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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff invite you to participate in a public workshop on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, to provide input on CARB’s development of California’s Drive-Forward light-duty vehicle program for 2030s and beyond.
Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Time: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Pacific Time)
Webinar: Zoom Webinar (Register)
Location: Sierra Hearing Room
1001 I Street, 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
This workshop will be held in a hybrid format and can be attended in-person or virtually via Zoom webinar. Please register for the webinar in advance. After you register, a confirmation email will be sent with information about how to join the Zoom webinar by computer or telephone. A recording of the workshop and other materials will be posted on the program website.
Workshop Information
CARB staff welcomes any ideas, perspectives, and suggestions to help strengthen the program. At the workshop, staff will discuss and seek input on several topics, including:
- Zero-emission vehicle regulation stringency
- Light- and medium-duty criteria air pollutant standards
- Light-duty greenhouse gas standards
- Zero-emission vehicle certification
- Window sticker requirements
- Request for alternatives for the Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment
- Next Steps
Important Note on Language Interpretation
Due to budget constraints, we are updating our process for providing language interpretation services (e.g., Spanish, American Sign Language, etc.) at public meetings. In accordance with the Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act (Government Code 7290-7299.8), language interpretation will be provided when at least 5% of anticipated attendees request such services. Registered participants may request services on behalf of others in advance to ensure their needs are being met. You, or someone on your behalf, must request language interpretation services from us at least 14 calendar days before the meeting date. Language interpretation can be requested via registration or by emailing cleancars@arb.ca.gov.
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 Dan Garrett by February 13, 2026. 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 from February 24 through March 17, 2026.
Public comments must be submitted using the workshop comment submittal form by 11:59 p.m., Friday March 17, 2026. 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 actions claiming to invalidate California’s Clean Air Act waivers for enforcement of three vehicle-related clean air and climate programs.
In response, California filed suit to challenge the federal government’s unlawful actions. That case is ongoing. 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.”
Drive Forward Initiative
The Drive Forward initiative reaffirms California’s leadership in clean air and climate policy, setting the course for the next phase of the state’s light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle programs.
Drive Forward continues California’s commitment to meet state and national air quality standards, achieve climate and clean air goals, and protect public health through strong vehicle standards. Drive Forward will support the development of light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicle regulations, incentive programs, outreach and education, and supportive programs and policies that enable clean vehicle use.
This effort will further advance the clean technologies available today to ensure California meets its air quality and climate obligations.
Building on the October 2025 Drive Forward Light-Duty Vehicle Program workshop, this upcoming workshop will be a continuation of 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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