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California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff invite you to participate in a public workshop to inform potential updates to California’s next round of light-duty vehicle emissions standards for the 2030s and beyond.
Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Location: Virtual Zoom Webinar
The workshop will be held online only. Please register for the Zoom webinar. After you register, a confirmation email will be sent with information about how to join the Zoom webinar by computer or telephone. The meeting will be conducted in English with live Spanish interpretation.
The meeting will be recorded. The workshop recording and other materials will be posted on the Drive Forward Light-duty Vehicle Program website.
Workshop Information
California’s rules have driven major innovations that have helped significantly reduce vehicle emissions. Thanks to these efforts, today’s average new car produces over 99% less smog‑forming pollution than cars from the 1970s. Still, California suffers from some of the worst air pollution in the nation. For example, 5 of the 10 most polluted cities in the U.S. are in California, and two air basins in California, South Coast and San Joaquin Valley, are designated as in “extreme nonattainment” for ozone, which means about half of all Californians live in areas with air that is dangerously polluted. These communities face higher rates of asthma and heart and lung disease, which contribute to shorter life expectancy. Meanwhile, climate change is increasing wildfires, drought, floods, heat events, and the ease with which ozone and particulate matter form in California. Hence, more work is needed to reduce emissions in California.
Staff will discuss and seek input on potential updates to:
- Criteria air pollutant (e.g., ozone and particulate matter), greenhouse gas, and toxic emissions standards
- Certification
- Zero-emission vehicle requirements
- Environmental analysis
- Next steps and rulemaking timeline
CARB staff also welcome additional ideas or perspectives and suggestions to help strengthen the program.
Environmental Analysis
At the workshop, staff will provide an overview of CARB’s process for preparing the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) and its content required under the California Environmental Quality Act. Staff welcome public input at the workshop on the appropriate scope and content of the EIA at the beginning of our process. A draft of the EIA will be released for public review and comment when the staff report is released.
Contact
Please contact cleancars@arb.ca.gov if you have questions about the workshop.
If you require a special accommodation or need this document in an alternate format (i.e., Braille, large print) or another language, please email Natalie Reavey by October 10, 2025. TTY/TDD/Speech to Speech users may dial 711 for the California Relay Service.
Public Comment Period
Public comments on workshop topics will be taken October 21-November 21, 2025.
Public comments must be submitted using the workshop comment submittal form by 11:59 p.m., Friday, November 21, 2025. Submitted comments can be viewed on CARB’s public comments webpage.
Background
California’s Light-duty Vehicle Emissions Standards
California’s motor vehicle emissions regulations are a story of firsts:
- California began regulating motor vehicle emissions in the 1950s, before the federal government, which came later in 1965.
- CARB established the nation’s first tailpipe emissions standards in 1966.
- The first catalytic converters were introduced in California beginning in the 1970s, revolutionizing the ability to reduce smog-forming emissions from cars.
- In 1988, California required vehicle manufacturers to install emission-system monitoring in new vehicles sold in the state—two years before Congress mandated these systems nationwide.
- By 1990, CARB approved the most stringent smog-forming exhaust standards in the nation and the world’s first regulation that required automakers to produce an increasing number of zero-emission vehicles.
- In 2004, CARB adopted the nation’s first greenhouse gas emissions standards and continued to reduce smog-forming emissions for cars.
- In 2012, CARB was the first to combine smog-forming and greenhouse gas emissions regulations with zero-emission vehicle requirements into one package called Advanced Clean Cars I.
- In 2022, CARB adopted the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations to establish the next phase of regulations in the nation’s first rule to require all new car sales to be zero‑emission models (including some plug-in hybrids) by 2035.
Current Status
In spring 2025, the federal government took unprecedented illegal actions purporting to invalidate California’s Clean Air Act waiver for enforcement of the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations. California continues to certify motor vehicles and engines that are sold in California, consistent with the law.
In response, California filed suit to challenge the federal government’s unlawful actions. That case is proceeding. Additionally, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-27-25 on June 12, 2025. This order reaffirms the state’s commitment to cut harmful air pollution from transportation and protect public health, including by directing CARB to begin work on its next round of mobile source emissions standards consistent with State and federal law to reduce criteria air pollutant, greenhouse gas, and toxic emissions. Per the Executive Order, CARB will consider standards that are “an additional measure to build on existing regulations or as an alternative measure for deployment if the federal disapprovals of the Advanced Clean Cars II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and Heavy-Duty Omnibus waivers are not invalidated in court.”
This workshop is an early step in CARB’s efforts to carry out a new phase of work, separate from and beyond the standards illegally targeted by the federal government, that includes the next round of light-duty vehicle emissions standards, as outlined in the executive order.
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