Small agricultural truck fleet assistance program.

Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular sources. Existing law generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution. Existing law requires the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to allocate funds on a competitive basis for projects that are shown to achieve the greatest emission reduction from sources associated with the movement of freight along California's trade corridors. This bill would require the state board, in order to minimize the impact of the energy transition on the supply chains in the critical agricultural sector and ensure that disadvantaged communities equitably share in the benefits of and investments in emission reductions, to establish the Small Agricultural Truck Fleet Assistance Program, or use an existing program, to provide dedicated technical assistance to owner-operators or owners of small fleets to support the transition to cleaner emission-compliant trucks, as provided.