The South Coast Air Quality Management District has been awarded over $76 million by the California State Transportation Agency for zero-emission projects that are aimed at helping transform goods movement in the San Pedro Bay Port corridor, it was announced Thursday.
More than 80% of air pollution in Southern California is associated with mobile sources, including trucks, trains, planes and ocean-going vessels, and zero-emission technologies is essential to reducing air pollution, according to the AQMD.
The projects developed by the funding will create 7,600 jobs and reduce 1.7 tons of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and 632 tons of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) — a precursor to smog, the agency said.
“Southern California is home to the two largest ports in the nation which have a profound air quality impact to the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Vanessa Delgado, South Coast AQMD’s governing board chair.
“That’s why investments in zero-emission technologies like this are so important. They not only support the goods movement industry but reduce air pollution to better protect overburdened communities.”
South Coast AQMD said it will use the $76.25 million in CalSTA’s Port and Freight Infrastructure Program to demonstrate one first-of-its-kind hydrogen fuel cell locomotive that will operate in and around Southern California, install 376 Direct Current Fast Chargers and 19 hydrogen refueling dispensers across seven locations for trucks used for goods movement.
South Coast AQMD is the regulatory agency responsible for improving air quality for large areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including the Coachella Valley.