January 18, 2016

n News Briefs: Natural gas tax credits, sustainable freight workshopsn Member News: Westport, IMPCO updatesn Calendar: AB 118 investment plan public workshop

Coalition Seeks New Presi-dent The Coalition is searching for a new president. The position offers the opportunity to lead a motivated and effective trade association actively engaged in California’s public policy debate about the future of transporta-tion. The president works closely with executives from member companies—all leaders in natural gas transportation—and with legislators and regulators to de-velop policies that will increase alternative fuel and vehicle use, support new initiatives, and provide up-to-date information on NGV technology and market developments. Get a job descrip-tion and application details here.

CEC Announces Grants for Seaport Projects The CEC is making almost $18 million avail-able through the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (AB 118) for new freight transportation proj-ects at all 12 California seaports. Grant Funding Opportunity 15-604 allocates almost $13 mil-lion to medium- and heavy-duty demonstration projects, $2 mil-lion to NGV deployment projects, and $2 million to Intelligent Transportation Systems demon-stration projects. Applications are due March 10.

Clean Transportation Center Opens in Fresno CALSTART has opened the San Joaquin Valley Clean Transportation Center in Fresno to help fleet owners, local governments, businesses, and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

www.cngvc.org 01.18.16 | 1

2015 in Review—and the Year AheadA roundup of legislative and regulatory progress during the past year, plus a look at the Coalition’s 2016 agenda

The Coalition made progress on a range of issues last year, from increasing NGV incentive opportunities to ensuring accurate representation of NGV technology in state policies.

Work on these fronts will continue this year, with the Legislature entering the second year of a two-year session, an expanded CARB board, and the CEC’s next Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (AB 118) investment plan all presenting opportunities for progress on advancing use of NGVs and other cleaner fuels and vehicles.

Highlights of 2015 A better buydown program We provided ongoing feedback supporting the CEC’s transi-tion of its AB 118 NGV buydown program to the Natural Gas Vehicle Incentive Project, run by UC Irvine. The program received $17 million in applications—$7 million more than was

available through the solicitation. That oversubscription illustrates the demand for vehicle incentives, and the Coalition supported the CEC’s proposal to include $10 million in NGV incentives in the 2015–16 AB 118 investment plan.

Prop 1B incentives We reached a constructive compromise with CARB to make natural gas trucks eligible for a higher level of incentives under the Prop. 1B Goods Movement program. Solicitations were opened in September and November; CARB and the air districts are still evaluating

the resulting applications. Local agencies are expected to sign contracts with equipment owners beginning in mid-2016 (see the December 2015 semi-annual update for more information). Based on early reviews of the applications received, some air districts think they will have truck funding left over, so they expect to open additional Prop. 1B truck solicitations in 2016.

Policy progress The Coalition and its allies also worked closely with CARB throughout the year on other efforts to support clean transportation, including readopting the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, updating the CA-GREET model, and providing comments on the Advanced Clean Transit proposal and the draft Mobile Source Strategy that detailed NGVs’ capacity to deliver near-term emissions reductions and meet state goals.

CalNGV News

CalNGV News

Pfkg�›πW���� News Briefs www.cngvc.org

Progress Report

Inside

Pfkg�›πW����

Vehicle incentives will remain a top priority in 2016, particularly for heavy-duty trucks.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

January 18, 2016

residents increase their use of zero-emission vehicles, clean trucks, and high-efficiency off-road equipment. Funded by a CEC grant and money from SoCalGas, the new center will provide technical assistance, project development expertise, and funding guidance.

Congress Reinstates Natural Gas Fuel Tax Credits Late last year Congress reinstated both the Alternative Fuel Excise Tax Credit, which provides a 50-cent-per-gallon credit on natural gas fuels, and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Cred-it, which provides up to $30,000 per natural gas refueling station, through 2016. Both credits were also made retroactive for 2015.

CARB Plans Sustainable Freight Workshops CARB is holding three regional work-shops and one webinar to collect public input on developing a sustainable freight transport system in California: Jan. 26 in Sacramento, Jan. 28 in Fresno, and Feb. 1 in Wilmington. The webinar will follow on Feb. 5. Each workshop will feature the same California Sustainable Freight Action Plan presentation.

www.cngvc.org 01.18.16 | 2

CalNGV News

CalNGV News

Pfkg�›πW���� News Briefs

CalNGV News is published biweekly by the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition.

Editor: Thinkshift Communications

© 2016 California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition. All rights reserved.

Contact the CNGVC at:

910 K Street, Suite 300Sacramento, CA 95814phone: 916-448-0015fax: 916-448-7176e-mail: editor@cngvc.org

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Plans for 2016Focus on incentives Vehicle incentives will remain a top priority in 2016, particularly for heavy-duty trucks. The Coalition will work with legislators to introduce a new bill providing incentives for near-zero-emission trucks, with provisions similar to last year’s stalled AB 857, which would have provided $100 million annually through 2023 for heavy-duty trucks that meet a 0.02 g/bhp-hr NOx standard.

In addition, the Coalition will work with the CEC to ensure that the 2015 AB 118 NGV incentives are processed as quickly as possible and to push for a new solicitation through the NGVIP. We will continue to participate on the AB 118 Advisory Committee, which is turning its attention to the 2016–17 investment plan.

We will also monitor the results of the 2015 Prop. 1B solicitation and ask CARB for more support for natural gas trucks from any remaining funds.

Policy priorities The Coalition will continue to work with CARB on policy matters as well. The board will expand from 12 to 14 members this year, with the state Senate and Assembly each appointing a new representative who will work directly with communities that are heav-ily affected by pollution. The Legislature pushed this change to address concerns that these communities are not getting enough attention.

Among our priorities are monitoring the implementation of the LCFS and commenting on the ACT proposal, with the goal of ensuring that it includes near-zero-emission natural gas buses. Through our ongoing engagement with the new Mobile Source Strategy, we’ll work to secure the significant incentive funding needed to deploy near-zero-emission trucks through 2023.

Establishing petroleum fuel equivalents as the standard measure for dispensing fuel at the pump is another ongoing project. We are tracking the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s implementation of the diesel gallon equivalent standard called for in AB 1907, which passed in 2014, as well as its proposal for a performance-based standard for natural gas fuels. On the national level, we continue to support NGVAmerica’s efforts to secure a dge standard through the National Conference of Weights and Measures.

Finally, the Coalition will join CALSTART and Environmental Entrepreneurs in co-hosting the fourth annual Clean, Low-Carbon Fuels Summit on Feb. 23 in Sacramento. Look for details in the next issue of CalNGV News. w

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Pfkg�›πW���� Calendar

AB 118 Public Workshop | Jan. 21, Long Beach CEC staff will present and take suggestions on a revised staff draft of the 2016–17 Investment Plan Update for the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (AB 118).

Westport Receives Financing, Certifications Westport Innovations has entered into an agree-ment with Cartesian Capital Group to receive as much as $71.3 million in financing. According to Westport, the agreement “immediately provides $17.5 million in non-dilutive capital” and as much as “$53.8 million in additional capital contingent on reaching key milestones and establish-ing new investment opportunities,” including the sales from future high-pressure direct-injection products. Westport has also earned EPA certifications for its dedicated and bifuel CNG versions of Ford F-150 pickups, as well as its dedicated CNG vehicles with Ford’s E-450 chassis.

IMPCO Gains EPA Certification for Bifuel Ford F150 IMPCO Automotive, a division of IM-PCO Technologies, has earned EPA certification for its 2016 Ford F150 pickup featuring a 5-liter TI-VCT V8 engine converted for bifuel operation.

Pfkg�›πW���� Member News