California lawmakers trying to leave their mark in an era of affordability politics have their sights trained on the state’s powerful air quality regulator — again.
This time, their target is a state law that requires agencies to produce economic reports detailing the effects of regulations with expected impacts of $50 million or more. This might include costs acquired when businesses hire compliance officers, for example, or reduced health care bills in polluted communities.
This is a threshold most often crossed by the California Air Resources Board, so this law often applies to them. (A 2024 RAND study found that CARB submitted 28 reports between 2014 and 2022, 21 more than the next closest agency.)
Republican lawmakers have introduced a half-dozen bills this year that would impose more rigorous requirements on CARB to publicize the impact of climate and pollution rules on residents’ pocketbooks and give the Legislature final sign-off before they take effect.
