Jun 26, 2009 12:36 pm US/Pacific
Calif. To Pay Owners To Scrap High-Pollution Cars
SACRAMENTO (CBS 5 / AP) ―
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Drivers will get as much as $4,000 to trade in polluting vehicles.
CBS
California regulators on expanded a state car-scrapping program Friday to provide incentives of as much as $4,000 to motorists who surrender high-polluting vehicles and replace them with cleaner cars.
California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said the program would help get some of the oldest, dirtiest cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles off state roads.
Unlike the federal "cash for clunkers" program signed into law Wednesday by President Barack Obama, California's effort is not primarily designed to replace gas guzzlers with more fuel efficient vehicles.
Instead, the state will target those cars with the worst smog-forming tailpipe emissions pollutants that give areas of California some of the country's dirtiest air.
Some 300,000 California drivers who own cars older than model year 1976 will be solicited by local air districts.
Beginning April 1, drivers could get $1,000 if they turn their car into a licensed dismantler. Low-income Californians would be eligible for $1,500.
The regulation also provides a voucher between $2,000 and $2,500 to drivers in two of the state's most polluted regions Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.
The vouchers could be redeemed at new and used dealerships for a fuel efficient car that's four years old or newer. Low-income Californians could buy a fuel efficient car up to eight years old.
California currently has a car scrap program, but it is limited to cars newer than model year 1976 and that fail the state's smog check.
The Legislature in 2007 directed the board to expand the program to get more polluting cars off roads. About 22,000 cars are currently scrapped under the program each year.
When fully enacted, the state incentives are projected to lead to the surrender of another 15,000 cars a year.
Air regulators strengthened the Legislature's directive by providing Californians with vouchers to buy fuel-efficient cars. To qualify, cars that are model year 2009 or older would have to get about 28 miles per gallon. The standard would increase to 42 miles per gallon for model years 2010 to 2015.
The board also adopted language preventing Californians from collecting incentives from both federal and state programs, a move that was opposed by California auto dealers.
Jonathan Morrison, an attorney for the California New Car Dealers Association, said Californians were being robbed of the chance to get a total of $8,500 from both the state and federal governments.
"By saying we can't use the federal dollars in combination with the state dollars, basically you're saying you'd rather those federal dollars go to Indiana," Morrison said. "That seems to me to be cutting off your nose."
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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