Bay Area residents who own a vehicle manufactured before 1998 can now receive up to $1,200 as part of a vehicle buyback program to improve local air quality, the city announced Monday. Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The buyback program will pay owners of older, highly polluting cars and small trucks to voluntarily retire their vehicles. Older vehicles lack modern emissions control technology and pollute at a higher rate than newer models.
To qualify for the vehicle buyback program, vehicles must be a 1998 model year or older, must be currently registered as operable and drivable, and must have been registered in the Bay Area for the past 24 months.
Vehicles within 60 days of a required smog check must take and pass the check.
“Transportation remains the largest source of air pollution in the Bay Area, and scrapping old vehicles helps limit harmful tailpipe emissions into the air we breathe,” said Sharon Landers, interim executive director of the air district.
The program reduces air pollutants from vehicle exhaust, including fine particulate matter and ozone precursors, the main ingredients of smog. These pollutants contribute to respiratory illnesses and increased mortality rates. Retiring older vehicles also reduces carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
Since 1996, the Air District's Vehicle Buyback program has retired more than 90,000 cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. For every pre-1998 vehicle removed from Bay Area roads, approximately 75 pounds of air pollution is prevented from being emitted into the air annually.
In 2021, 3,000 vehicles were removed, which represents the elimination of 91 tons of air pollution.
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