Through Climate Infrastructure Investments, the Newsom Administration Is Building a More Sustainable, Equitable California for All

Billions of Dollars Focused on Climate Infrastructure Already at Work 

May 9, 2024

Media Contacts:
Tony Anderson, tony.andersen@resources.ca.gov, 279-599-0373
Kalin Kipling-Mojaddedi, kalin.kipling@calepa.ca.gov, 916-291-8990

SACRAMENTO – Ahead of National Infrastructure Week, California is highlighting billions of dollars in climate infrastructure investments that are benefitting communities – particularly those most in need – around the state.

California’s efforts to build cleaner, greener and safer communities are especially focused on improving people’s lives in areas that are disadvantaged, underserved or disproportionately burdened by pollution. Actions include:

• Strengthening the state’s water resiliency, boost water supply and secure safe drinking water.
• Building a 100% clean electric grid.
• Moving away from fossil fuels.
• Cleaning the air and restoring our natural spaces.
• Restoring healthy forests while improving resiliency to wildfires.
• Increasing shade and nature spaces in urban and underserved communities.

“Unprecedented investments in California’s climate infrastructure are paying dividends for our planet and our communities,” said Yana Garcia, California Secretary for Environmental Protection. “Through project after project, we are advancing the Governor’s vision of a California for all – whether it be delivering clean drinking water to a rural community for the first time in decades, taking pollution-spewing trucks off the road, or creating urban green spaces.”

“Through historic investments made by the Biden-Harris Administration, Governor Newsom, and our State Legislature, California is leading the nation in putting nature to work to both adapt and fight the climate crisis—and we’re seeing real results in California communities,” said Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Secretary. “From groundbreaking projects that protect communities from flooding while giving reliable water supplies to future generations, to supercharging clean energy milestones, to restoring our forests and using nature as green infrastructure to adapt to a changing climate, California is leading the way.”

California has invested nearly $25 billion in the past three years to increase climate resiliency and adaptation projects and build more infrastructure projects for water, environmental restoration, energy and many others.

Examples of Dollars at Work

• In Kern County, the State Water Resources Control Board provided a $25.4 million grant to help Lamont Public Utilities District address its contamination issues and consolidate the nearby failing drinking water system of the small town of El Adobe. The project includes drilling three new drinking water wells, destroying three 45-year-old wells that have high levels of arsenic and 1,2,3-trichloropropane, and constructing a new water distribution system for El Adobe, which also has dangerous levels of arsenic. The completed project will ensure safe and affordable drinking water for both Lamont and El Adobe, severely disadvantaged communities with a combined population of about 20,000 residents.
  “For us, this is monumental. We have never received assistance of this magnitude in our 80-year existence,” said Scott Taylor, general manager of Lamont PUD. The repairs and consolidation are ongoing and expected to be completed by June 2025.
• In Oakland, zero-emissions hydrogen-fuel-cell trucks can now replace diesel trucks at the port thanks to a new hydrogen fueling station. Trucks carry heavy cargo from the Port of Oakland to many destinations, and more hydrogen-fueled trucks will lead to cleaner air in communities polluted by heavy truck traffic. Watch the video.
• In San Bernardino, the nonprofit Casa Ramona offers services to support children and seniors, but in 2020, a fire destroyed its building. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control granted Casa Ramona $4.9 million in Equitable Community Revitalization Grants to clean the area so the nonprofit can safely rebuild and continue supporting the community through education and social services.
• In Redding, a new station has three state-funded fast chargers for electric vehicles. It’s part of a network of more than 10,000 fast chargers now online in California: the largest network of public charging stations in the country. Fast chargers can recharge an electric vehicle up to 80% in about 30 minutes. This network makes charging more convenient and accessible for Californians without home chargers.
• In the Sierra Nevada, wildfire threatens many rural communities. But a state-funded project called Fire Adapted 50 is making a difference. The project clears dense vegetation and trees to create fuel breaks, which slows down spreading wildfires. And it’s already had an impact: during 2021’s Caldor Fire, these fuel breaks helped firefighters protect Pollock Pines and Sly Park.
• In the Bay Area, as one of many urban greening and green schoolyard projects throughout the state, a project invests $8 million to replace concrete and impervious surfaces with trees and plants, and plant trees with local communities throughout Bay Area neighborhoods to increase tree canopy and shade cover.

Visit build.ca.gov to learn more about California infrastructure investments and how they are making a difference in our state.

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• California Air Resources Board • Department of Pesticide Regulation • Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) • Department of Toxic Substances Control • Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment • State Water Resources Control Board • Regional Water Quality Control Boards

CalEPA, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 • P.O. Box 2815, Sacramento, CA 95812 • (916) 323-2514 www.calepa.ca.gov