Members of the California legislature questioned the state’s senior air pollution official on Wednesday about her agency’s climate action plan, pressing for particulars on policy action needed to achieve ambitious carbon emissions reductions.

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The concerns emerged at a joint committee hearing on the Air Resources Board’s (CARB) plan for the state to reduce fossil fuel dependence and reach carbon neutrality by 2045. Echoing other criticism, lawmakers said that the plan lacks a clear implementation strategy.

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“There’s still a disconnect between our stated goals, what we know we need to do, and what we’re really willing to do,” assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) asked CARB chair Liane Randolph. “How do we make these goals real? What do we do next? And how can CARB help us?”

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Randolph said implementation of what’s called the scoping plan is ongoing within her agency and across California government. She pointed to CARB’s intentions to strengthen cap-and-trade, which limits emissions by allowing businesses to buy and sell permits to produce carbon dioxide.

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“It’s the responsibility of the entire administration and every state agency, not just CARB, to re-evaluate their programs to ensure that they are aligned with stakeholders and can achieve the emissions reductions we need,” Randolph said. “The completion of the plan is really the start of the multi-year regulatory process that will update existing programs and support new programs.”

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The hearing follows sharp criticism from the Legislative Analyst’s Office on the scoping plan, which said the framework lacked a clear policy strategy and raised the possibility the state won’t meet its near-term emissions target in 2030.

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Senate Natural Resources Committee chair Henry Stern, D-Calabasas, signaled the legislature’s desire for bolder leadership from Randolph to “push uncomfortable conversations.” Senator Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) also lamented the lack of a practical game plan across the state’s major environmental agencies.

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“There’s got to be some holistic approach to the challenges that we face within the departments. Everybody has their own silo,” Dahle said in frustration. “There is no plan in my mind. We just don’t have a long term plan of getting there.”

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In November, the Air Resources Board released its long awaited scoping plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of the California economy. It called for a reduction of emissions to 48% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% by 2045.

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California produced 431 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 1990 and 93 million last year — meaning the state has 132 million metric tons to eliminate in less than seven years. The state is responsible for less than 1% of global carbon emissions, but as the world’s 4th largest economy, it is closely watched as a potential model for climate policy.

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The nearly 300-page scoping plan is full of data and explanations on the perils of climate change and goals it seeks to achieve. But there is little in the way of actionable recommendations on how to meet targets, such as how heavily to rely on financial incentives, regulation or cap and trade.

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That’s according to a January evaluation of CARB’s plan by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which warned that the scoping plan’s murky path toward carbon neutrality could mean California fails to meet its 2030 targets. Questions around future of the cap and trade program, which has long been the backbone of state climate action, played a significant role in the hearing.

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In a prepared statement, CARB chair Randolph said her agency intends to buttress the program with stricter emissions targets but may not take up the regulatory process to do so for up to two years. Addressing regulations on the state’s key transportation pollution program will get tackled first, she said.