California Air Resources Board

Summary

Would require Strategic Growth Council to coordinate and convene at least two meetings each calendar year with specified State agencies, including CARB, and regional entities, to coordinate their implementation of sustainable transportation policies including vehicle miles traveled reduction goals, zero-Emission Vehicle deployment goals, transit goals, and active transportation goals. The bill would require those State agencies and regional entities, on or before December 31, 2023, and each year thereafter, to collaboratively develop a summary of actions undertaken as part of the meetings and would require the summary to be publicly available on the Strategic Growth Council’s internet website. Moved to the Assembly Inactive File.

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Summary

Would require a State agency that receives and disburses funds provided under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act or other federal recovery funds to consider projects’ potential impact on specified goals, including restoring frontline communities and rapidly accelerating achievement of environmental justice and climate goals, as well as uplifting vulnerable workers by prioritizing high road employers. The bill would require State agencies to document how proposed projects meet or align with the specified goals and requires the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to establish an internet website where the public can track the expenditure of federal ARP funds by the State and how funded projects meet the specified goals. Was not heard in Senate Governmental Organization Committee.

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Summary

Would revise AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, by charging CARB with only the responsibility of regulating vehicular sources of greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bill would charge each local air district with the responsibility of regulating all sources, other than vehicular sources, of greenhouse gas emissions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within its jurisdiction. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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Summary

Would require an owner or operator of a natural gas plant to develop, install, operate, and maintain, in accordance with guidance developed by the appropriate local air district, a fence-line monitoring system to measure and record methane concentrations at or adjacent to a natural gas plant. The bill would require the local air district and the owner or operator of a natural gas plant to collect real-time data from these fence-line monitoring systems, provide that data to the public, and maintain records of that data. The bill would require an owner or operator of a natural gas plant to report methane concentrations readings that exceed background levels to the local air district and requires the local air district to report those readings to Members of the Legislature representing the district in which the natural gas plant is located. The bill would require the owner or operator of a natural gas plant to be responsible for the costs associated with the fence-line monitoring system. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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Summary

Would require CARB to appoint, on or before January 31, 2022, the State-Regional Collaborative for Climate, Equity, and Resilience, consisting of representatives of various entities. Would require the Collaborative to develop a quantitative tool for metropolitan planning organizations to use to evaluate a transportation plan’s consistency with long-range greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and recommend guidelines for metropolitan planning organizations to use when crafting long-range strategies that integrate state goals related to climate resilience and social equity. Would require CARB, on or before June 30, 2023, and in coordination with the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), issue new guidelines on sustainable communities strategies based on the Collaborative’s work and requires these guidelines to be updated thereafter at least every 4 years. Would require CARB, in consultation with CTC and HCD, identify greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2050 that align with the Collaborative’s work. Was not heard in the Senate Transportation Committee.

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Summary

Would require CARB to adopt additional greenhouse gas targets for 2045 and 2050, and vehicle miles traveled targets for 2035, 2045, 2050, by 2024; would modify the timeline for Sustainable Community Strategies (SCS) development; and would require CARB to reject SCSs if they are not implementable based on specific evidentiary basis.  Would require local governments to collect data on housing, jobs, and transit infrastructure and report every two years to metropolitan planning organizations to demonstrate how SCS strategies are implemented, using the data described above. Was not heard in the Senate Transportation Committee.

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Summary

Would expand the Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act, known as the AB 900 program, to include specified hospital projects and requires CARB to complete a greenhouse gas emission determination as one of the requirements needed to obtain the Governor’s certification, which grants the project expedited California Environmental Quality Act review. Was not heard in the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources.

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Summary

Would require CARB to establish a maximum global warming potential (GWP) for concrete for each project region and performance class, and update it every three years. The bill would require CARB to establish criteria to qualify a technology, method, or product to qualify as a breakthrough technology. The bill would require the Department of General Services to establish performance classes for concrete products, publish a maximum GWP developed by CARB for concrete in the State Contracting Manual, and establish other rules and guidelines regarding the disclosure of carbon dioxide equivalent associated with concrete bids submitted to State agency and university projects. The bill would require awarding authorities to eventually require all bids for concrete used in State agency and university projects to include a GWP, to disqualify bids with a GWP higher than the maximum for performance class and region, and apply bid price discounts for bids with a low GWP or utilizing a breakthrough technology. Was not heard in the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee.

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Summary

Would make a nonsubstantive change to the existing requirement for methane emissions reduction goals to include specified targets to reduce the landfill disposal of organics. Remains in the Senate Rules Committee.

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Summary

Would have required CARB to consider developing and implementing a Green Hydrogen Credit Program and determine whether or not such a program would be effective in incentivizing green hydrogen production. The bill would have set requirements if CARB decides to develop the program and authorizes CARB to adopt a declining greenhouse gas allowance allocation schedule through December 31, 2030. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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