SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Toxic pollutants are known to linger near our San Diego Port communities. This morning the state launched a new multi-million dollar program to help change that.

The program is designed to help businesses buy equipment that will help reduce poor air quality. It includes electric trucks that will pull trailers that weigh over 100,000 pounds.

Joshua Goldman, with TransPower, says the trucks can run “over 16 hours of typical, heavy-duty terminal service.” The vehicles only take two to four hours to charge.

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TransPower is a local company in Escondido that builds the technology inside of these electric models.

Local leaders were hands on this morning as the California Air Resources Board launched its $44 million, Clean-Off Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project, also known as CORE.

The program will subsidize funding for purchasing electric vehicles or equipment. The hope is to see more of this technology used at ports, distribution centers, airports, and rail yards.

Communities, like Barrio Logan, have suffered for years with high air pollution. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, residents in Barrio Logan experience Asthma more than twice the national average.