California Air Resources Board – Office of Community Air Protection (CARB-OCAP)
2023 Stanford EPIC Summer Fellow: Miriam Awan
About the CA Air Resources Board – Office of Community Air Protection:
In 2017, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 617, which helped propel CARB to establish the “first-of-its-kind” Office of Community Air Protection Program (Program or OCAP), whose focus is to reduce exposure in communities most impacted by air pollution through monitoring plans and emission reductions programs at the community level. Assembly Bill (AB) 617 (C. Garcia, Stats. 2017, Ch. 136) requires the Board to “adopt a statewide strategy to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants in communities affected by a high cumulative exposure burden.” [Health and Safety Code § 44391.2(b)].
In October 2023, after a robust statewide engagement process with a diverse group of stakeholders, CARB adopted an update to its statewide strategy, or Community Air Protection Blueprint (Blueprint 2.0), which reimagines the program to provide continued support for reducing emissions of criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants in communities that have been selected but also additional support to communities that have consistently nominated for the program by air districts and communities.
Position Description:
Interns in CARB’s OCAP will work on a variety of projects that focus on working with disadvantaged environmental justice communities and leaders throughout the state to reduce emissions of toxic air contaminants and criteria air pollutants. Interns will have a hands-on opportunity to learn in a fast-paced environment about state government processes, policy implementation, and community and air district partnerships. The interns will gain skills in policy research and writing, land use planning community impacts, impacted community engagement and outreach, local government partnerships, interagency coordination, and more.
Potential Projects:
- Re-Imagining our AB 617 Program: Intern may work to support impacted community engagement and outreach throughout the state in our efforts to implement newly adopted statewide strategy to reduce exposure in communities most impacted by air pollution. Intern may also assist in the evaluation of Blueprint 2.0 implementation.
- Racial Equity and EJ: Intern may work on various projects to advance racial equity and environmental justice in CARB’s community engagement and cross-agency efforts.
- Community Focused Tools: Intern may develop and enhance web presence around Blueprint 2.0 to make Program tools, information, and data easy to access, user friendly, and in plain language.
- Interagency Coordination: Intern may work with other CARB Divisions, and sister agencies to effect Program goals, objectives and deliverables for Blueprint 2.0 implementation
Desired Qualifications/Skills:
Ideal candidates are self-driven and independently motivated, can balance multiple projects at once and meet multiple deadlines; are highly professional and responsible; have strong verbal and written communication as well as analytical and organizational skills; and demonstrate a strong interest in one or more of the subject matters that CARB and OCAP cover. Please see the CARB website for more information on the areas of work.
Bonus skills: Experience with graphic design/web design/multimedia skills, and communications/outreach skills.
Logistics:
- This opportunity can be hybrid at CARB’s Riverside, CA office or Sacramento, CA office. Fully remote interns will also be considered.
- EPIC fellows have the option to work full-time (35+ hours per week) for 10 weeks (stipend: $7,500-$9,000, depending on financial need) or 12 weeks (stipend: $9,000-$10,500, depending on financial need) over the summer.
