The Good - The Governor is Not Cutting CARB(s) This Holiday Season
The Bad - Newsom Appoints New Fish and Game Commissioner Week Before Controversial Western Joshua Tree CESA Listing Meeting
What We're Keeping Our Eyes On - Newsom’s Slate of 2023 Appointments
This Edition's Highlights
- The Good: Newsom has been consistently pushing CARB to advocate for bolder environmental regulation over the past several months.
- The Bad: The appointment of a new Fish and Game Commissioner right before a consequential CESA meeting in October threatens the possibility of the Western Joshua Tree being listed as endangered due to climate change.
- What We're Keeping Our Eyes On: There are a number of important appointments Newsom will be making to state regulatory agencies next year.
Over the last couple of months, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been busy moving forward regulations and plans that will improve air quality, slow the climate crisis, and save thousands of lives. The Governor’s involvement helped advance or strengthen many of these policies.
In September, CARB passed the State Implementation Plan Strategy (SIP Strategy). This is CARB’s plan to attain federal air quality standards and, if fully implemented, it would drastically reduce smog forming NOx and fine particulate matter emissions. Among other important commitments, the SIP Strategy included measures that would force the retirement of old diesel trucks and achieve 100% sales of zero emission space and water heaters by 2030.
In October, CARB held its first of two hearings on the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) Rule, which requires heavy-duty truck fleets to purchase minimum percentages of zero emission vehicles. The ACF rule will help implement the Governor’s 2020 executive order to transition 100% of heavy-duty trucks on California’s roads to zero emission by 2045. At the hearing, CARB asked staff to strengthen the rule in line with Sierra Club California’s advocacy. CARB will vote on this rule early next year.
This month, CARB adopted amendments to the In-Use Off-Road Diesel-Fuel Fleets Rule. These amendments to an existing rule will require the industry to phase out the oldest and dirtiest construction equipment in California. CARB also held its first of two hearings on the In-Use Locomotive regulation, which will finally curb a significant amount of locomotive emissions in California. Board members will decide on whether to approve this rule in Spring 2023.
Finally, earlier in November CARB released its final update to the 2022 Scoping Plan, which the Board will consider in its final board meeting of the year next month. The updated Plan is a marked improvement from the May draft, as it now calls for expanded renewable energy, cleaner homes and buildings, no new gas plants and a 2035 emission goal for the electric sector as a whole. These changes were, in large part, due to Governor Newsom’s July letter to CARB asking the agency to “up the game” on climate action.
CARB continues to be critical to California achieving its climate goals and complying with federal air quality standards. In these hectic last few months, the Governor has been an important ally in ensuring that the state’s chief air regulators remain bold and effective.
For the second time this year the Fish and Game Commission declined to make a final determination on the western Joshua Tree listing. The first time occurred in June when the Commission reached a stalemate after a tied 2-2 vote over whether or not to list this iconic species as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) – in part due to a vacancy on the five-person commission. The second time was at its most recent meeting on October 12th.
Just one week before the October meeting where the Commission had planned to revisit the issue, Governor Newsom announced the appointment of Anthony Williams to fill the vacant seat on the Commission. Commissioner Williams indicated he would prefer the Commission again delay making a final decision, and that he would not be comfortable supporting listing the western Joshua Tree under CESA at the time of the October meeting. Citing the need for additional time for the new Commissioner to fully review the record, for CDFW to conduct additional outreach to Tribal nations, and to evaluate alternatives to CESA, the Commission decided to again delay a final decision on the western Joshua Tree listing.
The western Joshua Tree faces the threat of extinction by the end of the century due to the impacts of climate change, increasing risk of wildfire, and land development. In 2020, the Fish and Game Commission granted temporary protections to the western Joshua Tree as a candidate species under the CESA. If listed, the western Joshua Tree would be the first species protected under CESA primarily due to climate change. This would set a precedent to protect other species from climate change impacts in upcoming years – a critical tool for ensuring a thriving future for our state, and ensuring California achieves our goal of protecting 30% of our lands and waters by 2030.
The Commission instead heard an update from CDFW on its efforts to conduct additional tribal consultation and outreach, and provide information on a legislative alternative to listing in the form of a conservation plan. The Commission requested this additional outreach and information in June after some Commissioners made statements questioning the political motivations of the peer reviewers and whether CESA is the appropriate tool to address the issue, and advocated for a legislative solution rather than focusing on the weight of the science and the scope of the Commission’s statutory responsibility.
CDFW Director Bonham reported that since June, the agency had sent a letter and made phone calls to California tribes, held a listening session with tribal representatives, and invited additional written comments by tribal governments on the listing. CDFW did not prepare a presentation of a possible conservation plan or legislative alternative to listing the western Joshua Tree under CESA.
The western Joshua Tree listing will be on the Fish and Game Commission agenda again at their February meeting. Until then, the western Joshua Tree remains protected as a candidate species. In the interim, the Commission and CDFW will continue to conduct additional outreach to Tribal nations to ensure more of their voices are heard.
We appreciate the Commission and the Department's efforts to engage in a collaborative dialogue with Tribes in California thus far. We support and encourage the state to engage in early, often, and continuous government-to-government consultation on this and other pertinent matters, and expect that it will be done in a meaningful and comprehensive way.
The Governor’s ability to appoint individuals to state regulatory agencies, commissions, boards, and conservancies is one of the most important ways the position influences environmental, climate, natural resources, and energy policy.
In 2023, there are a number of critical appointments up at the California Air Resources Board, California Coastal Commission, California Energy Commission, and the State Water Board that will determine the progress of many efforts that Sierra Club California and other environmental groups are engaged in at those forums. This includes the Water Board’s Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan, the Energy Commission’s work to decarbonize California homes and buildings, and the Coastal Commission's work to protect the state’s pristine coastal lands and waters.
Our staff is hard at work ensuring that these open seats are filled with environmentally friendly folks who will put California’s love for the environment into action by reigning in the fossil fuel industry, holding polluters accountable, protecting communities and ecosystems, and voting with the environment. If you’re interested in learning more about these opportunities, visit the Governor’s website here.
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