California Air Resources Board

Would have allowed CARB to adopt and enforce rules for indirect sources of emissions. Within 120 days of statewide indirect source rule (ISR) adoption, air districts would have had to decide if the district or CARB would implement and enforce the regulations within the air district. If the air district decided to implement and enforce a statewide ISR, it would have been required to propose regulations enacting those measures no later than six months after CARB's ISR adoption. The air district could have, at any time, adopted and enforced stricter ISRs than the regulations adopted by CARB. The bill would have allowed CARB to make a schedule of fees on facilities and mobile sources to cover the reasonable costs of implementing and enforcing the regulations. These fees would have been deposited in the Air Pollution Control Fund and made available to CARB upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would have also required CARB to make a yearly presentation on the effects of any ISRs that it adopted. Moved to the Assembly Inactive File.

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Would have required CARB to give a yearly legislative report on AB 617 progress by June 30, 2027, and to expand the eligible uses of grant funding for community air grants. The bill would have also required CARB and air districts to approve local community emissions reduction plans (L-CERPs) and authorize CARB and air districts to enforce applicable portions of those L-CERPs. The bill would have also required an AB 617 community steering committee to remain active until the emissions goals identified in its community emissions reduction program (CERP) are met by the air district or a majority of the committee votes to disband. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Would have required CARB to expand its incident air monitoring program to provide support for local monitoring, upon receiving funding. This bill would have required CARB and the local air districts to together choose the regional center locations that either CARB or the district would operate, with at least one center being in the South Coast Air Quality Management District. CARB would have been required to assist with operational plans for the centers regardless of the operator, and all operators would be required to provide emergency air monitoring response for disasters. The bill would have established allowable uses for funding, including but not limited to planning and maintaining centers and equipment; air quality data collection, analysis, and communication; and staff resources and training.

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Governor’s Veto Message

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 2349 without my signature.

This bill would require the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to expand its incident air monitoring program.

While I share the author’s goal of expanding emergency air monitoring, the proposed program requires significant resources not included in this year's budget.

In partnership with the Legislature this year, my administration has enacted a balanced budget that recognizes the challenging fiscal landscape our state faces while maintaining our commitment to working families and our most vulnerable communities. With significant fiscal pressures and the federal government's hostile economic policies, it is vital that we remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications that are not included in the budget, such as this measure.

For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill.

Sincerely,

Gavin Newsom

View Governor’s veto message here

Sets residential property insurance requirements for smoke damage claims on properties within a specified wildfire impact zone. Insurers must cover additional living expenses, testing, and restoration until properties are safe for human occupancy following guidance and rules set by CARB and the Department of Toxic Substances Control in AB 1642 (Harabedian). The bill also requires the Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Insurance, in consultation with departments including CARB, to submit legislative reports on regulatory limitations impacting the Lineage Logistics warehouse fire response and insurance coverage gaps exposed by the fire.

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Would have clarified CARB's authority to adopt regulations to reduce or mitigate emissions from indirect sources of pollution to achieve the ambient air quality standards required by the federal Clean Air Act. Was not heard on the Assembly Floor.

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Requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CalOSHA), by January 1, 2030, to propose to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for its consideration and possible adoption, a standard that protects the health and safety of employees who risk high or prolonged exposure to transboundary pollution, as defined, in outdoor occupational environments. The bill requires CalOSHA to consider identifying an exposure threshold for hydrogen sulfide at which acute or chronic health effects occur to reference in the standards and may consider exposure thresholds for other relevant pollutants. The bill authorizes CalOSHA to develop the standard in consultation with other specified groups, including CARB and local air districts.

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Establishes a new regulatory structure for metal shredding facilities at the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The bill requires that metal shredding facilities obtain a permit from DTSC to operate in the State and specifies numerous requirements and procedures for regulating the facilities. The bill requires, if an air quality health risk assessment has not been conducted, the owner or operator of the metal shredding facility to conduct an analysis of equivalent scope and depth as approved by the local air district.

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Would have required the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board to update Rule 1157 to improve air quality and increase data collection. The bill would have required permanent and temporary aggregate operations, by January 1, 2027, to install and maintain a fenceline monitoring system, maintain fencing above the height of open piles, limit open storage piles to 8 feet tall if the covered facility is within 500 feet of a sensitive receptor, and cease all activities if particulate matter of 10 microns or less (PM10) emissions reach threshold limit set by SCAQMD. The bill would have required, on and after July 1, 2027, that a covered facility with a demonstrated history of PM10 emissions at or above the threshold limit set by the SCAQMD and whose property line is within 500 feet of a sensitive receptor to fully enclose any existing open storage piles. Was amended to address health facilities.

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Would have required an owner or operator of a metal shredding facility to reimburse a local air district for reasonable regulatory costs incurred by the local air district in implementing facility-wide fence-line air quality monitoring requirements. Was amended to address property transfers.

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Would have required guidance for a fenceline-monitoring system for a petroleum refinery adopted by the local air district to include a process for the refinery to provide substantial evidence to the appropriate local air district to exclude a pollutant for monitoring in a fence-line monitoring system. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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