Research Comment Portal
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Introduction
Thank you for your interest in the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Research Program. CARB has initiated the research planning process for the fiscal year (FY) 2025-2026 with a call for research comments and concepts from the public, which was facilitated through a survey. This year, we also started the public engagement process for the upcoming 5-Year Strategic Research Plan, which covers funding years 2025-2030. The annual collection of research comments and concepts is an important part of CARB’s engagement with the public to inform program priorities.
Background
The annual research planning process is guided by research priorities responsive to CARB programmatic goals, emerging air quality and climate issues, and public input. Public input is collected through various mechanisms, including the annual research concept comment survey and public meetings. The annual process begins with a call for project comments and concepts from the public. All responses from the public are reviewed and assessed based on their alignment with CARB program needs. The Triennial Strategic Research Plan (Plan) provides an overview of past and current research activities, as well as remaining program needs. In 2025, CARB will move to a 5-year Strategic Research Plan. The new Plan will be presented to the Board for approval and will cover funding years 2025-2030. The following criteria are used to prioritize concepts and comments for further development into research projects:
- Program relevance
- Results easily integrate into program work.
- Results will inform current and/or future policy development.
- Research
- The project is novel and pushes the science.
- It addresses a research gap.
- It avoids duplication of current projects.
- It is multidisciplinary.
- Anticipated timelines
- The project addresses long-term anticipated challenges.
- It is appropriate for the timeline.
- Cost-effectiveness and ability to leverage existing efforts.
- Technically viable.
In addition, Research Program staff apply an equity lens to determine whether the project needs a community engagement component or whether specific data gaps exist around race or other sociodemographic factors.
Any member of the public that submits a comment or concept that CARB staff prioritize for funding will be contacted directly. If a selected concept/comment author does not want to be involved or is not qualified to perform the work, the concept may be included in the annual call for research proposals. The top comments and concepts are developed into projects that, if approved by the Executive Officer, are developed further and may be released for proposal solicitations. CARB moves forward with contracts for those applicants who submit the top proposal for a given project. The time between the initiation of the concept and comment collection to contract initiation is approximately one and a half years.
It is important to note that the Research Program operates on a very limited budget. Although the Research Program receives up to 200 comments and concepts yearly, only a small fraction of publicly submitted concepts and comments can be pursued for funding due to budget limitations. However, comments and concepts are still incredibly valuable and help CARB identify the public's needs. All comments are cataloged and added to the current Strategic Plan as an addendum, which helps guide overall CARB Research Program goals.
Survey Description
The survey typically provides two submission options. One option collects community concerns on air quality or climate change that research can address. The second option collects research concepts that include specific objectives, proposed methods, and estimated costs. For this year, a third option was provided to allow the public to submit a general research priority for consideration in the 5-Year Strategic Research Plan covering funding years 2025-2030.
For the annual research project portion of the survey, academic and community researchers were invited to submit 300-word project concepts. Note that project concepts are more likely to be developed into full projects if they align with research priorities as outlined in the Plan and CARB program goals.
CARB collects comments on air quality and climate concerns for non-researchers, concerned residents, and community members. This information is important for identifying community concerns and steering future research projects toward specific topics.
This year, the survey closed on April 16, 2024. CARB staff will summarize the number of project concepts received and the research topics covered. The summary overview of public submissions will be included in a Plan Addendum, which will be available on the Strategic Plan landing page. No personal information or details on project concepts will be shared publicly unless we choose to fund the project.
A daytime and evening public meeting will be held on November 18 and November 20, 2024, respectively, to get input on the top 20-30 projects identified as priority project concepts. The same content will be presented at both meetings. Input at this stage is critical in finalizing the list of projects that will be funded in fiscal year 2025-2026. CARB’s research budget limits how many concepts can be developed into full research projects.
We greatly appreciate your time and engagement in providing your input.
We have created publicly viewable videos on the comment and concept survey to introduce it briefly. The slides in the video are available at the bottom of this page.
Introductory Videos
Lower Priority Concepts
The CARB Research Program has a very limited budget. For this reason we do not expect to prioritize project concepts estimated to cost more than $1M. Project concepts and comments that do not fall within CARB’s purview will also be de-prioritized. Finally, the Research Program does not fund technological demonstration projects or entrepreneurial ventures.
Public meeting to discuss top research priorities for FY2025-2026
The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) holds a yearly public virtual meeting to discuss the top research priorities under consideration for funding in each fiscal year. The purpose of the meeting and the poll is to solicit comments from the public on these top research concepts. In addition, staff summarize CARB’s submissions from the public call for research concepts and comments. The material presented at the meeting is made available on this site for public review. The list of proposed project concepts with a brief description can be found here. A poll asking for feedback on each individual project is available here and closes on November 27, 2024. Two meeting options are being provided to accommodate a wider audience. The same agenda and material will be presented at both meetings. The slides for this meeting are now available at the bottom of this page.
Meeting #1
Date: November 18, 2024
Time: 2:00 to 3:30 PM PDT
Location: Zoom
Meeting #2
Date: November 20, 2024
Time: 5:30 to 7:00 PM PDT
Location: Zoom
Agenda
- Introductions
- CARB Research Program Overview
- Breakout rooms
- Open Discussion of Proposed Research Concepts
- Research Initiatives for 5-Year Plan
Meeting Recording
Project List
Project Poll - Due November 27
Meeting Recording from last year
You may contact us directly at research@arb.ca.gov. If you would like to receive updates and notices for public meetings by email, sign up for our listserv and select the “Research Activities” option from the list of topics.