Overview

• Sanchez is set to take over as California Air Resources Board chair on Oct. 1 pending State Senate confirmation, following Liane Randolph’s Sept. 30 retirement.
• A longtime climate policymaker, Sanchez has served as Newsom’s senior climate adviser since 2021 with prior roles at CalEPA, CARB and the U.S. State Department, and the chair position pays $214,956.
• CARB develops California’s climate and clean‑air regulations and oversees statewide air pollution control and greenhouse‑gas trading programs.
• Under Randolph, CARB adopted a roadmap to carbon neutrality by 2045 and the policy ending sales of gasoline‑only vehicles starting in 2035, and she leaves with more than a year left in her term.
• The transition comes as lawmakers renew cap‑and‑trade and California contests federal rollbacks under President Donald Trump, including a lawsuit over heavy‑duty truck standards and plans to rescind the EPA endangerment finding.