California has the longest established greenhouse gas (GHG) legislation in the United States, implemented by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) under the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32, 2006). This paper will provide an overview of the nine discrete early action measures under AB 32 that were included in the 2008 CARB Scoping Plan, approved in September 2007, and CARB has evolved those into current schema we see today. The nine early action measures include: • December 2007 - Green Ports – Ship Electrification at Ports • June 2008 – Reduction of High GWP Gases in Consumer Products • December 2008 – SmartWay – Heavy-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction (Aerodynamic Efficiency) • February 2009 – Reduction of Perfluorocarbons from Semiconductor Manufacturing • January 2009 – Improved Landfill Gas Capture • January 2009 – Reduction of HFC-134a from Do-It-Yourself Motor Vehicle Servicing • January 2009 – SF6 Reductions from the Non-Electric Sector • March 2009 – Tire Inflation Program • March 2009 Low Carbon Fuel Standard This paper will also discuss the regulations and programs that were adopted as a result of these aforementioned proposed early action measures. In addition, this paper will look at the CARB’s AB32 created two primary pathways for reporting/reducing GHG emissions: • A Mandatory Reporting Program (MRP), which started in 2008, with the CARB Regulation for the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Reporting Regulation). • In 2012, the Cap and Trade (C&T) Program was developed with the Regulation for the California Cap on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Market-Based Compliance Mechanisms (C&T Regulation). The paper will summarize the key elements of each program, what each has accomplished thus far, and the future of the program. By looking where AB32 started to the current CARB regulatory schema will demonstrate the ever changing regulatory drive in California to report and reduce GHG emissions. It will also show that CARB’s regulation has created financial incentives for companies outside of California to innovate, created low carbon fuels, and generate carbon offsets.
