California Air Resources Board
Administers California Climate Investments by directing auction-based resources into air quality, transport, and climate transition projects.
The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, is California's air-quality regulator and the main administrator of California Climate Investments. It oversees how cap-and-invest auction proceeds from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund flow into clean transportation, agricultural emission reduction, equipment replacement, community air protection, and carbon-removal work across the state, with many programs delivered through partner agencies or local air districts rather than directly by CARB itself.
CARB's program set is broad but focused. The current record connects it to CRISP Carbon Removal Innovation Support, the Clean Hydrogen Program, HVIP for trucks and buses, CORE for off-road equipment, FARMER for agricultural replacement measures, the Carl Moyer Program, and the Community Air Protection Program under AB 617. Awards are typically grant-based vouchers or incentives rather than open-ended subsidies, and the practical users are fleet operators, manufacturers, farmers, local agencies, and project teams working in transport, climate, energy, manufacturing, and agriculture. Some routes are first-come, first-served, while others run through rolling solicitations or local district channels.
What distinguishes CARB is the scale and the structure. It does not act as a single grant office; it sets the investment framework for California Climate Investments, then works through a network of state partners such as the California Energy Commission and county or air-district intermediaries. That makes it the right entry point for applicants who need emissions-reduction capital in California and can fit a program with technical standards, location rules, and implementation constraints. The agency's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, and its programs remain anchored to a long-term cap-and-invest system that extends the market signal through 2045.