| California Air Resources Board | |
|---|---|
| Logo of the Air Resources Board | |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1967 |
| Preceding agencies | Bureau of Air Sanitation Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board |
| Headquarters | 1001 I Street Sacramento, California |
| Employees | 1,224.7[1] |
| Annual budget | $651.9 million[1] |
| Agency executive | Mary D. Nichols, Chairman |
| Parent agency | California Environmental Protection Agency |
| Website | |
| http://www.arb.ca.gov | |
The California Air Resources Board, also known as CARB or ARB, is the "clean air agency" in the government of California. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, CARB is a department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency. California is the only state that is permitted to have such a regulatory agency, since it is the only state that had one before the passage of the federal Clean Air Act. Other states are permitted to follow CARB standards, or use the federal ones, but not set their own.
The stated goals of CARB include attaining and maintaining healthy air quality; protecting the public from exposure to toxic air contaminants; and providing innovative approaches for complying with air pollution rules and regulations.
The governing board is made up of eleven members appointed by the state's governor. Half of the appointees are experts in professional and science fields such as medicine, chemistry, physics, meteorology, engineering, business, and law. Others represent the pollution control agencies of regional districts within California - Los Angeles region, San Francisco Bay area, San Diego, the San Joaquin Valley, and other districts.
Contents |
CARB has nine major divisions:[2]
The Planning and Technical Support Division assesses the extent of California's air quality problems and the progress being made to abate them, coordinates statewide development of clean air plans and maintains databases pertinent to air quality and emissions. The Division's technical support work provides a basis for clean air plans and CARB's regulatory programs. This support includes management and interpretation of emission inventories, air quality data, meteorological data and of air quality modeling.[3]
The Planning and Technical Support Division has five branches:
The Atmospheric Modeling & Support Section is one of three sections within the Modeling & Meteorology Branch. The other two sections are the Regional Air Quality Modeling Section and the Meteorology Section.[3]
The air quality and atmospheric pollution dispersion models[4][5] routinely used by this Section include a number of the models recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Section also uses models which were either developed by CARB or whose development was funded by CARB, such as:
Alternative Fuel Vehicle Incentive Program (also known as Fueling Alternatives) is funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), offered throughout the State of California and administered by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE).[8]
The CARB ZEV program was enacted by the Californian government to promote the use of zero emission vehicles.[9] The program goal is to reduce the pervasive air pollution affecting the main metropolitan areas in the state, particularly in Los Angeles, where prolonged pollution episodes are frequent.[10] The first ruling was the 1990 Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV I) Program.[10][11]
The first definition has its origin in the California ZEV rule, adopted as part of the 1990 Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV I) Program mandated by CARB.[10][11] The ZEV regulation has evolved and been modified several times since 1990, and several new partial or low-emission categories were created and defined as follows:[11][12][13][14]
The Low-Emission Vehicle Program is currently under revision to define modified ZEV regulations for 2015 models.[11][15][16]
The Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) requires oil refineries and distributors to ensure that the mix of fuel they sell in the Californian market meets the established declining targets for greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2-equivalent grams per unit of fuel energy sold for transport purposes. The 2007 Governor's LCFS directive calls for a reduction of at least 10% in the carbon intensity of California's transportation fuels by 2020. These reductions include not only tailpipe emissions but also all other associated emissions from production, distribution and use of transport fuels within the state. Therefore, California LCFS considers the fuel's full life cycle, also known as the "well to wheels" or "seed to wheels" efficiency of transport fuels.[10][17] The standard is also aimed to reduce the state’s dependence on petroleum, create a market for clean transportation technology, and stimulate the production and use of alternative, low-carbon fuels in California.[18]
On April 23, 2009, CARB approved the specific rules for the LCFS that will go into effect in January 2011.[19][20] The rule proposal prepared by its technical staff was approved by a 9-1 vote, to set the 2020 maximum carbon intensity reference value to 86 grams of carbon dioxide released per megajoule of energy produced.[18][21]
The PHEV Research Center was launched with fundings from the California Air Resources Board.
Some of the California Air Resources Board's regulations are controversial. Those opposed to the regulations suggest they create hardships for California farmers, poorer residents, and businesses.
Hien Tran, a research scientist at CARB, lied about obtaining a PhD from UC Davis. Tran holds a PhD from a distance learning program. This information came to light shortly before CARB implemented regulations related to diesel emissions in late 2009. Some of the information CARB used to develop the regulations originated in Tran's research. However, many scientific and public health organizations still acknowledge the need to regulate diesel emissions. Don Anair of the Union of Concerned Scientists states that "There's not an issue of whether [diesel emissions are] harming people."[22]
Other controversial measures include the requirement of light reflecting paint which some, including radio personality Rush Limbaugh, claim would have banned dark colored cars. Board officials have responded that such claims are "completely fallacious" and "unfounded rumor.".[23] Snopes declared the claim that CARB was banning black cars to be false. Reflective paint was considered as one possible solution to heating within cars though CARB chose not to mandate it until it could be made in a cost-effective way.[24]
Some claim that CARB has also planned to require metallic reflective window glazing on all cars that could affect the functionality of GPS units, cell phones, garage door openers, satellite radios etc. in 2009.[25] CARB in turn clarified that automakers will be allowed to choose from a variety of technologies to reduce heat in their cars, reflective glass being only one of many options. CARB also claims that cell phones were not affected by the reflective glass, no matter how much was used. GPS devices, GPS ankle bracelets, and electronic toll tags also functioned properly when placed within the windshield's "deletion window." [26]
Researchers at CARB miscalculated pollution levels in a scientific analysis used to toughen the state's clean-air standards. The pollution estimate in question was too high - by 340 percent, according to the California Air Resources Board. The estimate was a key part in the creation of a regulation adopted by the Air Resources Board in 2007. The Board attributes the overestimate to the fact that the calculations were performed before the current economic slump. Other researchers criticize the methodology used.[27]