The California Air Resources Board is considering additional ways to reduce emissions, including indirect-source rules, a CARB deputy executive officer told state lawmakers at an Oct. 20 hearing. Christopher Grundler said federal actions could leave California with a significant gap in the emissions reductions needed to meet its goals. Listen to the California legislative hearing audio.
Grundler said CARB is evaluating how indirect-source rules could work beyond existing limited applications in the heavy-duty sector. He did not identify a rulemaking timeline, draft language or formal decision to pursue new rules.
The hearing also included CARB’s response to reporting about alleged fraud in the agency’s heavy-duty incentive program. Grundler defended the program’s safeguards and said 93% of the vehicles supported through the program were produced by firms that remain healthy businesses. The hearing record reviewed for this story does not include the underlying reporting, complaint, audit or investigative documents, and the allegations have not been independently established here.
CARB has reported that the program funded more than 16,000 clean heavy-duty trucks, most of them electric, which have traveled more than 340 million miles, according to the agency’s testimony. Those figures and the agency’s characterization of its oversight are statements made at the hearing, not an independent audit of the program.
The remarks signal a possible regulatory response to federal changes, but any new indirect-source rules would require further action. CARB’s next steps, including the legal basis, affected sources and timing, were not specified in the hearing.
