Union of Concerned Scient ists • http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_cal i fornia
2397 Shattuck Avenue, suite 203 Berkeley, CA 94704 510.843.1872 \ FAX: 510.843.3785
AB 32 was passed by the state legislature on August 31,
2006. Governor Schwarzenegger has indicated that he
will sign the bill into law. AB 32 sets in place the
nation’s most comprehensive, economy-wide global
warming emissions reduction program.
AB 32 requires the state’s global warming emissions to
be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. This reduction will
be accomplished through an enforceable statewide cap
on global warming emissions that will be phased in
starting in 2012.
In order to effectively implement the cap, AB 32 directs
the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop
appropriate regulations and establish a mandatory
reporting system to track and monitor global warming
emissions levels. CARB is also the agency that will
enforce the new regulations.
Mandatory Emissions Reporting
By January 1, 2008, CARB must adopt regulations
creating a statewide global warming emissions reporting
and monitoring system. The largest emitters will be
required to report their emissions on an annual basis.
Setting the Cap
Also by January 1, 2008, CARB must determine what
the level of global warming emissions was in 1990.
That level will become the emissions cap that must be
met by 2020.
The Details—A Plan for Making Real Reductions
By June 30, 2007, CARB must develop a list of early
action measures to be adopted by January 1, 2010 that
can reduce emissions in the short term.
By January 1, 2009, CARB must prepare a plan for how
the 2020 cap can be met in the most cost-effective
manner. This plan may include a recommendation for a
“cap and trade” system, in which carbon emissions
“credits” in the amount of the cap are distributed and
carbon emitters may buy and sell these credits.
If a cap and trade system is developed, the system must
be designed to prevent any increase in the emission of
toxic or criteria air pollution.
CARB will hold a series of public workshops on the plan
and give interested parties a chance to make comments.
Implementing Regulations
On or before January 1, 2011, CARB must officially put
into place specific regulations to achieve the global
warming emission reductions. These regulations must be
in effect by the start of 2012.
The bill requires CARB to ensure that regulations to
reduce global warming emissions meet several criteria.
The regulations must:
• not disproportionately impact low-income
communities;
• complement, and not interfere with, efforts to
achieve and maintain federal and state air quality
standards and to reduce toxic air pollution
emissions;
• minimize leakage (where reductions in global
warming emissions within California are offset
by increases in emissions outside the state);
• ensure that global warming emissions reductions
are real, permanent, quantifiable, and verifiable,
and enforceable by CARB; and
• count only emissions reductions that are new—
not those that would otherwise occur.
The regulations may also include setting declining
annual emissions reduction targets, starting in 2012.
Emergency Provisions
The bill includes compromise language that states “in
the event of extraordinary circumstances, catastrophic
events, or threat of significant economic harm, the
Governor may adjust the applicable deadlines for
individual regulations, or for the state in the aggregate,
to the earliest feasible date after that deadline. The
adjustment period may not exceed one year unless the
Governor makes an additional adjustment…”
The language could be more tightly worded to use the
provision only in extreme conditions, but political
accountability will make it hard for future Governors to
abuse it.
AB 32: Global Warming Solutions Act
As Passed by the California Legislature on August 31, 2006