The California Air Resources Board (CARB or ARB) is an agency of the government of California that aims to reduce air pollution. 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.
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. CARB has also been instrumental in driving innovation throughout the global automotive industry through programs such as its ZEV mandate.
One of CARB's responsibilities is to define vehicle emissions standards. California is the only state permitted to issue emissions standards under the federal Clean Air Act, subject to a waiver from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Other states may choose to follow CARB or the federal vehicle emission standards, but may not set their own.
Governance +California Air Resources Board leadership Name Affiliation Appointed Term ends Lauren Sanchez Chair Cliff Rechtschaffen Public Member John R. Balmes, MD Physician Hector De La Torre Assembly John Eisenhut Agriculture Paula Stigler Granados San Diego APCD Dean Florez Senate Corey A. Jackson, DSW Ex Officio (Assembly) Lynda Hopkins Bay Area AQMD Patricia Lock Dawson South Coast AQMD Henry Stern Ex Officio (Senate) Tania Pacheco-Werner, PhD San Joaquin Valley APCD Eric Guerra Sacramento Region Air Districts Member Susan Shaheen, PhD Automotive Member David Silva Air District Member March 2026 Diane Tavorkian Public CARB's governing board is made up of 16 members, with two non-voting members appointed for legislative oversight, one each by the California State Assembly and Senate. Twelve of the 14 voting members are appointed by the governor and are subject to confirmation by the Senate: six from local air districts, four air pollution subject-matter experts, two members of the public, and the Chair. The other two voting members are appointed from environmental justice committees by the Assembly and Senate.
Six of the governor-appointed board members are chosen from regional air pollution control or air quality management districts. Five represent specifically designated districts or groups of districts: the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, South Coast Air Quality Management District, and one of several designated Sacramento-area districts. The sixth is a board member from any other California air district: Bay Area AQMD (San Francisco Bay Area), currently Lynda Hopkins San Diego County APCD, currently Paula Stigler Granados, PhD San Joaquin Valley APCD, currently Tania Pacheco-Werner, PhD South Coast AQMD, currently Patricia Lock Dawson A Sacramento-area district: Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD, Yolo-Solano AQMD, Placer County APCD, Feather River AQMD, or El Dorado County AQMD, currently Eric Guerra A local air district not specifically named above, currently represented by David Silva Four governor-appointed board members are subject matter experts in specific fields: automotive engineering, currently Susan Shaheen, PhD; science, agriculture, or law, currently John Eisenhut; medicine, currently John R. Balmes, M.D.; and air pollution control. The governor is also responsible for two appointees from members of the public, and the final governor appointee is the Board's Chair. The first Chair of CARB was Dr. Arie Jan Haagen-Smit, who was previously a professor at the California Institute of Technology and started research into air pollution in 1948. Dr. Haagen-Smit is credited with discovering the source of smog in California, which led to the development of air pollution controls and standards. In honor of his legacy, CARB started the Haagen-Smit Clean Air Awards program in 2001 to recognize individuals who have had significant accomplishments in the field of air quality and climate change.
The two legislature-appointed board members work directly with communities affected by air pollution. They are currently Hector De La Torre and Dean Florez, appointed by the Assembly and Senate respectively.
Organizational structure CARB is a part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, an organization which reports directly to the Governor's Office in the Executive Branch of California State Government.
CARB has 15 divisions and offices:
Office of the Chair Executive Office Office of Community Air Protection Air Quality Planning and Science Division Emission Certification and Compliance Division Enforcement Division Industrial Strategies Division Mobile Source Control Division Mobile Source Laboratory Division Monitoring and Laboratory Division Research Division Sustainable Transportation and Communities Division Transportation and Toxics Division Office of Information Services Administrative Services Division
Air Quality Planning and Science Division
The 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.ARB's Planning and Technical Support Division , arb.ca.gov; accessed February 28, 2015.
The Air Quality Planning and Science Division has five branches:
Special Assessment Branch Emission inventory and Economic Analysis Branch Modeling & Meteorology Branch Air quality Planning Branch Mobile Source Analysis Branch Consumer Products and Air Quality Assessment Branch
Atmospheric Modeling and Support Section 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.
The air quality and atmospheric pollution dispersion models routinely used by this Section include a number of the models recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The section uses models which were either developed by CARB or whose development was funded by CARB, such as:
CALPUFFOriginally developed by the Sigma Research Company (SRC) under contract to CARB. Currently maintained by the TRC Solution Company under contract to the U.S. EPA. CALGRIDDeveloped by CARB and currently maintained by CARB. SARMAPDeveloped by CARB and currently maintained by CARB.
Role in reducing greenhouse gases
The California Air Resources Board is charged with implementing California's comprehensive suite of policies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. In part due to CARB, California has successfully decoupled greenhouse gas emissions from economic growth, and achieved its goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels four years earlier than the target date of 2020.
Alternative Fuel Vehicle Incentive Program 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).
Low-Emission Vehicle Program The CARB first adopted the Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV) Program standards in 1990 to address smog-forming pollutants, which covered automobiles sold in California from 1994 through 2003. An amendment to the LEV Program, known as LEV II, was adopted in 1999, and covered vehicles for the 2004 through 2014 model years. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission regulations were adopted in 2004 starting for the 2009 model year, and are named the "Pavley" standards after Assemblymember Fran Pavley, who had written Assembly Bill 1493 in 2002 to establish them. direct URL A second amendment, LEV III, was adopted in 2012, and covers vehicles sold from 2015 onward for both smog (superseding LEV II) and GHG (superseding Pavley) emissions. The rules created under the LEV Program have been codified as specific sections in Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations; in general, LEV I is § 1960.1; LEV II is § 1961; Pavley is § 1961.1; LEV III is § 1961.2 (smog-forming pollutants) and 1961.3 (GHG). The ZEV regulations, which were initially part of LEV I, have been broken out separately into § 1962.
For comparison, the average new car sold in 1965 would produce approximately of hydrocarbons over of driving; under the LEV I standards, the average new car sold in 1998 was projected to produce hydrocarbon emissions of over the same distance, and under LEV II, the average new car in 2010 would further reduce hydrocarbon emissions to .
Required labeling +Global warming and smog scores Globalwarmingscore (g/mi) Smogscore MY (2009) 2013–2017 MY 2018+ CALEV II EPATier 2 NMOG+(g/mi) CALEV III EPATier 3 NMOG+(g/mi) 10 <200 10 ZEV Bin 1 0.000 ZEV Bin 0 0.000 9 200–239 9 AT PZEV, PZEV — 0.030 — — 8 240–279 8 SULEV Bin 2 0.030 SULEV20 Bin 20 0.020 7 280–319 7 — Bin 3 0.085 SULEV30 Bin 30 0.030 6 320–359 6 — Bin 4 0.110 ULEV50 Bin 50 0.050 5 360–399 5 ULEV — 0.125 ULEV70 Bin 70 0.070 4 400–439 4 LEV Bin 5 0.160 — — 3 440–479 3 — Bin 6 0.190 – 0.200 ULEV125 Bin 125 0.125 2 480–519 2 — Bin 7 0.240 — — 1 ≥520 1 — Bin 8a 0.325 LEV160 Bin 160 0.160 Notes In 2005, the California State Assembly passed AB 1229, which required all new vehicles manufactured after January 1, 2009, to bear an Environmental Performance Label, which scored the emissions performance of the vehicle on two scales ranging between 1 (worst) and 10 (best): one for global warming (emissions of GHG such as , , air conditioning refrigerants, and ) and one for smog-forming compounds (non-methane organic gases (NMOG), , and ). direct URL The Federal Government followed suit and required a similar "smog score" on new vehicles sold starting in 2013; the standards were realigned for labels applied to 2018 model year vehicles.
Vehicle categories The LEV program has established several categories of reduced emissions vehicles. LEV I defined LEV and ULEV vehicles, and added TLEV and Tier 1 temporary classifications that would not be sold after 2003. LEV II added SULEV and PZEV vehicles, and LEV III tightened emission standards. The actual emission levels depend on the standards in use. LEV (Low Emission Vehicle): The least stringent emission standard for all new cars sold in California beyond 2004. ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle): 50% cleaner than the average new 2003 model year vehicle. SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle): These vehicles emit substantially lower levels of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter than conventional vehicles. They are 90% cleaner than the average new 2003 model year vehicle.