South Coast Air Quality Management District has finalized the first-year rules for its WAIRE Mitigation Program after approving approximately $73.1 million for zero-emission commercial trucks and related charging and fueling infrastructure on September 4. The final Program Announcement puts the project-funding ceiling at up to $73,135,300.12
The application system is not accepting submissions yet. South Coast AQMD says its Grant Management System will open for drafting and saving on September 22 at 12 p.m. PST, while applications will be accepted beginning October 13 at 12 p.m. PST. The deadline is December 15 at 12 p.m. PST.32 That makes September 22 a preparation date, not the submission-opening date.
Truck grants run from $60,000 to $240,000
The final solicitation covers new zero-emission Class 4-8 on-road trucks, off-road yard trucks, electric charging infrastructure and hydrogen fueling infrastructure serving warehousing activity.32
For trucks, the maximum WAIRE funding is $60,000 per Class 4-5 truck, $85,000 per Class 6-7 truck, $120,000 per Class 8 battery-electric truck, $240,000 per Class 8 hydrogen fuel-cell truck, and $120,000 per off-road yard truck.32
Electric charging equipment and infrastructure can receive up to $300 per kW of output, while hydrogen fueling projects are capped at $8,000 per kg/day of capacity.32 Those category limits are not guaranteed awards. Across WAIRE and any other stacked grant or incentive, total incentives cannot exceed 85% of eligible project cost under the program's cost rules.2 For infrastructure projects, at least half of the WAIRE award must be applied to eligible equipment costs.32
The final rules permit stacking only when the other incentive program also allows it, and applicants must satisfy both programs' requirements.2 WAIRE itself does not require a funded truck to be scrapped, although a separate program used for stacking can impose a scrappage requirement.2
Where the warehouse fees were collected still matters
The $73.1 million is divided among Source Receptor Areas, or SRAs, using mitigation fees collected under Rule 2305. Awarded projects have to maintain the required connection to the SRA that supplied the money for the program's three-year project life.32
The exact test depends on the project. An on-road truck must either be domiciled in the funding SRA or make at least 100 trips per year to warehouses there; a funded yard truck must be domiciled at a warehouse in that SRA; and funded infrastructure must be located inside the SRA.2
There is a limited fallback. If no eligible project is found in an SRA with available funding, the final rules allow that money to be considered for an eligible project in an adjacent SRA within the same county. Otherwise, unspent money carries forward for the source SRA.32 That is narrower than treating the funding as freely movable anywhere within a county or across the South Coast AQMD district.
First-come does not mean automatic funding
South Coast AQMD describes the program as first-come, first-served, but the final Program Announcement says applications still have to be complete, eligible and meet the program's documentation and funding requirements. Awards are also subject to funding availability and the agency's approval process; once available funds have been reserved, additional eligible applications are placed on a waitlist in order received.32
The program's approximate $73 million scale was already public before September. South Coast AQMD's May 13 webinar described roughly that amount while presenting a draft first-year design.4 What changed on September 4 was the Board approval and final solicitation: the current program page now links PA2027-01, the Grant Management System and the final application schedule and funding rules.132
A separate September 4 Governing Board agenda item authorizes up to $4,570,956 in General Fund reimbursement for program administration.5 That amount is separate from the $73,135,300 applicant project pool and is not additional grant money available to fleets or infrastructure applicants.
Sources
Footnotes
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South Coast AQMD — “South Coast AQMD Approves $73 Million for Zero-Emission Trucks and Infrastructure,” September 4, 2026. https://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/news-archive/2026/south-coast-aqmd-approves-73-million-for-zero-emission-trucks-and-infrastructure---september-4-2026.pdf Official agency release establishing the September 4 Board approval and approximately $73.1 million headline funding amount. ↩ ↩2
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South Coast AQMD — Year 2026 WAIRE Mitigation Program, Program Announcement PA2027-01, September 4, 2026. https://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/grants/pa2027-01.pdf?sfvrsn=5cf8637e_2 Final solicitation establishing the controlling Year 1 eligibility, application process, truck and infrastructure funding limits, 85% total-incentive ceiling, stacking conditions, SRA geography, ownership/operation requirements and other current program rules. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14
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South Coast AQMD — WAIRE Mitigation Program. https://www.aqmd.gov/home/programs/business/waire-mitigation-program Current program page observed September 5, 2026. Establishes the current PA/GMS links, application timeline, Year 1 funding, SRA allocation/fallback and waitlist mechanics, and headline funding limits. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9
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South Coast AQMD — WAIRE Mitigation Program Virtual Webinar #2, May 13, 2026. https://www.aqmd.gov/docs/default-source/planning/waire-mitigation-program/waire-mp-webinar-two-presentation.pdf Historical agency presentation establishing that the approximate $73 million first-year scale and a draft program design were public before the September approval. Draft terms are not used here as current rules. ↩
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South Coast AQMD Governing Board Meeting Agenda: September 4, 2026 — Item 10. https://www.aqmd.gov/home/news-events/meeting-agendas-minutes/agenda?title=governing-board-meeting-agenda-september-4-2026 Official agenda establishing the up-to-$73,135,300 project-funding ceiling and the separate up-to-$4,570,956 administrative reimbursement. ↩