Ventura County Clean Air Grants Reduce Smog and Benefit Local Businesses

VENTURA COUNTY — On April 12, 2022, the Ventura County Air Pollution Control Board approved $2.3 million in emission reduction grants for Ventura County businesses. This year’s grants will help pay for new, lower-emission agricultural equipment to replace 50 older, higher-pollution diesel engines. The total investment in 2022 air quality projects, including the cost-share contributed by grant recipients, will be over $4.5 million. Since 1999, the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District has awarded over $54 million to help businesses operating in Ventura County replace older equipment with cleaner, low-emission equipment.

“By providing local farmers, businesses, public agencies and school districts with air quality incentives program funding, we have been able to help replace old equipment with new, lower-emission equipment that helps to improve air quality in Ventura County,” said Ali R. Ghasemi, Interim Air Pollution Control Officer of the VCAPCD. The VCAPCD has three separate incentive programs through which grants are awarded to the most cost-effective projects. These grants seek to maximize the reduction of smog-forming and toxic diesel particulate emissions countywide, with a large portion of the grants focusing on reducing pollution in disadvantaged and low-income communities.

The total annual emissions reductions from the grants approved by the Board on April 12, 2022, are 25 tons per year of ozone precursors, 1.7 tons per year of diesel particulate matter, and 272 metric tons per year of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. The application cycle for VCAPCD’s combined incentive program grants is now open and applications will be accepted through June 10, 2022. To be placed on an email list to be notified of incentives program news, when applications become available or when community meetings are being held for our incentives program; interested parties can email Tyler Harris attyler@vcapcd.org and specify the mailing list.

The Ventura County FARMER Program and CAP Program are part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment – particularly in disadvantaged communities.

Further information can also be found at the following links:

 

VCAPCD Grant Programs:

http://vcapcd.org/grant_programs.htm

 

VCAPCD CAP Program:

http://vcapcd.org/Community-Air-Protection.htm

 

CARB Carl Moyer Program:

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/carl-moyer-memorial-air-quality-standards-attainment-program

 

CARB CAP Incentive Program:

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/community-air-protection-incentives

 

CARB FARMER Program:

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/farmer-program