Our statewide work aims to incorporate community voices in statewide building decarbonization efforts to ensure state policies and programs prioritize serving low-income, environmental justice communities first and foremost. We are engaged with:
- California Air Resources Board (CARB) – Zero-Emissions Appliance Standards Policy Rule-making & Joint UC Berkeley and CARB research on Equitable Housing Decarbonization
- California Energy Commission (CEC) – Equitable Building Decarbonization Program
- California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) – Building Decarbonization Proceeding, Service Upgrade Proceedings, and the San Joaquin Valley Affordable Energy Pilot Proceeding
- State Legislation & Budget Advocacy
CARB Zero-Emissions Appliance Standard Rulemaking
In 2023, CARB initiated a rulemaking process for a zero-emissions appliance standard for the sale of space and water heaters. Since then, we have met regularly with CARB staff, attended all public workshops, and submitted letters to advocate for community and building readiness to comply with the eventual standard. We will continue to work not only with CARB but with other state agencies to bolster our community’s capacity to comply and benefit from this standard.
Past examples of comment letters:
- June 24, 2022 Letter re the Scoping Plan and State Implementation Plan
- March 23, 2024 Coalition Letter re the Appliance Standard Rulemaking
- May 8, 2024 Letter re the Equity Analysis for the Appliance Standard Rulemaking
CEC Equitable Building Decarbonization Program
We engaged with the CEC on developing the program guidelines and solicitation for the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program through the entirety of its public engagement process. We advocated for holistic home upgrades and tenant protections through monthly meetings with several CEC staff, community engagement events, and comment letters. Through these efforts, the adopted program guidelines incorporated several suggestions from BEEP and our allies, including:
- Stronger tenant protections (e.g., rent increase limits placed on participating landlords, extensions of existing deed restrictions, eviction prohibition w/o just cause)
- Requirement for program administrators to compensate partner community-based organizations
- Enforcement of prevailing wage laws
- Preference for hiring locally and people from disadvantaged communities
- Evaluation of project quality, including a way for residents to uplift any grievances
- Expanded quantifiable holistic home upgrades (e.g. lead and asbestos removal, etc.)
- Commitment to working with CARB about developing refined metrics + methodologies for quantifying economic, environmental, and public health benefits.
In the implementation phase, PSR-LA and PODER are now members of the program implementation teams for the Northern and Southern regions, while CCAC provides community engagement support to the Central program implementation team. We will continue to share best practices and insights on how to best serve our communities.
Past examples of comment letters:
CPUC Building Decarbonization-related Proceedings
In partnership with the CPUC, we initiated a second round of community listening sessions (since the community listening sessions that produced the Preliminary Report) in Los Angeles, San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area, and in a virtual statewide webinar. These community listening sessions are designed to help inform the Building Decarbonization Proceeding, San Joaquin Valley Affordable Energy Access Proceeding, SB 1221 Zonal Decarbonization Implementation, and other CPUC and state agency efforts related to building decarbonization.
State Legislation & Budget Advocacy
BEEP works with allies to support and improve upon proposed legislation and engage on budget advocacy to maintain funding for the EBD Program.
