California Air Resources Board

The California Legislature enacted changes to State law increasing certain maximum penalties from the levels established in the mid-1970s. The Legislature also established that those maximum penalties be adjusted annually based on changes in the California Consumer Price Index (California CPI). This memo provides a summary of the increase in CPI since the legislative changes and the current maximum penalties for vehicular source violations that are tied to the CPI. Maximum penalties are one factor that CARB uses when establishing penalties for air quality regulations enforced by CARB. As required by State law and described in CARB’s Enforcement Policy, CARB staff continue to consider all relevant factors when establishing penalties on a case-by-case basis.

CARB tracks the minimum and maximum penalties for our enforcement programs. The information is available to download here or at the link below. The downloadable table lists the programs CARB enforces, the number of penalties based on the violation type, the range in penalty amount for that violation type, and the applicable maximum penalties based on the Health and Safety Code Reference.