January 30, 2025

There has been significant reporting about California Air Resources Board (CARB) withdrawing Clean Air Act waiver requests with the federal EPA just before the end of the Biden Administration. Some of this reporting has suggested that CARB’s withdrawal of the waiver requests signals the end the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation (ACF); that is not correct. CARB has indicated since they sought the waiver in late 2023 that they have the authority to enforce the ACF regulations on state and local government fleets. County fleet managers should not assume that they can cease ACF compliance activities. However, by limiting the applicability of this rule to state and local governments, the program may be eligible for a local government to file a test claim for reimbursement with the Commission on State Mandates for costs incurred to comply with the requirements of the ACF regulations.

What CARB was Seeking?

The federal Clean Air Act of 1967 allows CARB to seek authority from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce its own emission standards for most vehicles.  Since 1967, CARB has sought and been granted a large array of waivers from the federal EPA to develop stricter emissions standards for vehicles. On January 13, CARB withdrew three waiver requests that were pending at the federal EPA:

• The ACF requirements for high priority private and federal fleets,
• The In-Use Locomotive Standards (for railroad locomotives), and
• The Commercial Harbor Craft regulations.

It is unclear if CARB will attempt to enforce the ACF regulations on privately held vehicles that the regulations which were not covered by the waiver they withdrew.

What Now?

CARB’s withdrawal of the waiver introduces the possibility that the ACF regulations could qualify as a reimbursable state-mandated program. New programs or requirements are not eligible for reimbursement from the state if the new program or requirement applies equally to the public and private sector. To this end, in their ACF rulemaking documents, CARB held the regulation was not a reimbursable state mandate, partially because it applied, “to all individuals and entities that own or operate regulated vehicles[i].” However, the withdrawal of the waivers for most private fleets, coupled with the uncertainty surrounding whether CARB will enforce the ACF regulations on private vehicles, undermines a key assumption supporting their position that the regulation is not reimbursable. Learn more about the qualifications and exemptions for state-reimbursable mandated programs here: What’s a Mandate: Learning Through Examples

Moving Forward

• County fleets should continue to comply with the ACF rules as well as the other in-place regulations.
• CSAC will continue to work with CARB, the Governor’s office, and the legislature to make improvements to ACF to ease implementation.
• CSAC is monitoring CARB’s enforcement actions with the ACF with stakeholders to evaluate if the ACF could be a reimbursable state mandate.

Want to Learn More about State Mandates?

Local agencies file “test claims” with the Commission on State Mandates to determine if a new law is a reimbursable state-mandated program. The Commission is a quasi-judicial body composed of seven members, representing the state administration, the state’s constitutional offices, local elected positions, and a member of the public. The test claim includes a precise enumeration of actual costs to comply with the law. Local governments often find that significant resources are required to complete the process and reach a successful determination—and mandated programs are not eligible for reimbursement until years after the mandate has been signed into law.

The Local Agencies – Fiscal Year 2023-24 State-Mandated Cost Programs webpage lists all of the programs for which the Commission on State Mandates has determined are eligible for counties to submit claims for reimbursement to the State Controller’s Office. There are also several programs that were formerly eligible for reimbursement from the state that have been suspended or eliminated. In most cases, counties are no longer required to implement or carry out these programs. Annually, the State Controller’s Office publishes a State-Mandated Program Cost Report of Unpaid Claims and Deficiencies letter and report that details funds owed to local governments for costs incurred to implement state-mandated programs (often referred to as the backlog of unpaid claims).

Lastly, there are many existing state programs and new laws annually that counties are required to implement and comply with that do not include sufficient accompanying resources from state. Counties are not reimbursed for the costs to comply with these requirements either because they are not eligible for reimbursement pursuant to state law (see: What’s a Mandate: Learning Through Examples), or, because the window of opportunity to file an initial claim (“test claim”) for reimbursement with the Commission on State Mandates was missed.

Please also see the CSAC State Mandates issue brief for more information and contact Jessica Sankus, Principal Fiscal and Policy Analyst with any questions about state mandates. Contact Mark Neuburger, Legislative Advocate, with questions about CARB.