The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of emissions of greenhouse gases and to monitor and enforce compliance with the reporting and verification program, and requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emission reductions. The act authorizes the state board to include use of market-based compliance mechanisms. The act authorizes the state board to adopt a schedule of fees to be paid by the sources of greenhouse gas emissions regulated pursuant to the act, and requires the revenues collected pursuant to that fee to be deposited into the Air Pollution Control Fund and be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of carrying out the act.

This bill would establish the California Communities Healthy Air Revitalization Trust in the State Treasury and would require a minimum of 10% of specified revenues generated for the state each year from the act to be deposited into that trust. The moneys in the trust would be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in the most impacted and disadvantaged communities, as defined, to fund programs or projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or mitigate direct health or environmental impacts of climate change through competitive grants, loans, or other funding mechanisms. The bill would require the State Air Resources Board to administer moneys appropriated from the trust, establish criteria and procedures, convene a review panel, and meet other specified requirements in connection with implementation.