In California, the Energy & Environment Lab is working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on a J-PAL North America State and Local Innovation Initiative-funded pilot project to test the effectiveness of noncompliance notifications targeting particularly high-emitting trucks that likely exceed limits set by emissions regulations. CARB regularly conducts screenings of heavy-duty vehicles operating in California but due to the high volume of vehicles, one million heavy-duty trucks operate on California’s roadways each year, CARB cannot inspect all vehicles annually, which makes detecting and addressing regulatory violations difficult. In California, this pollution disproportionately affects low-income communities. In particular, four cities with high levels of poverty compared to the state average—Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, and Visalia—are located along a major freight corridor in the state’s Central Valley and rank in the top ten US cities for particulate matter pollution. This evaluation will measure the impact of compliance strategies on the emissions from heavy-duty trucks. 

Read more about this project and J-PAL's agenda for climate change research in North America.