California Air Resources Board

Summary 

Imposes an additional annual $4 charge on each motor vehicle registered in the state and requires Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to collect the charge and deposit revenues from the charge in the Air Quality Improvement Fee Fund, which the bill would create. The bill would continuously appropriate the revenues in the fund to the DMV for distribution upon request to air pollution control districts and air quality management districts based upon the amount of the charges collected from motor vehicles registered within each air district, thereby creating an appropriation. The bill would require these revenues to be used for the reduction of air pollution from motor vehicles and for related planning, monitoring, enforcement, and technical studies, as specified, or for the attainment or maintenance of state or federal ambient air quality standards or the reduction of toxic air contaminant emissions from motor vehicles. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary 

Would have required the air districts, in adopting a Community Emission Reduction Program, to consult with other relevant State agencies and would have required those agencies to implement and enforce measures assigned to them by CARB and the districts, as a part of the Community Emission Reduction Program, unless the agency found those measures infeasible at a public meeting of its governing body. The bill would have specified that Community Air Grants include, to the extent the Legislature appropriated funds specifically for this purpose, the option to provide the AB 617 community steering committees an allocation of funds to serve as a budget for administrative items, including, but not limited to, translation services, meeting venues, meeting coordination, training, and stipends, as authorized by the air district, for members of the committee. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Requires the owner or operator of a wastewater treatment facility, on or before January 1, 2027, to install, operate, and maintain a fence-line monitoring system that is approved by the appropriate air quality management district. The bill requires that the wastewater treatment-related fence-line monitoring system include equipment capable of measuring pollutants of concern, including hydrogen sulfide, emitted to the atmosphere from wastewater treatment processes.

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Summary

Updates the statewide refinery-related fence-line and community air monitoring program established by AB 1647 (Muratsuchi, Chapter 589, Statutes of 2017). The bill establishes statewide standards for the air monitoring program, including monitoring system capabilities, pollutants requiring monitoring, air quality control and assurance plans, third party audits, and data reporting. The bill also extends the air monitoring program deadline from January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2028 for updating or installing new air monitoring systems required by the bill and expands the program to include biofuel refineries. Moved to the Assembly Inactive File.

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Summary

Would have designated a local air district as a special district for purposes of receiving State funds or funds disbursed by the State, including federal funds. The bill would also have required, if eligibility for funds requires a district to be considered either a dependent or an independent special district, the entity distributing those funds to use the definitions for those terms set forth in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, as specified, to determine eligibility. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have required CARB to conduct an assessment of the socioeconomic impacts, as defined, of a proposed rule or regulation with an economic impact of $10 million or more that will significantly affect air quality or emissions limitations. The bill also would have authorized CARB to contract with a third party to conduct the required assessment of socioeconomic impacts. The bill would have specified minimum standards for the assessment of socioeconomic impacts and required CARB or a third-party contractor to include in the assessment of socioeconomic impacts specified information and various economic analyses. The bill would have prohibited CARB from approving an assessment of socioeconomic impacts that fails to meet these requirements. The bill would have had similar provisions for local air districts regarding third party contractors and made changes to the socioeconomic analysis carried out by local air districts for rulemakings. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Authorizes the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency (CNRA Secretary) to enter into agreements with federally recognized California Native American tribes in support of tribal sovereignty with respect to cultural burning. The bill provides that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, the CNRA Secretary may agree, with regard to cultural burning, that compliance with State permitting or regulatory requirements is not required. The CNRA Secretary may enter into the agreement with such tribes related to the State Smoke Management Program only with concurrence of the Secretary of Environmental Protection. The bill does not provide authorization to enter or burn property without the permission of the landowner. In order to support these agreements, the bill also requires the CNRA Secretary to convene a cultural burn working group consisting of State agencies, California Native American tribes, local air districts, and local governments, with the goal of determining a framework to enable conditions conducive to cultural burning, including consideration of the role of a local air pollution control district in supporting the effort of cultural burning. The bill requires the working group to report its findings to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2025. The bill repeals these provisions on January 1, 2029. Was not heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Requires a fixed-mount generator to be classified as a stationary source and requires CARB to adopt regulations consistent with that requirement. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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Summary

Triples specified civil penalties, such as for strict liability, negligence, and willful and intentional violations, under the following conditions:  (1) the discharge is from a source regulated under Title V of the federal Clean Air Act, and (2) the discharge contains one or more air contaminants, as identified by CARB as a toxic air contaminant, and as defined as a “air contaminant” or “air pollutant,” or a pollutant that has a California ambient air quality standard, as specified. The bill directs the court or the local air district when assessing penalties to consider health impacts, community disruptions, and other circumstances related to the violation. Moved to the Senate Inactive File.

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Summary

Requires CARB, by January 1, 2027, to conduct an analysis of credits identified in the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District’s (District) ledger of available emission reduction credits (ERCs) to determine if any credits were issued in violation of State, local, or district laws, rules, regulations, or procedures in place at the time of original issuance. The bill requires CARB to submit a report to the Legislature summarizing the analysis results. The bill requires the District to aggregate and make publicly available on its website specified information regarding permits issued during a specified 17-year span that require or required the use of one or more ERCs. Was not heard on Assembly Concurrence.

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