Independent Project Oversight Report (IPOR) Rating

Key Questions

Is the project on track to satisfy the customer's business objectives?Yes

Is the project on track to achieve the objectives in the approved timeframe?Yes

Is the project on track to achieve the objectives within the approved budget?Yes

Project Overall Health

Comments

Green

The overall health of the project continued to be Green (satisfactory) based on observations in all focus areas. • The project remained on schedule and was within the approved scope and cost in the August 2026 reporting period. • During this reporting period, the project continued work on Sprints 2 and 3 for Phase 2 Release 4. • Overall, the project has maintained sustained delivery momentum with effective coordination across teams and progressing towards Phase 2 Release 4 completion in December 2026.

Focus Area/Rating	Comments
Governance Green	This focus area remained Green (satisfactory) during this reporting period. • The Executive Steering Committee (ESC) meeting held on August 12, 2026, confirmed that the project is on track to achieve its objectives within the baselined scope and schedule. The project anticipates a budget overrun related to Amazon Web Services (AWS) expenditures; however, sufficient redirected funding has been identified to absorb the additional costs and maintain overall budget stability. • The project’s governance structure continues to operate effectively, enabling consistent project delivery and maintaining confidence in the strength of management controls. • The Independent Project Oversight (IPO) Manager continued to underscore the importance of maintaining timely communication and keeping stakeholders informed of key project decisions. In alignment with oversight best practices, the ongoing engagement of program, business, technical, and control agency stakeholders continues to support informed decision-making and the successful delivery of development efforts.
Time Management Green	This focus area remained Green (satisfactory) during this reporting period. • The project remains on schedule as planned, supported by disciplined execution across teams. • The IPO Manager recommends that ongoing project progress and the successful completion of near-term sprint commitments be supported by strengthened identification and management of schedule risks associated with competing priorities, helping to sustain delivery performance and achieve long-term project objectives. • The IPO Manager recommended maintaining the inclusion of assigned resource names for all project schedule activities to promote accountability, while continuing to keep the master schedule current and updated as needed.
Cost & Contract Management Green	This focus area remained Green (satisfactory) during this reporting period. • The Contract Amendment 3 was completed on June 04, 2026. • The project remained engaged in evaluating the root causes of increased AWS costs. The IPO Manager continues to recommend ongoing assessment, monitoring, and reporting of cost-related risks and variances between actual expenditures and approved budgets and forecasts to facilitate effective financial oversight and the implementation of corrective measures when warranted. • The IPO Manager has continued to express concern that the CARB Information Technology Procurement, Contract, and Reporting (ITPCR) section staffing issues could impact contract management-related activities.
Scope Management Green	This focus area remained Green (satisfactory) in this reporting period. • During this reporting period, the overall Phase 2 14-month extended Design Development & Implementation (DDI) Scope is at 60% completion. • The project is currently working on the tasks associated with Phase 2 Release 4 Sprints 2 and 3. • Program and business representatives are actively reviewing and validating proposed system functions and features to confirm that solution requirements accurately reflect business needs and strategic objectives. • The project continues to be aligned with Agile governance, and requirements management best practices, by fostering stakeholder engagement, maintaining requirements traceability, and supporting the incremental delivery of prioritized capabilities. • The IPO Manager recommends ongoing evaluation of the business value associated with upcoming requirements, with an emphasis on distinguishing mission-critical functionality from lower-priority or discretionary features to maximize project value and delivery outcomes.
Resources Green	This focus area remained Green (satisfactory) during this reporting period. • The project continued to successfully complete scheduled tasks with no concerns about resource availability in any of the project-specific areas except for the CARB ITPCR section. The anticipated impact of staffing-related issues in the ITPCR section remained low during this reporting period. • The IPO Manager recommends maintaining regular reviews of actual resource capacity versus planned allocations as part of Project Resource Management best practices. Failure to validate resource assumptions on an ongoing basis may increase the risk of outdated planning assumptions, leading to gaps between available skillsets and evolving project demands.
Quality Green	This focus area remained in Green (satisfactory) during this reporting period. • Throughout all sprints, the project has adhered to robust testing and defect management processes, continuing to achieve high test success rates while keeping defects to a minimum. • The IPO manager recommends that the project apply a disciplined cost‑benefit evaluation to support informed decision‑making, to help prevent low‑value or discretionary changes from diverting focus from critical priorities, and to reduce the risk of scope creep, resource strain, and diminished return on investment.
Risk And Issues Green	This focus area remained in Green (satisfactory)during this reporting period. • The risks and issues are actively monitored, managed, and tracked. No new issues or risks were logged during this reporting period. • The IPO Manager continues to emphasize the importance of conducting regular retrospective sessions not only within the development teams but also across project management teams. These retrospectives provide a structured opportunity to review project performance, identify challenges, assess the effectiveness of processes and controls, and capture lessons learned throughout the project lifecycle.
Transition Readiness Green	This focus area remained in Green (satisfactory) during this reporting period, as the program outreach and support activities continued to be effective in raising awareness of the SB210 regulation to bring fleets into the reporting system. • Over 798,000 vehicles are registered in the CTC-VIS database and have generated revenue of over $79 million from fee collection. • The project team is actively reviewing and updating the timelines associated with all Knowledge Transfer (KT) activities to ensure they remain realistic, achievable, and aligned with the overall project schedule. • The IPO Manager reiterated the recommendation that the Program team formally document the outreach team’s best practices, performance metrics, and lessons learned, capturing both achievements and areas requiring improvement. This documentation will provide valuable input for updating the Post‑Implementation Evaluation Report (PIER) upon project completion.
Conditions For Approval Green	None
Corrective Action Green	None.

• Special Project Report (pdf)
• Stage 4 Project Readiness and Approval (pdf)
• Stage 3 Solution Analysis (pdf)
• Stage 2 Alternatives Analysis (pdf)
• Stage 1 Business Analysis (pdf)