California Air Resources Board

Below is a list of priorities that CARB is proposing for consideration for fiscal year 2026-2027. Input is currently being collected on these priorities through a survey (responses due June 13, 2025) and at a public meeting (May 28, 2025, 6-7:30pm). Please see the research comment portal for more information.

Health

1. What current or novel methodologies can be utilized or developed to quantify and monetize the health impacts and burdens associated with indoor exposures of air pollutants from a variety of sources in residential and non-residential settings including indoor sources such as emissive appliances and infiltration from outdoor sources such as wildfire smoke emissions?
2. How can we evaluate, and quantify where possible, cumulative health impacts from multiple sources of pollution as well as community and environmental stressors at a local scale? Which communities and Tribes are the most burdened by cumulative sources?
3. What are the co-benefits of climate adaptation strategies in California at a finer scale? What tools and approaches can be developed to analyze current and potential health impacts from adverse climate conditions to help inform communities and promote community resilience?
4. What is the feasibility, performance, and safe use of climate-friendly hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) alternatives for heat pump technologies and other HFC sectors? Are there hydrofluoroolefins (HFO) and HFC degradation products and do they have any potential health impacts?

Natural and Working Lands

1. What research is needed to deepen understanding of carbon stocks, fluxes and general dynamics in California’s various landscapes to use within CARB’s Natural and Working Lands carbon inventory? How can estimates of biomass utilization feedstocks and wildfire fuel loading in different biomes be improved for use within CARB programs?
2. How will fire emissions change as the severity and location of wildfires increase due to climate change? What are the potential climate, air quality, and health outcomes under different wildfire scenarios?
3. What are the potential air quality and health benefits and trade-offs of different scenarios for prescribed burning? How do fire emissions change on large spatial and temporal scales when prescribed burning is adopted on a wide scale?
4. What are the health impacts to both physical and mental health from exposure to smoke and ash from wildfire and WUI fires over different time periods? How do these health impacts differ for long-term or chronic exposures to multiple fires over years (e.g., long-lasting effects) and short-term peak exposures (e.g., effects seen days after the exposures)?

Cross-Cutting Issues: Agriculture and Climate/Air Quality Interactions

1. How can we further inform our understanding of the interactions between air quality, meteorology, and climate under future air quality and climate policies? What role do additional observational data or more precise models at higher spatial and temporal resolution play?
2. What additional research can best inform the dairy and livestock estimates including silage and feeding or manure management practices? How can measurements and models consider implementation of mitigation measures at dairies or livestock operations?
3. How can emission estimation models be improved to better estimate dairy and livestock emissions of GHG and ammonia under different feeding or manure management practices? How can measurements help improve models to better quantify emission reductions due to the implementation of mitigation measures at dairies or livestock operations?
4. How do different farming practices, such as fertilizer application and irrigation, impact NOx emissions from soils? How will these emissions change as new climate-smart agricultural strategies are adopted?

Confirmed or continuing research concepts

The following research concepts are high priority research concepts that are either postponed from last year or are designed as follow-up research to on-going or recently completed research. These project concepts have a high likelihood of being funded. Space is provided in the survey to submit input on each project concept.

1. Concept title: Advancing the Application of Real-Time Toxic Air Contaminant/Hazardous Air Pollutant Measurement Technologies for Communities Burdened by Air Pollution
2. Concept title: Follow-up to Imperial Valley Community-Focused Collaborative Research Plan.
3. Concept Title: Quantifying NOx and PM Mass Exhaust Leak Rates from Heavy-Duty Vehicles and Off-Road Equipment.
4. Concept title: Title: Activity-Weighted Light-Duty Vehicle Emissions in California Communities