CARB’s Environmental Justice Advisory Committee convenes with new membership

The California Air Resources Board convened the first meeting of the newly approved 2026-2029 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee on August 31, 2026. The committee, required under the state’s landmark climate change law, Assembly Bill (AB) 32, is charged with advising CARB on the Scoping Plan and “any other pertinent matter” related to implementing the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. AB 32 specifies that members must come from communities in California with the most significant exposure to air pollution, including low-income communities and communities of color.

Committee role and importance

For years, the committee’s primary role was to advise the Board on supporting CARB’s Scoping Plan process, which guides the state’s long-term climate strategy. But beginning in March 2023—at the recommendation of former CARB Chair Liane Randolph—the committee transitioned to advising the Board beyond the Scoping Plan cycle. This was a signal of the importance of addressing environmental justice across AB 32 programs reflecting the agency’s growing emphasis on equity and community‑centered policymaking.

committee member speaking — Committee member Thomas Helme discusses his views during the committee’s first meeting in August.

The 2026–2029 committee includes ten members and two alternates. Two members are returning: Thomas Helme, and Martha Dina Argüello, who has served on the committee since its inception in 2007.

Here are the committee members and their affiliations:

Alex Mantanona, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)

Catherine Baltazar, Climate Resolve

Edidiong Mendie, Ezrach Brain Trust Association

Franco Pacheco, Inland Valley Alliance for Environmental Justice

Jeffrey Sanchez, Sequoia Foundation (Bay Area Public Health Non-Profit)

Jennifer Elkins, Grassroots Organizers for Accountable Landfills (GOAL)

Kamillah Ealom, Bayview Community Concerned Citizens

Leonard Powell, Hopland Band of Pomo Indians

Argüello, Physicians for Social Responsibility- Los Angeles

Rio Oxas , RAHOK

Helme, Valley Improvement Projects (VIP)

Meeting in South Sacramento strengthens community connections

The August meeting and accompanying tour were held in South Sacramento—an intentional decision reflecting requests from prior committee members that the committee’s work be better grounded in the communities it represents.

explaining sensors — *Earl Withycombe, a former CARB engineer and now a private air quality consultant, explained CARB’s community air sensor program to members of the committee.*

The tour included a stop at a community pollution sensor used by residents to monitor air quality. At another stop, a park adjacent to Sacramento Executive Airport, neighborhood leader Jennifer Holden, president of the Mangan Park Neighborhood Association, told committee members that residents have long been exposed to lead pollution from aircraft using leaded aviation gasoline. Holden also described lingering concerns about historic lead contamination from a former police shooting range at the site, which was closed due to lead poisoning.

Background briefing on carbon storage law

During the meeting, CARB staff provided an in-depth background briefing on new rules for carbon storage required by Senate Bill 905—an issue that will be the first topic the committee is asked to make a formal recommendation on to the board. Carbon capture generally refers to a set of technologies that trap carbon dioxide at pollution sources such as industrial facilities or power plants, then transport it for long-term underground storage.

The aim is to prevent carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. Similar approaches, collectively known as carbon capture, utilization, and storage, can also convert some of the captured carbon dioxide into products before storing the remainder. This briefing set the stage for the committee’s upcoming work in assessing how these technologies intersect with environmental justice concerns.

California’s ambitious climate goals require both significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and growth of carbon capture. The Board is expected to take up carbon capture at the end of this year.

committee in park — *Jennifer Holden, center, president of the Mangan Park Neighborhood Association, told committee members that residents have long been exposed to lead pollution.*

Other upcoming issues

Staff will present the committee with a list of the board’s priorities at the committee’s next meeting to get a sense of other issues the committee wants to take up in the future.

The next committee meeting will be held on September 30 in Buttonwillow (Kern County.) For more information on the committee, visit Environmental Justice Advisory Committee | California Air Resources Board.