CARB

Three years after it became law in California, a plan to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020 was approved in early December 2008 by the Air Resources Board (ARB), a department of the California Environmental Protection Agency. In 2006 California’s Global Warming solutions Act (AB 32) became law, requiring the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. One of the regulations developed as a result of AB 32 is the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction (HDVGHG) regulation, also called the Tractor-Trailer Efficiency regulation. This regulation goes into effect starting January 1, 2010 and will impact California-based fleets as well as out-of-state registered vehicles that travel to and from the state.

These pages present detailed information on trailers affected, exemptions, compliance schedules, enforcement procedures and more, which will assist our customers and their operations in preparing for these changes.

What is CARB?
The California Air Resources Board, also known as (CARB) is the “clean air agency” in the government of California. Established in 1967 in the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board, the ARB is a department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency.

California is the only state that is permitted to have such a regulatory agency, since it is the only state that had one before the passage of the federal Clean Air Act. Other states are permitted to follow the CARB standards, or use the federal ones, but not set their own.

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.

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