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The California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) will conduct a public meeting at the date and time noted below to consider approval of the first update to the Assembly Bill (AB) 617 Community Air Protection Program Statewide Strategy (Blueprint 2.0).
Date: October 26, 2023
Time: No earlier than 4:00 p.m.
Location: California Environmental Protection Agency
California Air Resources Board | Byron Sher Auditorium
1001 I Street Sacramento, California 95814
Remote
Option: Zoom
This public meeting may continue at 9:00 a.m., on October 27, 2023. Please consult the public agenda, which will be posted ten days before the October 26, 2023, Board Meeting, for important details, including the day on which this item will be considered and how the public can participate via Zoom if they choose to be remote.
Background
The Board will consider approval of the update to the AB 617 Statewide Strategy, also known as the Community Air Protection Program Blueprint 2.0 (Blueprint 2.0).
California’s air quality programs continue to significantly improve public health statewide through various measures such as regional air quality planning, advancements in technology-based solutions, and risk reduction efforts near industrial facilities. However, despite these efforts, certain communities, particularly low-income and communities of color, still experience environmental and health inequities from air and other forms of pollution. AB 617 (C. Garcia, Stats. 2017, Ch. 136) was signed into law in July 2017. AB 617 requires new community-focused action to reduce health-harming emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden. CARB established the Community Air Protection Program (Program) to implement AB 617.
AB 617 requires that the Board "shall adopt a statewide strategy to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden.” (Health and Safety Code § 44391.2(b).) The statewide strategy, also referred to as the Program Blueprint, was adopted by the Board in September 2018, and guides AB 617 implementation. The statute requires CARB to update the statewide strategy every five years.
As part of the initial effort to develop concepts for the Blueprint update from environmental justice perspectives, CARB supported the development of the People's Blueprint. The AB 617 Consultation Group's discussion of the People's Blueprint over 12 months from September 2021 to September 2022 began a robust and innovative engagement process to develop Blueprint 2.0. Engagement and outreach efforts to inform the Blueprint 2.0 revision began in Summer of 2022 and continued into September 2023 through focused small group discussions, three public workshops, and discussions in public meetings with the AB 617 Consultation Group. A Draft Blueprint 2.0 was released on June 2, 2023, and was open for public comment until July 31, 2023.
Further inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to Andrea Juarez, Air Pollution Specialist, at (951) 542-3222 or Brian Moore, Air Resources Supervisor I, at (916) 264-9721
Written Comment Period & Comment Submittal
CARB released the Final Draft Blueprint 2.0 to the public on September 29, 2023, and CARB staff will present it to the Board at this meeting. Documents related to this item can be found at CARB's Website. Please contact Bradley Bechtold, Regulations Coordinator, at Bradley.Bechtold@arb.ca.gov or (279) 208-7266 if you need physical copies of the documents.
Interested members of the public may present comments orally or in writing during the meeting and may provide comments by postal mail or by electronic submittal before the meeting. To be considered by the Board, written comments not submitted during the meeting, must be received no later than October 16, 2023, and addressed to the following:
Clerks' Office, California Air Resources Board
1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 95814
Please note that under the California Public Records Act (Government Code section 6250 et seq.), your written and oral comments, attachments, and associated contact information (e.g., your address, phone, email, etc.) become part of the public record and can be released to the public upon request.
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