California Air Resources Board

Summary

Allows a housing development project in 17 specified counties to receive added height and unlimited density if the project is located in an urbanized very low vehicle travel area, at least 80 percent of the units are restricted to lower income households, and no more than 20 percent are for moderate income households.

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Summary

Would have required projects and programs included in each Regional Transportation Improvement Program also be consistent with the most recently prepared applicable Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) and State and federal air quality standards. This bill also would have prohibited funds from local transportation tax measures passed after 2023 from being spent until the proposed transportation projects were included in the most recently adopted SCS, and would have prohibited State funds from being used for a project that increased single-occupancy vehicle capacity, unless the project was included in an adopted SCS and provided sufficient enforceable mitigation to ensure that it would not increase the emissions of greenhouse gases and the metropolitan planning organization found that the project helps advance other regional goals. Was not heard in the Senate Committee on Transportation.

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Summary

Would have imposed specified existing public school prohibitions and requirements, which are related to environmental conditions that must be considered before selecting a school site, on the selection of private and charter school sites. Held on suspense in Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Establishes, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the position of Deputy Secretary for Climate within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to assist in the oversight of California's workforce transition to a sustainable and equitable carbon neutral economy. The Deputy Secretary is to coordinate with relevant agencies, including CARB.

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Summary

Prohibits public agencies from imposing minimum automobile parking requirements on specified residential, commercial, and other developments located within one-half mile of public transit, unless the city or county makes written findings within 30 days stating that not imposing minimum parking would have a substantially negative impact on affordable housing or housing for special needs or elderly populations.

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Summary

Creates a ministerial, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)-exempt, time-limited approval process for multifamily housing developments on commercially zoned property, if projects pay prevailing wages to construction workers and meet specified affordable housing targets.

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Summary

Would have exempted from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) a project financed pursuant to the Infill Infrastructure Grant Program of 2019, and would make all legal actions, proceedings, and decisions undertaken or made pursuant to the program exempt from CEQA. Was not heard in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.

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Summary

Would have prohibited, notwithstanding any other law, State funds or personnel time from being used to fund or permit freeway widening projects in areas with high rates of pollution and poverty. Failed passage in the Senate Transportation Committee.

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Summary

Requires the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), by January 1, 2024, in collaboration with CARB, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and an expert advisory committee, to set targets for natural carbon sequestration and nature-based climate solutions for 2030, 2038, and 2045, which must be integrated into the Scoping Plan and other State policies. CARB must ensure that double counting of emissions reductions is avoided and emissions reduction projects and actions that receive State funding will not be eligible to generate credits under any market-based compliance mechanism. CARB, by January 1, 2025, must develop standard methods for State agencies to track GHG emissions and reductions, carbon sequestration, and, where feasible, additional benefits from natural and working lands over time. CNRA, by January 1, 2025, in collaboration with CARB, CalEPA, and CDFA, must review and update the Climate Smart Strategy to achieve the targets and post data on its website on progress made toward targets, including on State expenditures made to implement the targets.

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Summary

Requires air districts with a population over 1,000,000 to post all criteria pollution and toxic air contaminant permits on their websites, requires air districts’ annual AB 617  (Cristina García, Chapter 136, Statutes of 2017) report to describe how existing Community Emissions Reduction Programs (CERP) have been updated to align with the most current AB 617 Blueprint, allows an extra year for CERP development if air districts, CARB, and  majority of the persons who are designated by the district to participate in the development and adoption of the CERP agree to the extension, and codifies in statute that the Blueprint is the name of the AB 617 statewide strategy.

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