California Air Resources Board

Would have required CARB, in administering the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, to deem a Tier 2 pathway application certified if CARB does not take action within 15 days or receipt, or if the application has been pending for more than 60 days as of January 1, 2024. The bill also would have required CARB to revise the alternative diesel fuel regulations to authorize the sale of alternative diesel fuel that contains up to 20% biodiesel by volume. Was not heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

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Summary 

Would have added to the definition of a Local Education Agency (LEA), for the purposes of Proposition 98 funding, a private contractor with ownership of title for a schoolbus that is used to provide transportation services for a school district, county office of education, or charter school. This bill would have also required CARB to establish a minimum time period for a private contractor to provide transportation services to an LEA with a zero-emission schoolbus purchased using the specified grant money and to develop a depreciation schedule that determines the amount of money to be repaid to CARB by the private contractor, if the private contractor ceases to contract with an LEA to provide transportation services before the minimum time period elapses. Was not heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee. 

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Summary 

Would have imposed an additional annual $4 charge on each motor vehicle registered in the state to be collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with the revenues deposited into the Air Quality Improvement Fee Fund, which the bill would have created. The bill would have continuously appropriated the revenues in the fund to the DMV for distribution upon request to air districts based upon the amount of the charges collected from motor vehicles registered within each air district. This bill would have required 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 CARB to convene a youth advisory council of 35 members ages 16 to 21 representing each local air district to advise CARB on air pollution issues that impact youth in California. CARB would have been required to conduct public outreach to encourage applications and do additional outreach efforts in areas disproportionately impacted by pollution in each local air district, as well as prioritize those disproportionately impacted by pollution in membership. The bill would have authorized the council to conduct research and other activities with administrative support from CARB. Amended to deal with judicial officer disqualifications.

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Summary

Would have enacted the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, Clean Energy, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by the voters, would have authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $15,995,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, clean energy, and workforce development programs. Was not heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

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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 

This bill requires CARB to authorize public agency utilities to purchase replacements for traditional utility-specialized vehicles that are at the end of life, as determined by CARB in consultation with public agency utilities, when needed to maintain reliable service and respond to major foreseeable events, including, but not limited to, severe weather, wildfires, natural disasters, and physical attacks, without regard to the model year of the vehicle being replaced. The bill also states that in determining the daily usage of a medium- or heavy-duty vehicle, a public agency utility may provide comprehensive usage data for a class of vehicles that does not exclusively rely on the lowest mileage reading and does not exclude the highest usage days.

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Summary 

Requires CARB, in administering the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, to deem a Tier 2 pathway application certified if CARB does not take action within 15 days or receipt, or if the application has been pending for more than 60 days as of January 1, 2024. The bill also requires CARB to revise the alternative diesel fuel regulations to authorize the sale of alternative diesel fuel that contains up to 20 percent biodiesel by volume. Was not heard in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

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Summary 

Enacts the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2024, which, if approved by voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $15.995 billion to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, clean energy, and workforce development programs. As related to CARB, the bond allocates $125 million to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, who would consult with CARB and California Natural Resources Agency to fund projects that provide long-term capital infrastructure to convert forest and other vegetative waste removed for wildfire mitigation to uses that maximize reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions, provide local air quality benefits, and increase local community resilience against climate change impacts. This bill also allocates $500 million to the California Energy Commission, in coordination with CARB and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, for grants to assist in obtaining, or as a match fund for, federal grants related to regional hubs in the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the federal Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Was not heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Water 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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