California Air Resources Board

July 2023 Virtual Workshops on the Draft Blueprint 2.0

CARB's Office of Community Air Protection (OCAP) invited stakeholders to join in one or more of three online public workshops in July 2023 to share their comments on the recently released Assembly Bill (AB) 617 (C. Garcia, Ch. 136, Stats. 2017) Draft Blueprint 2.0. The Draft Blueprint 2.0 outlines the proposed draft five-year strategy for the next five years to reduce air pollution from toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants across the State. CARB is required by law to update the strategy every five years. In 2018, CARB's governing Board adopted the first Blueprint to reduce air pollution in disadvantaged communities in California.

At the July 2023 workshops, stakeholders were invited to share their views in response to the Draft Blueprint 2.0, a revised statewide strategy for the next five years. This process builds on OCAP's engagement over the last year which included discussion of the People’s Blueprint with the AB 617 Consultation Group and meetings with representatives of Community Steering Committees, air district partners, and other stakeholders through an iterative approach. The final proposed draft will be presented to CARB's governing Board in October 2023. Here is the draft version of Blueprint 2.0 that was made available for public review and comment.

Workshop Information

OCAP held three virtual (online) 3-hour public workshops on the Draft Blueprint 2.0 in July 2023 on the following dates. OCAP encouraged and welcomed input on the Draft Blueprint 2.0 to make sure that Draft Blueprint 2.0 is well-informed and effectively reduces air pollution in communities across the state.

• July 7
• July 11
• July 18

Updated link- Workshop Recording

Clips from the Workshop Recordings:

Introduction

Presentation

 At each of the Draft Blueprint 2.0 July 2023 Workshops:

• Provided a short high-level overview of the Draft Blueprint 2.0
  • Part 1 - Proposed Five-Year Statewide Strategy includes vision, mission, goals and actions for the next five years of the Program to reduce air quality emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in disproportionately impacted communities in California.
  • Part 2 - Proposed Implementation Guidance for communities, air districts and other stakeholders for the next five years of the Program.
• Highlighted different regional AB 617 community steering committee group voices and approaches
• Discussed increased flexibility for incentives in disadvantaged and low-income communities
• Supported participation through facilitation, polls, and two interactive breakout group discussions
• Included simultaneous interpretation in English and Spanish. The July 7 and July 11 workshops included simultaneous Spanish interpretation, and the July 18 workshop, led in Spanish, included simultaneous English interpretation.
• Workshops were held at the same time on the different workshop dates. 
• Workshop participants were encouraged to review meeting materials prior to the workshops. Meeting materials for these workshops are available on Community Air Protection Blueprint 2.0 Revision webpage.

Workshop Agenda
(July 7, 11 and 18, 2023 - 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, all dates)

• Welcome and Workshop Overview

• Draft Blueprint 2.0 High Level Summary Overview

  • Draft BP 2.0 Proposed Five-Year Statewide Strategy - Goals and Actions - Breakout 1 - Interactive Session

  • Draft BP 2.0 Proposed Implementation Guidance - Three-Pathway Approach to Next Five Years of Program Implementation - Breakout 2 - Interactive Session

Workshop Meeting Materials

To help participants prepare for the workshop, the following meeting materials were provided prior to the workshop.

• Draft Blueprint 2.0
• One-pager - Community Air Grants to Support L-CERP
• One-pager - Community focused Enforcement
• One-pager - CAP Incentives with Increased Flexibility
• PowerPoint Presentation (ENGLISH)
• PowerPoint Presentation (SPANISH)

Questions

For questions about the Program Blueprint Revision, please contact Leah Asay at CommunityAir@arb.ca.gov or (916) 323-1413.

Background

Assembly Bill (AB) 617 was signed into law in July 2017, and requires:

• Community-focused action to reduce air pollution and improvement of public health in communities that experience disproportionate burdens from exposure to air pollutants
• CARB to develop, and together with air districts:
  • Implement a statewide strategy to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants
  • Reduce criteria air pollutants in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden
• CARB to update the statewide strategy, known as the Program Blueprint, every five years
• CARB Board to annually consider the selection of additional communities, as appropriate

2018 Program Blueprint:

• Describes the process for identifying impacted communities and convening community steering committees
• Establishes criteria for the development of community emissions reduction programs and community air monitoring plans
• Contains CARB’s commitments to statewide actions to reduce emissions of criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants
• A revised Program Blueprint will be considered by the CARB Board no later than October 2023

OCAP Updates

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