By Undersigned Organizations, Politico

Chair Sanchez:
We, the undersigned organizations, write to you today to voice our significant concerns with the Proposed Amendments to the Regulation for the California Cap on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Market-Based Compliance Mechanisms (Proposed Amendments), released by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on April 14, 2026. The Proposed Amendments are expected to be considered by CARB at its May 28-29, 2026, monthly meeting.

In 2025, our organizations, representing affordable housing, local government, transportation / transit, environmental, environmental justice, and labor interests from across the state, supported the efforts of the Newsom Administration and Legislature to extend the Cap-andTrade program beyond 2030. We supported the proposed early action on the extension, as we understood the importance of the program to meeting California’s long-term climate and air quality goals and believed state officials’ public statements that such action was immediately necessary to stabilize the market and continue the state’s investment from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) in key climate programs. As the effort gained traction in AB 1207 (Irwin) and SB 840 (Limon), we supported the legislation and defended the bills against attacks from stakeholders, including the industry sectors subject to the program. We were pleased to see that the enacted legislation, consistent with our objectives, extended the program through 2045, renamed the program the “Cap-and-Invest” program, and maintained continuous appropriations from the GGRF for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Strategies Program (AHSC), Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP), and Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) while also committing – for the first time – ongoing funding for air quality initiatives in AB 617 communities.