California Air Resources Board

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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Summary

Would have, during a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor that is based on an emergency resulting in a loss of electrical service to any part of the State, provided that the regulations adopted under statutory direction prohibiting engine exhaust and evaporative emissions from new small off-road engines, and any other regulations adopted by CARB governing the emissions of portable or emergency backup generators, shall not apply to the sale or purchase of portable or emergency backup generators. The bill would have allowed a tax credit for each taxable year beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, equal to the amount incurred by a person or small business, during the taxable year for the purchase of a backup generator, as specified. Remains at the Assembly Desk.

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Summary

Would have required each local air district to make publicly available on its website a map of permitted facilities containing specified information regarding all active permits required for equipment or processes that may release or control air pollutants and that require or required the use of one or more emission reduction credits. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have amended the Administrative Procedure Act to require the economic assessment for non-major regulations to include the extent it will affect cost of living on residents of the State, and to require the standardized regulatory impact analysis for major regulations to address the cost of living impacts on residents of the State. The bill also would have required an agency to notify the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) when the agency determines it needs to contract for outside services to perform such analyses and would have required OAL to select the contractor and oversee its work. The bill would have required OAL to adopt a standardized cost of living methodology for use by all agencies. The bill would have required OAL during rulemaking review to conduct an independent analysis into the adequacy of an agency’s economic analyses, among other things. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Would have required CARB, on a quarterly basis, to submit a report to the Legislature providing data and describing the impact of its regulations on the prices of transportation fuels, including but not limited to, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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