California Air Resources Board

THIS PAGE IS NO LONGER MAINTAINED. PLEASE EMAIL CommunityAir@arb.ca.gov WITH ANY QUESTIONS.

The Office of Community Air Protection Invites You
To Participate in a Virtual Workshop:

On Assembly Bill (AB) 617 (C. Garcia, Statutes of 2017, Chapter 136) Program implementation. Two key topics will be covered in the workshop:

• Topic 1:    An update on the revision to the Community Air Protection Program Blueprint, 4:00 – 5:15 pm

  • Video recording of topic 1 (English)

  • Video recording of topic 1 (Spanish)

• CARB’s Program Blueprint will be significantly informed by the People’s Blueprint.

• Topic 2:    Fifth Annual Community Recommendations and Selection Process, 5:30 – 7:00 pm

  • Video recording of topic 2 (English)

  • Video recording of topic 2 (Spanish)

• Presentations

  • Public Workshop on Program Blueprint 2.0 Revision and Fifth Annual Community Recommendations (English)

  • Public Workshop on Program Blueprint 2.0 Revision and Fifth Annual Community Recommendations (Español)

There will be a short break in between the two topics.

Members of the public are encouraged to attend all or parts of the workshop.

The virtual workshop meeting will be recorded and include English with Spanish interpretation. Meeting materials will be available before the meeting on the Community Air Protection Program webpage, and available in English and Spanish. After the workshop, the workshop recordings will be available on the Community Air Protection Blueprint webpage and Community Air Protection Program Selection Process webpage. 

Workshop Agenda

Topic 1:AB 617 Program Blueprint Revision and Engagement Opportunities
4:00 pm – 5:15 pm

The first portion of workshop will include:

• An orientation on the status of revising the Program Blueprint that includes CARB’s proposed engagement opportunities to inform the revision.
• Dialogue on the following:
  • Initial concepts in the draft Program Blueprint outline
  • Proposed actions for engagement
  • Timeline for the Program Blueprint revision

CARB’s Program Blueprint will be significantly informed by the People’s Blueprint. You can find comments on the People’s Blueprint here.

BREAK:  5:15 pm – 5:30 pm

Topic 2:  Fifth Annual Community Recommendations and Selection ProcessMeeting 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

The second portion of the workshop will include:

• Discussion of staff’s draft recommendations for the fifth annual Community Air Protection Community Selection Process
• Opportunity for workshop participants to ask questions and provide comments about the communities staff recommend to the CARB Board consider for selection in February 2023

Staff anticipates a small number of new selected communities given funding limitations.

Questions:

For questions about the Program Blueprint Revision, please contact CommunityAir@arb.ca.gov.

For questionsaboutthe annual community recommendations and selection process, please contact Laura Z. Schmidt at (951) 542-3436 or Laura.ZSchmidt@arb.ca.gov.

Background

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

• Community-focused action to reduce air pollution
• 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

Annual Community Recommendations and Selection:

• CARB Board has selected 17 communities to date
• This is the fifth year of AB 617 community recommendations
• 16 of the selected communities are developing or implementing air monitoring plans and or emission reduction plans with one community selected for a monitoring plan
• CARB staff works with community-based organizations, air districts, and the public to develop community selection recommendations for CARB’s Board every year
• CARB Board will consider OCAP staff recommendations for community selection at the February 22, 2023 CARB Board meeting  

Special Accommodations Request 

Consistent with California Government Code Section 7296.2, special accommodation or language needs may be provided for any of the following: 

• An interpreter to be available at the meeting
• Documents made available in an alternate format or another language
• A disability-related reasonable accommodation. 

To request these special accommodations or language needs, please contact Laura Z. Schmidt (951) 542-3436 or Laura.ZSchmidt@arb.ca.gov, as soon as possible, but no later than five business days before the scheduled meeting. TTY/TDD/Speech to Speech users may dial 711 for the California Relay Service. 

Solicitud de Comodidades Especiales

Consecuente con la sección 7296.2 del Código de Gobierno de California, una comodidad especial o necesidades lingüísticas pueden ser suministradas para cualquiera de los siguientes: 

• Un intérprete que esté disponible en la audiencia; 
• Documentos disponibles en un formato alterno u otro idioma; 
• Una acomodación razonable relacionados con una incapacidad. 

Para solicitar estas comodidades especiales o necesidades de otro idioma, favor de contactar a Andrea Juarez (951) 542-3222 o Andrea.Juarez@arb.ca.gov lo más pronto posible, pero no menos de 5 días de trabajo antes de la junta programada. TTY/TDD/Personas que necesiten este servicio pueden marcar el 711 para el Servicio de Retransmisión de Mensajes de California. 

OCAP Updates:

To receive meeting notices and email updates for the Community Air Protection Program, please subscribe.

To receive occasional updates highlighting communities in the program, please subscribe to the CARB Environmental Justice Blog.