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AB 617 Community Air Protection Consultation Group

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The Community Air Protection Program (CAP Program)'s mission is to reduce disparities in air quality in the most overburdened communities and enable equity and environmental justice by centering and prioritizing the most disproportionately impacted communities’ needs. Assembly Bill (AB) 617 (Stat. of 2017) directed the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and implement a statewide strategy to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in communities highly impacted by air pollution. CARB adopted its first statewide strategy in September 2018, and adopted its revised strategy, known as Blueprint 2.0, in October 2023.

On June 26, 2025, the CARB Board appointed 27 Members and Alternate Members to the Community Air Protection Consultation Group (Consultation Group). The purpose of the Consultation Group is to advise CARB on the implementation of Blueprint 2.0 and the Community Air Protection Program. Members and alternates are listed below.

Consultation Group Draft Charter

CARB is committed to ensuring that the Consultation Group is supported and operates openly and transparently. The Consultation Group Draft Charter provides transparency about the advisory body’s purpose, role, and the group functions.

Consultation Group Members and their alternates are required to comply with the CARB Advisory Committee Transparency Requirements.

The Consultation Group is subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Gov. Code § 11120 et seq.) For all meetings of a quorum (majority) of Consultation Group members, CARB will issue a notice of agenda items released 10 days in advance of the meeting. The public must be allowed to attend and given an opportunity to comment on agenda items. CARB and the Consultation Group must meet all other procedural requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act.   

The Consultation Group may meet up to 3 times annually, at the CalEPA Headquarters building in Sacramento or the CARB Headquarters Building in Riverside. Meeting formats may be in-person, or hybrid. Under current law all Consultation Group members may appear virtually subject to the requirements of the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act. 

Questions about the Consultation Group? Please email: CommunityAir@arb.ca.gov.

Consultation Group Members and Alternates

1.    Consultation Group Chair: Dr. John Balmes, CARB Board Member

Academia / Community Science
2.    Dr. Jonathan London – UC Davis 
3.    Dr. Rebecca E. Skinner - Manylabs 

Air Districts
4.    Belen Leon-Lopez - Imperial County APCD / Alternate: Israel Hernandez 
5.    Arsenio Mataka - Bay Area AD / Alternate: Dr. Philip Fine 
6.    Dr. Alberto Ayala – Sacramento Metropolitan APCD / Alternate: Janice Lam Snyder 
7.    Ryan Hayashi – San Joaquin Valley APCD / Alternate: Stephanie Ng 
8.    Dr. Anissa Heard-Johnson – South Coast AQMD / Alternate: Walter Shen 
9.    Domingo Vigil, San Diego APCD / Alternate: Shalem Aboody-Lopez 

Community and / or Environmental Justice Representatives (includes EJ organizations, Community Steering Committees (CSCs) and Consistently Nominated Communities (CNCs)
10.    Baldwin Moy, CA Rural Legal Assistance / Alternate: Marelia Nambo-Ramirez     
11.    Kevin Hamilton, San Joaquin Valley Medical Advocates for Healthy Air  
12.    Mary Valdemar, San Bernardino Muscoy CSC
13.    Jasmine Beltran, Southeast Los Angeles CSC
14.    Mary Elizabeth, Stockton CSC / Alternate: Margo Praus     
15.    Rodney Andrews, South Los Angeles, CSC 
16.    Y'Anad Burrell, Richmond-North Richmond, CSC / Alternate: BK White
17.    Bishop Chris Baker, South Sacramento / Florin CSC
18.    Maximilian Rosa, Sierra Service Project, Del Paso Heights/North Sacramento CNC

Entities Required by AB 617
19.    Dr. David Lo, Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants and UC Riverside Medical School BREATHE Center and Center for Health Disparities Research and Member
20.    Paula Torrado Plazas, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

Industry and Business
21.    Christine Zimmerman, Western States Petroleum Association / Alternate: Bob Brown    
22.    Dirk Piersma, Gemperle Family Farms 
23.    Cassie Lopina, ZE / AJW Inc. / Alternate: Mary Solecki
24.    Tim Carmichael, California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance 

Local Government
25.    Prithvi Deore, Southern California Association of Governments / Alternate: Scott Strelecki
26.    Antoinette Meier, San Diego Association of Governments / Alternate: Kirsten Uchitel

Tribal Government
27.    Kevin McKernan, Yurok Tribe 

Acronyms Glossary

AD – Air District 
APCD – Air Pollution Control District
AQMD – Air Quality Management District
CA – California 
CSC – Committee Steering Committee
CNC – Consistently Nominated Community 
UC – University of California 

Read the Draft Charter

Consultation Group Archives

In January 2018, CARB convened the multi-stakeholder Consultation Group to fulfill the AB 617 requirement to consult with a range of stakeholders to develop a statewide strategy, known as the Program Blueprint. Consultation Group membership participation declined between 2018 and 2023 as members resigned. In March 2024, CARB dissolved the Consultation Group and began preparations to fulfill its commitment in Blueprint 2.0 to reinvigorate the Consultation Group.  

Consultation Group (2018-2023) information- includes meeting summaries, agendas, members, and background materials from meetings of the Consultation Group between 2018 through 2023.  

Assessment Report of the Consultation Group - February 2022– This report provides summarized findings of focused interviews of Consultation Group members conducted by the Sacramento State University Consensus and Collaboration Program. The purpose of this assessment was to develop an understanding of the Consultation Group dynamics, identify the sources and nature of tensions and/or challenges within the Consultation Group, and explore possible process design solutions to assist the Consultation Group to productively move forward.  

Contact

Community Air Protection Program
Office of Community Air Protection
CommunityAir@arb.ca.gov
(916) 322-7049