CARB will vote this week on the 2017 Proposed Carl Moyer Program Guidelines, and the Coalition has submitted comments asking for two important new provisions that would encourage fleets to invest more in clean alternative fuel vehicles.

The proposed guidelines, which are intended to help California transition more effectively to near-zero- and zero-emission technologies, implement changes directed by 2015’s SB 513. Among the changes already included are updated cost-effectiveness limits, expanded funding for infrastructure projects, and the ability to co-fund with other incentive programs.

The Coalition is requesting that CARB also develop an easy-to-use grant calculator. Although Appendix C of the program guidelines includes instructions for calculating grant eligibility, the formulas are complex and can be difficult to work out. A user-friendly, online calculator would streamline the application process for potential grant recipients. And a streamlined process would encourage more fleets to apply for incentives—ultimately resulting in more clean trucks on the road and greater emission reductions.

“We need to make the program easier to use and the money more accessible to fleets,” said Coalition President Thomas Lawson, adding that fleets have told the Coalition that the complexity of the formulas can be a barrier.

The Coalition also is asking CARB to restore new vehicle purchase incentives to the Carl Moyer Program. It’s not enough to only support the purchase of cleaner used vehicles or to repower existing vehicles with new low-NOx engines, Lawson said in the Coalition’s comment letter to CARB. The Coalition fully supports the updated guidelines’ provision to raise the incentive limit to as much as $100,000 per weighted ton for advanced vehicle technologies that meet the optional 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour NOx standard; however, if participants can’t apply the incentives to new vehicle purchases, those incentives won’t drive greater adoption of new near-zero-NOx technologies as intended.

“Recent adjustments by CARB have removed the opportunity for fleets to receive funding for new vehicle purchases,” said Lawson. “This is a step backward for California’s clean air goals—new vehicles that exceed strict emissions standards should be incentivized just as repowers are.

“The Carl Moyer Program exists to improve the accessibility and availability of funding for clean innovations, and these two improvements speak directly to those goals,” Lawson concluded.

CARB will consider the proposed guidelines and submitted comments at a public hearing in Sacramento April 27.