California Air Resources Board

What is in the Plan?

The CARB Research Program releases multi-year Strategic Research Plans covering multiple fiscal years. The current Triennial Strategic Research Plan for fiscal years 2021-2024 describes current research efforts and outlines CARB’s highest priority research needs for these fiscal years. The research initiatives in each Plan build on past research and support the implementation and development of policies and regulations, and advance the state of the science in the areas of health, environmental justice, economics, air quality, and climate. In addition, the current Plan also includes a starting point for operationalizing racial equity in CARB research, which will be developed further through a public engagement process. The research initiatives in the Plan are developed in an open public process, in consultation with stakeholders and research partners, through public workshops, individual meetings, and other outreach efforts. The Strategic Plans are presented to the Board for approval at start of the fiscal year for the period they cover. The current Plan, as well as a 1-page summary, are available for download from this page (see below). An archive of past plans is also available.

Strategic Guidance

The research initiatives guide CARB’s annual funding of individual research projects. Projects are fulfilled through externally contracted research projects as well as in-house studies. Prior to each fiscal year, research staff present a set of proposed project concepts to the Board that align with the Plan’s research initiatives and help CARB fulfill its mission. Results from annual projects are anticipated in three to five years after a project begins.

Projects for fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and earlier

The projects proposed for funding in Fiscal Year 2021-22 are contained in Appendix A of the Plan and projects proposed for funding in the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 are contained in Appendix B. Project descriptions for fiscal year 2022-2023 can be found in the first appendix of the Triennial Plan, project descriptions for fiscal year 2023-2024 can be found in the second appendix of the Triennial Plan, both found in the list of documents below. All active contracts and recently completed projects are in Appendices B and C respectively.

Public comments received between 2021 up to 2023

An additional addendum, listed in the documents below, summarizes all the public input the CARB Research Program has received throughout the annual research planning process starting in Fiscal Year 2021-2022, up to the present. It summarizes comments received through the Board Meeting public docket, through the annual comment and concept collection survey and at public meetings to decide on the final list of projects to be funded each Fiscal Year. 

5-Year Strategic Research Plan for Fiscal Years 2025-2030

The CARB Research Program has initiated the public process to draft and release the upcoming 5-Year Strategic Research Plan which will cover future research needs to be funded in Fiscal Years 2025-2030. The steps for developing this plan can be summarized in two important processes happening in parallel. The main public process consists of an open public survey to collect initial research priorities and a public meeting to kick-off the survey. In parallel CARB is funding an effort to work with community-based organizations to define environmental justice related research priorities. For more information and to join a regional in-person research round table near you, please visit Environmental Justice in CARB Future Research Priorities page. In both processes there are opportunities for the public to engage on the research priorities that will be included in this upcoming Plan.

Public Engagement Opportunities

CARB is hosting two public meetings in November to let the public comment on the proposed research initiatives for the 5-Year Strategic Research Plan. At these meetings, CARB staff will also present the proposed research projects for funding year 2025-2026. More information on the annual planning process can be found on the Research Comment Portal.

Please register for one of the meetings below. Both meetings will have the same agenda and meeting materials. Slides for these meetings are now available at the bottom of this page.

Date:         November 18, 2024
Time:        2:00 to 3:30 PM PDT
Location:   Zoom

Meeting registration

Date:         November 20, 2024
Time:        5:30 to 7:00 PM PDT
Location:   Zoom

Meeting registration

Tentative Agenda

• Introductions
• CARB Research Program Overview
• Breakout rooms
  • Open Discussion of Proposed Research Concepts
  • Research Initiatives for 5-Year Plan