California Air Resources Board

Summary

Would establish the Smart Climate Agriculture Program to, among other things, provide grants to persons farming on small to midsize farms to transition from raising livestock or growing feed crops to plant-based agriculture. Was not heard in the Assembly Agriculture Committee.

View full bill text here

Summary

Would require CARB to develop and adopt, prior to January 1, 2024, regulations to establish greenhouse gas emissions reporting standards and disclosure requirements for “covered corporations” whose annual revenues exceed $100,000,000, are located in the State, and are a publicly traded domestic or foreign corporation. The bill also would require CARB to develop and adopt regulations on the same timeframe to require disclosure of the potential financial impacts of, and any risk management strategies relating to the physical and transition risks associated with climate change, establish a minimum social cost of carbon, and develop climate scenario analyses. The bill would require “covered corporations” to provide its disclosures and report annually beginning January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

View full bill text here

Summary

Would have required CARB, in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, to conduct a comprehensive health analysis as part of the Scoping Plan and integrate the analysis into the Scoping Plan. The bill would have specified the components of the health analysis, including specific factors impacting health, an analysis of health impacts of outcomes associated with the Scoping Plan, and quantitative assessment of nontrivial health impacts. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

View full bill text here

Summary

Would require CARB, when updating the Scoping Plan, to identify a 2045 climate goal, with interim milestones, for the State’s natural and working lands, and identify policies to help achieve the 2045 climate goal. The bill would also require CARB, by January 1, 2024, to develop standard methods for State agencies to consistently track greenhouse gas emissions reductions, carbon sequestration, and other benefits from natural and working lands. Moved to the Senate Inactive File.

View full bill text here

Summary

Authorizes the regents of the University of California, subject to availability of funds, to establish the California-China Climate Institute, as specified, and in partnership with the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development at Tsinghua University and other entities and institutions in China and California. The bill requires the institute to foster collaboration to inform and shape climate policy, and advance the goals of the Paris Agreement, advance joint policy research on major climate issues, support high-level dialogue on specific climate issues, and provide training to specified entities to advance climate and environmental policies.

View full bill text here

Summary

Requires the California Transportation Commission (CTC), in coordination with CARB, California Public Utilities Commission, California Energy Commission, and the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development, to develop a Clean Freight Corridor Efficiency Assessment (Assessment) and incorporate the recommendations into their respective funding programs for freight infrastructure and technology. The bill also codifies existing CTC guidelines for eligible projects for the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program to include the Assessment's findings and requires the findings and recommendations to be included in the California Transportation Plan and the California Freight Mobility Plan. 

View full bill text here

Summary

Would eliminate the 25 percent Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund continuous appropriation to the High-Speed Rail Authority on June 30, 2022 and instead annually transfers the amount to the Salton Sea Restoration Fund beginning 2022–23 fiscal year. Was not heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. 

View full bill text here

Summary

Would prohibit the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection from requiring applicants for a grant that receives funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to consider the greenhouse gas emissions impacts of vegetation management projects pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act. Was not heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. 

View full bill text here

Summary

Would have required the Strategic Growth Council (SGC), in consultation with the Department of Conservation and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), to develop and implement the Resilient Merced County Incentive Pilot Program (pilot program) to assist the County of Merced to use a scenario planning tool to estimate and account for the countywide greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and carbon sequestration potential of different land management, restoration, and conservation activities.  The bill would have also required SGC to implement the pilot program as a component of the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation and consistent with the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. Additionally, the bill would have required SGC, in collaboration with DOC and CARB, to estimate and monitor the GHG reductions, carbon sequestration, and benefits associated with the County of Merced’s scenario planning pursuant to the pilot program. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

View full bill text here

Summary

Among other things, this bill requires the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in consultation with CARB and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2026, outcomes of the funds spent pursuant to Section 45 of SB 901 (Dodd, Chapter 626, Statutes of 2018), including an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions associated with wildfire and forest management activities. 

View full bill text here