California Air Resources Board

Summary

Would have required the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission to develop and adopt a Connected Network Plan, develop a comprehensive, standardized regional transit mapping and wayfinding system, develop an implementation and maintenance strategy and funding plan, and establish open data standards, as specified. The bill would have required the region’s transit agencies, as defined, to comply with those established regional transit mapping and wayfinding system, implementation and maintenance strategy and funding plan, and open data standards, as provided. Held on Suspense in Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have prohibited the land use element from designating land uses that have the potential to significantly degrade local air, water, or soil quality or to adversely impact health outcomes in disadvantaged communities to be located, or to materially expand, within or adjacent to a disadvantaged community or a racially and ethnically concentrated area of poverty. Was not heard in the Senate Committee on Government and Finance.

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Summary

Would have retired CARB’s existing SB 375  (Steinberg, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008) guidelines, limited CARB’s oversight of the SB 375 program, and required CARB to appoint a State-Regional Collaborative that would have set implementable 2030 and 2050 regional greenhouse gas targets by developing a point system tool, which CARB would have been required to use to assess Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS). This bill also would have authorized metropolitan planning organizations to appeal CARB rejection of an SCS. Was not heard in the Senate Transportation Committee.

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Summary

Would have updated the SB 375 (Steinberg, Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008) program and added new requirements for the entities involved in developing Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS). CARB would have been required to adopt additional greenhouse gas targets for 2045 and 2050 for SCSs and vehicle miles traveled targets for 2035, 2045, 2050, by 2024. CARB would have received additional time to review SCSs and been required to reject them if they were not implementable based on specific evidentiary basis. Metropolitan planning organizations would have been required to work with CARB on technical methodologies, submit draft SCS for CARB review 90 days before adoption, respond to CARB comments on the draft, and submit final SCS for CARB evaluation within 60 days after adoption. Local government would have been required to collect data on housing, jobs, and transit infrastructure and report every two years to metropolitan planning organizations demonstrating how SCS strategies are implemented, including the data described above. Was not heard in the Senate Committee on Transportation.

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Summary

Would have established a Racial Equity Commission, appointed by the Governor and Legislature, to develop a racial equity framework based on existing research, in consultation with specified public and private stakeholders, and perform other outreach, engagement, and assessment tasks to improve equity in State government. Moved to the Assembly Inactive file.

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Summary

Would have established fire hazard planning responsibilities for local governments and required cities and counties to make specified findings on fire standards prior to permitting residential development in a very high fire hazard severity zone. Also, would have established a grant program to provide funding to small jurisdictions that contain very high fire risk areas for wildfire risk reduction planning activities, to be administered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Was not heard in the Assembly Housing and Community Development

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Summary

Would have required CARB by December 31, 2025, to include in the SB 901 report, which assesses GHG emissions associated with wildfire and forest management activities, a methodology to quantify GHG and short-lived climate pollutant emissions, including black carbon from wildfire, pile burning, and forest management activities and a list of the data needed to use the methodology. This bill would have also established a Forest Waste Biomass Utilization Program to be administered by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation, would have required the California Natural Resources Agency to facilitate the inclusion of recommendations for forest biomass waste utilization in relevant State climate adaptation plans, and would have required the California Energy Commission to report on innovative bioenergy technologies that utilize forest biomass waste. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required CARB to prepare an assessment, as specified, through a research contract, that quantifies the reduction in GHG emissions, measured in MMCO2e, resulting from work-from-home options offered by employers in the State as compared to overall statewide GHG emission reductions the same year. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required the establishment a State natural carbon sequestration goal in California of at least 60,000,000 MTCO2e annually by 2030, and 75,000,000 MTCO2e annually by 2035 and would have also required on December 31, 2025, and every year thereafter, CNRA and CARB to submit a progress report to the Legislature. Held on suspense in Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have allowed the California Coastal Commission (CCC) to authorize blue carbon demonstration projects to demonstrate and quantify the carbon sequestration potential of these projects to help inform the State’s natural and working lands and climate resilience strategies and would have required the CCC to consult with CARB and other entities when developing the blue carbon demonstration project program. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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