During the San Diego meeting the commission received a joint report from regional transportation planning agencies (RTPAs) raising concerns about the federal rescission of Californias Clean Air Act waiver and the implications for transportation conformity and project advancement.

Carl Anderson, speaking for the RTPA group and standing in for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, said the rescission invalidated state-approved modeling tools that RTPAs and MPOs use to demonstrate air-quality conformity for regional transportation improvement programs and regional transportation plans. "With the way we're rescinded, those state level models are now invalidated, placing us in a position where we will not be able to advance certain critical and major infrastructure projects across the state," he said.

Why it matters: If regional plans cannot demonstrate conformity under federal standards, some projects could be delayed pending development of new or augmented modeling tools or legal remedies. Anderson said RTPAs are coordinating internally to document impacts and plan options and will share that work with Caltrans, CARB and the commission.

Commission staff response: Chief deputy Paul (Paul G.) said commission staff have been discussing the issue with CARB and Caltrans and hope to convene state partners and metropolitan agencies in the near future to review impacts and possible technical solutions, mirroring the staff-level coordination that resolved earlier modeling disputes.

Public comment: Stakeholders from CalCOG and other organizations said they would participate in coordinated technical work. No immediate action was taken by the commission during the meeting, but staff signaled intent to pursue rapid coordination to avoid prolonged program delays.

The RTPAs requested formal engagement and said they were preparing a quantified statement of impacts to present to state partners.