Bond 1B funding to be used toward reducing diesel pollution from trucks associated with goods movement around the state. The remaining 24 percent of funding, $240 million, will be earmarked for diesel emission reductions from ships, harbor craft and locomotives.

"This strategy puts the lion's share of the dollars where they're needed most: on trucks traveling from the state's ports and along our major transportation corridors," said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. "Within months of passing a new regulation aimed at cleaning up port trucks we are following through with much-needed funding to help drivers retrofit and replace older, dirty engines."

See below for the breakdown of the initial $25 million in Bond 1B funding:

If approved by the Board at its Jan. 24 hearing in Sacramento, ARB staff will begin allocating the funds immediately to the air districts.

ARB staff is basing its proposed distribution of funds to specific air district projects using three criteria: population, the contribution of emissions from goods movement sources, and the need for new emission reductions to meet federal health standards. Staff also leaned heavily toward projects that would have benefits statewide. Thus, trucks traveling from the Los Angeles ports to the Inland Empire, highways 5 and 99 in the Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the San Diego border region will achieve emission benefits far beyond their home of origin.

Proposition 1B was the transportation bond put on the ballot by the Legislature and before the voters in November 2006. The 2007-08 Budget, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in August, funds the initial $250 million of the $1 billion set aside for air quality improvement projects in Proposition 1B.

The Board is focused on funding projects that reduce emissions and health risk, incorporate simplicity and efficiency, ensure cost-effectiveness, and leverage other funding source. Go to www.arb.ca.gov for application criteria.

ARB has recently passed a series of measures that focus on reducing diesel emissions from trucks and ships, with more on the way in 2008. Much of these regulations require engine replacements and retrofits that 1B funding can help in terms of early compliance, such as the regulation aimed at cleaning up the state's 20,000 port, or "drayage" trucks. ARB estimates that this regulation alone will prevent 1,200 premature deaths from 2009 through 2020, with benefits being the most dramatic in the communities where port trucks are heavily concentrated.