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Priority Areas for Local Climate Action

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The 2022 Scoping Plan identifies three priority areas that address the State’s largest sources of emissions over which local governments have authority or influence: zero-emission transportation, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction, and building decarbonization. This page describes the three priority areas, their associated state goals, recommended priority local actions, and funding resources.

CARB encourages local jurisdictions to prioritize these three areas when developing and setting targets for climate action plans, when determining consistency of residential and mixed-use development projects with the Scoping Plan, and when considering opportunities for GHG mitigation.

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I. Zero-Emission Transportation

Reducing emissions from the transportation sector entails continuing to expand zero-emission-vehicle options (for example, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric), building out a network of charging and fueling infrastructure, and developing a trained workforce that can support these vehicles. These actions also help to reduce air pollution and increase access to high-quality jobs.

Ensuring that vulnerable communities benefit from efforts to reduce GHG emissions is crucial to the State’s climate strategy. Policies related to zero-emission vehicles should consider affordability, access to charging or refueling infrastructure, and displacement. Equity considerations must go beyond simply locating new technologies in under-resourced communities. This includes community engagement and outreach in the development and implementation of projects.

State Goals and Mandates

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, vehicles must continue adopting zero-emission technologies. Executive order N-79-20 establishes as goals of the State that:

  • 100% of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks be zero-emission by 2035,
  • 100% of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the state be zero-emission by 2045 for all operations where feasible,
  • 100% of drayage trucks be zero-emission by 2035 where feasible, and
  • 100% of off-road vehicles and equipment be zero-emission by 2035 where feasible.

Priority Local Actions

  • Convert local government fleets to zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) and provide zero-emission vehicle charging or refueling at public sites.
  • Create a jurisdiction-specific ZEV ecosystem to support deployment of ZEVs statewide (such as building standards that exceed state building codes, permit streamlining, infrastructure siting, consumer education, preferential parking policies, and ZEV readiness plans).

For more information on complementary incentive, regulatory, and supporting programs that enable the transition to zero-emission technology in the light-, medium-, and heavy-duty sectors, visit CARB’s Zero-emission Transportation program.

Funding Support

For more information on complementary incentive, regulatory, and supporting programs that enable the transition to zero-emission technology in the light-, medium-, and heavy-duty sectors, visit CARB’s Zero-emission Transportation program.

Other Resources

II. Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Reduction

Zero-emission vehicles alone are not sufficient to address the major climate-related impacts of the transportation sector. Even with 100 percent ZEV sales in the light-duty vehicle sector by 2035, a significant portion of passenger vehicles in California will continue to rely on internal combustion engine technology. Driving, regardless of vehicle technology, will continue to produce particulate emissions from brake and tire wear. Land use, housing, and transportation strategies that lead to walkable communities with affordable transportation options besides personal vehicles are crucial for reducing VMT. Reducing VMT also helps curb expensive road expansions, traffic, air pollution, pedestrian injury and mortality, and loss of natural and working lands.

Reducing the need to drive saves households substantial sums of money. U.S. households spent an average of nearly $10,000 in 2019 on vehicles and fuel. Driving fewer miles reduces fuel and maintenance expenses, and may even allow a household to reduce the number of vehicles owned. Fostering transportation-efficient, resource-rich, accessible, and inclusive communities is a key strategy for climate, equity, health, and affordability. Such communities make it possible for residents to live, work, and recreate without dependence on a personal car.

Local, regional, and state governments must work together to ensure that the households that would benefit most from living in more accessible areas are not displaced by new investments. Potential unintended equity and social consequences include gentrification and displacement of historically underserved and disadvantaged communities.

State Goals and Mandates

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, the State must reduce VMT per capita from 24.6 miles per day in 2019 to 18.4 miles by 2030 (a 25% reduction) and to 17.2 miles per day by 2045 (a 30% reduction) (Source: Appendix E of the Scoping Plan).

Senate Bill 375, the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act, supports the State’s climate goals by helping to reduce GHG emissions through coordinated regional transportation, housing, and land use planning.

For additional state policy efforts to support VMT reduction, please see the discussion in the most recent Progress Report of California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act.

Priority Local Actions

  • Reduce or eliminate minimum parking standards or implement parking maximums in areas that are well-served by other mobility options.
  • Require that new residential developments unbundle the cost of parking from the cost of renting or purchasing housing.
  • Implement Complete Streets policies and investments, consistent with general plan circulation element requirements.
  • Increase access to public transit by increasing density of development near transit, improving transit service by increasing service frequency, creating bus priority lanes, reducing or eliminating fares, and implementing other innovative mobility solutions.
  • Increase public access to clean mobility options by planning for and investing in zero-emission shuttles, bike share, car share, and safe active transportation infrastructure like sidewalks and bike lanes.
  • Implement parking pricing or transportation demand management pricing strategies.
  • Amend zoning or development codes to enable mixed-use, walkable, transit-oriented, and compact infill development (such as increasing the allowable density of a neighborhood).
  • Preserve natural and working lands by implementing land use policies that guide development toward infill areas and do not zone for the conversion of “greenfield” areas (e.g., parks, green belts, wildlife corridors or important agricultural areas zoned at low densities) to highly developed uses.

CARB’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection program provides additional resources.

Funding Support

The California Grants Portal is the best place to search for State funding. State programs that provide funding for transit-oriented development and for clean transportation beyond personal vehicles include:

Other Resources

III. Building Decarbonization

Residential and commercial buildings are responsible for roughly 25% of California’s GHG emissions. Building decarbonization refers to reducing GHG emissions in the building sector through activities such as increasing energy efficiency and insulation, increasing renewable electricity, advancing distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and batteries, adopting zero-emission appliances and equipment (e.g., water and space heating), reducing embodied carbon emissions from building materials and construction, switching to climate-friendly refrigerants, and improving refrigerant management. These actions can also help improve indoor air quality, increase comfort, provide lifetime energy bill savings, and strengthen the climate and extreme heat resiliency of the building.

Vulnerable communities must not be negatively impacted by building decarbonization policies and programs. Residents of rural and tribal areas, for example, as well as mobile home parks, which may rely on propane and wood burning and may not have the ability to upgrade electrical service panels or retrofit wiring, may need special consideration to ensure they still benefit from building decarbonization efforts. Actions that support reducing energy demand—such as weatherization and energy efficiency—could help minimize the number of households in existing buildings that experience increased energy bills. Finally, as more households move away from using fossil gas, those remaining on the fossil gas system are likely to pay an increasingly larger share of systemwide costs, which could further widen the affordability gap between households that are able to decarbonize early and those that are not.

State Goals and Mandates

To achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, the State must transition away from fossil fuel use in residential and commercial buildings by increasing energy efficiency and advancing the use of zero-emission appliances. Senate Bill 100 (De León, 2018) requires that renewable and zero-carbon energy resources supply 100% of the electricity for retail sales to customers by 2045. Additionally, Senate Bill 43 (Holden, 2023) requires CARB to develop, by December 31, 2028, a comprehensive strategy for the state’s building sector to achieve a 40-percent net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of building materials as soon as possible, but no later than December 31, 2035.

Priority Local Actions

  • Adopt new construction reach codes (a local ordinance that is more stringent than the building codes set by the State) for residential and commercial uses.
  • Adopt policies and incentive programs to implement energy efficiency retrofits for existing buildings, such as weatherization, lighting upgrades, and replacing energy-intensive appliances and equipment with more efficient systems (such as Energy Star-rated equipment and equipment controllers).
  • Adopt policies and incentive programs for zero-emission appliances and equipment in existing buildings such as appliance rebates, existing building reach codes, or time of sale electrification ordinances.
  • Facilitate deployment of renewable energy production and distribution and energy storage on privately owned land uses (e.g., permit streamlining, information sharing).
  • Deploy renewable energy production and energy storage directly in new public projects and on existing public facilities (e.g., solar photovoltaic systems on rooftops of municipal buildings and on canopies in public parking lots, battery storage systems in municipal buildings).

CARB’s Building Decarbonization program provides additional resources and information.

Funding Support

The California Grants Portal is the best place to search for State funding. State programs that provide funding for energy efficiency and retrofits include:

Other Resources

Resources for Adopting Local Energy Codes and Reach Codes, including model policies, cost effectiveness studies, and technical assistance.