California Air Resources Board

Would have formally expanded the California Department of Recycling and Resource Recovery’s (CalRecycle’s) California Climate Investments Food Waste Prevention grant program to provide financial assistance for the recovery of edible food, as specified. The bill also would have specified that eligible infrastructure projects included the construction or expansion of facilities to help develop, implement, or expand edible food waste recovery operation and required CalRecycle to consider the increased amount of edible food recovery capacity that the project will create when awarding a grant for edible food recovery. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have established, until January 1, 2035, the Office of Regulatory Counsel (Office) within the Governor’s office, under the directionand control of a director appointed by the Governor, as specified. The bill would have required the Office to draft and assist in the preparation, consideration, amendment, and repeal of regulations for a State agency, before the State agency submits a proposed action regarding that regulation to the Office of Administrative Law for publication in the California Regulatory Notice Register. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Would have, among other things, called for a comparative analysis of the benefits and challenges of transitioning California’s electrical corporations to a successor entity. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Would have for the installation of residential heat pump HVAC systems and heat pump water heaters, required the California Energy Commission to develop standardized permitting checklists, establish limits and requirements for local agency permitting, and cap permit fees, among other things. The bill was sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Would have required a lead agency to incorporate appropriate wildlife passage features into a transportation infrastructure project in a connectivity area, as specified, but would exempt a project on the state highway system from this requirement if California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is the lead agency. The bill would have authorized a lead agency to use compensatory mitigation credits to satisfy this requirement, as specified. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Would have required CARB, by January 31, 2026, to reconsider and revise the Low Carbon Fuel Standard to reduce the program's financial burden on drivers in the State. Would have required CARB, in doing so, to do all of the following: provide a complete analysis of the passed-through costs of carbon credits to drivers, including a comparison to prior methodologies; prioritize changes that directly benefit individual drivers, including revising carbon credit structures to multiply credit generation for certain pathways aligned with State priorities; evaluate the extent to which changes can be made to prioritize in-State projects and benefits; and analyze impacts that adjusting the credit price cap for the Credit Clearance Market would have on program cost and investment capabilities. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Would have specified that only carbon dioxide removal (CDR) that meets specified requirements of the bill can be used for meeting or tracking progress for the net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) cement sector goal (SB 596), the overall net zero GHG goal (AB 1279), and the State operations net zero GHG goal (SB 1203), for purposes of counterbalancing the State's or an entity's remaining greenhouse gas emissions. The bill would have set these requirements as: using a form of carbon sequestration with substantially equivalent duration to the longevity of the form of storage from which the GHG was released and being qualified CDR, as defined. The bill would have defined qualified CDR as not being used for enhanced oil recovery, meeting certain standards of SB 905, and if using biomass, using only specified waste-based biomass. The bill would have specified it does not restrict what can be used as an offset credit in the Cap-and-Trade program and does not restrict the types of voluntary carbon offsets or other tradeable instruments that may be used to meet or report on the progress of voluntary pledges to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Would have required CARB to include greenhouse gas emissions from wildlands and forest fires in the AB 32 Scoping Plan. Died at the desk.

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Would have required CARB to establish the Marine Carbon Initiative, consisting of the Marine Carbon Council and the Marine Carbon Research Program. The bill requires CARB to select the seven members of the Marine Carbon Council by August 1, 2027, as specified, and requires the Council to advance the science and understanding of marine carbon dioxide removal and sequestration methods and technologies, as specified. The bill requires CARB to establish the Marine Carbon Research Program by July 1, 2028 to award grants and other financial incentives for eligible marine carbon dioxide removal and sequestration projects, as specified. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required CARB's executive officer to review a local air district’s submitted proposed permit for a Title V facility and, if the executive officer determines that the permit does not comply with the federal Clean Air Act or State law governing air pollution, to object to the issuance of that permit. The bill would have prohibited the local air district from finalizing the proposed permit without revising it to the satisfaction of CARB’s executive officer. The bill also would have established a public petition process regarding the proposed Title V permit, as specified.

The bill would have required an applicant to submit a technical feasibility analysis to the local air district as part of its permit renewal application for a Title V facility if its current operating permit includes equipment or control apparatus that meets certain criteria. The bill would have required a local air district to require best available retrofit control technology to be applied at each piece of equipment or source category identified in the technical feasibility analysis.

The bill would have revised CARB's precertification program, including requiring CARB to update criteria and guidelines for precertification at least once every eight years. The bill would have authorized the precertification program to include the identification of equipment, controls, fuels, and processes, as specified.

The bill would have revised requirements for a local air district’s expedited permit system. The bill, among other things, would have required CARB to issue determinations for best available control technology and best available retrofit control technology, and to establish best available control technology for toxic air contaminants. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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