On July 25, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law
Assembly Bill 398, an extension of California's greenhouse
gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program through 2030. Eight days after
being introduced, AB 398 passed the California Legislature with a
two-thirds majority vote of 55-22 in the Assembly and 28-12 in the
Senate. AB 398 implements California's goal of reducing GHG
emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, which was
codified in SB 32, a bill signed by Governor Brown last year.
AB 398 extends California's existing cap-and-trade program,
which was passed in 2006, in which the California Legislature
committed to cutting the state's GHG emissions to 1990 levels
by 2020, a 30 percent reduction from 2006 levels. AB 398 includes
several important provisions that were key to obtaining bipartisan
support, including directing the California Air Resources Board
("CARB") to establish allowance price ceilings and cost
containment measures, prohibiting local air
