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The California Air Resources Board invites you to participate in a public workshop to discuss the Proposed Community Air Protection Incentives Guidelines (CAP Incentives Guidelines), updated from the 2024 CAP Incentives Guidelines.
“Phase II” revisions to the CAP Incentives Guidelines include updates to “Chapter 3: Program Administration” and appendices to better align with the recently updated Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program Guidelines (Moyer Guidelines). Staff also developed a new chapter to address woodsmoke reduction project types.
The public comment period for the CAP Incentives Guidelines begins on Tuesday April 1, 2025, and ends on Wednesday April 30, 2025. The public draft of the Proposed Community Air Protection Incentives Guidelines Chapter 3, appendices, and Woodsmoke Reduction Chapter can be found at the Community Air Protection Incentives webpage, and comments can be emailed to AB617incentives@arb.ca.gov.
The workshop will be held via Zoom webinar on the following date and time:
Date: Tuesday April 29, 2025
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. (PT)
Location: Teleconference
Please register in advance for the CAP Incentives Guidelines Public Workshop. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about how to join the webinar by computer or by telephone.
This meeting will be recorded. Approximately two weeks after the meeting date, a link to the recording will be made available and posted on the Community Air Protection Incentives Meetings and Workshops webpage.
Once finalized, staff will publish the final CAP Incentives Guidelines on the CAP Incentives website.
Purpose of the Workshop
Significant elements of CAP Incentives Program administration tie directly to those of the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program (Moyer Program). As a result, the CAP Incentives Guidelines have been updated to better align with the newly updated Moyer Guidelines. These updates include targeted revisions to Chapter 3 and Appendix A of the CAP Incentives Guidelines, which cover program administration and eligibility for Moyer Program projects funded with CAP Incentives, respectively. Additionally, a new chapter for woodsmoke reduction projects has been added to the revised CAP Incentives Guidelines to reflect community feedback and broaden the scope of eligible project categories.
Topics of discussion will include an overview of the updated and new chapters, draft language, and feedback obtained during the public comment period.
All program administrators and interested parties are invited to attend.
Background
The Community Air Protection Program was created by the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 617 (C. Garcia, Chapter 136, Statutes of 2017). It is one of the most essential tools CARB and air districts have to reduce air pollution emissions and exposures in neighborhoods most impacted by air pollution. AB 617 requires CARB and local air districts to work together with community members, community-based organizations, environmental justice organizations, state and local governments, regulated industries, and other key stakeholders to develop and implement Community Emission Reduction Programs (CERP) for each community in the Program. It has catalyzed new partnerships and deepened existing ones with overburdened communities and air districts through its community focused and equity-centered approach. The program is resulting in both substantial reductions in air pollution emissions and exposures in the communities that are closest to completing the majority of their CERP actions and other transformative changes in how air districts and CARB engage with communities.
A major pathway for implementing projects in these communities and reducing exposure to harmful pollution is the CAP Incentives Program. The Board approved the first iteration of the CAP Incentives Guidelines in May 2019, which included guidance for air districts to implement incentives projects to support the Community Air Protection Program. In October 2020, the Executive Officer – using authority delegated by the Board in May 2019 – approved a revision to the Guidelines to add a new Stationary Source and Community Identified Projects chapter, which provided a pathway for air districts to create new kinds of incentive projects in partnership with their AB 617 selected communities to address strategies outlined in the CERP.
Staff shared with the Board plans to revise the CAP Incentives Guidelines, again using delegated Executive Officer authority, and the 2024 CAP Incentives Guidelines were published in April 2024. These 2024 updates largely served as one of the three pathways to support additional communities to meet the goals of AB 617. Namely, they expanded eligible project types, especially for consistently nominated communities. They also added clarifying language to enhance flexibility, account for unique local approaches, and emphasize that all project categories are eligible for use statewide, except for the unique air district ability to create new project types to meet goals identified in approved CERPs for AB 617 selected communities. Finally, the 2024 Guidelines created new connections, partnerships, and outreach methods for these incentives, particularly centered around fostering communication and cooperation across and between air districts and communities. The next phase of revisions to the CAP Incentives Guidelines will further broaden the scope of eligible project categories by adding a chapter for woodsmoke reduction projects. Other updates in the second revision will include a targeted set of supplemental revisions to Chapter 3 and Appendix A, which ensure alignment between the CAP Incentives Program and Moyer Program, which published the updated Moyer Guidelines in October 2024.
Contact
If you have questions about the public meeting, please contact Audrey Odwuor, Air Pollution Specialist.
If you require a special accommodation or need this document in an alternate format (i.e., Braille, large print) or another language, please email AB 617 Incentives, as soon as possible. TTY/TDD/Speech to Speech users may dial 711 for the California Relay Service.
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