California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigator/Author: Michael Boswell

Contractor: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Contract Number: 23STC025

Project Status: Completed

Relevant CARB Programs: Greenhouse Gas Inventory Program

Topic Areas: Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Community Strategies (SCS), Climate Change

Research Summary:

This project aims to identify common challenges that local cities and counties have encountered when preparing greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories for use in climate action plans (CAPs) and other actions to facilitate local GHG reductions. This work will help the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to determine whether actions can be taken at the regional and State levels to assist local governments with GHG inventory and CAP development.

Researchers will assess where difficulties have arisen for these jurisdictions during GHG inventory preparation. The assessment will begin with CEQA-qualified CAPs and expand to other CAPs as the budget allows. Once the research team has conducted the CAP inventory review and assessment of jurisdictions, they will present their findings in a white paper. The white paper will identify areas where jurisdictions could potentially benefit from regional and State support when preparing GHG inventories. It will also include recommendations regarding where resources could be prioritized to effectively support jurisdictions, and suggestions regarding actions that could be taken or tools that could be developed to provide this support.

Keywords: greenhouse gas (GHG), climate action plans, GHG reductions, emissions inventory