Explaining CARB Compliant Generators
- By Ralf Schulz
- Jan 17, 2015
When shopping for a Portable Generator, you may run across models that are described as being CARB Compliant for California. Like many product acronyms that are meant to assist you in the buying process, this designation can have you wondering exactly what that feature is.
First, the translation: CARB stands for California Air Resource Board, a state agency that is responsible for keeping a lid on air sanitation as well as pollution from cars. While the designation would seem to refer to only one state, other states also use the CARB standards, which is why it pays to know what they are before making your generator purchase.
In 1967, California passed legislation that effectively combined two different health department bureaus to establish the Air Resources Board (ARB). The following year the ARB held its first meeting in Sacramento. In the years since, the Board has collaborated with citizens, businesses and local governments to find ways to mitigate the state’s air pollution problem.
A board of 11 members governs the ARB. Six members are considered experts in fields such as law, engineering, medicine, business, meteorology, chemistry and physics. Five of the members are elected to represent the interests of California’s regional air pollution agencies – one person each for the San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin and Los Angeles regions, and one person representing the state’s more rural areas.
The stated mission of CARB is “to promote and protect public health, welfare and ecological resources through the effective and efficient reduction of air pollutants, while recognizing and considering the effects on the state's economy.”
When a portable generator carries the CARB Compliant designation, it suggests that the product is in line with CARB air pollution requirements. CARB Compliant products will produce fewer pollutants than non-CARB Compliant products. Even so, they still generate pollutants.
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