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Community Air Protection Program

In 2017, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 617 (C. Garcia, Chapter 136, Statutes of 2017) to develop a new community focused program to more effectively reduce exposure to air pollution and preserve public health.  This bill directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and all local air districts, including the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (Sac Metro Air District or District), to take measures to protect communities disproportionally impacted by air pollution. With input from communities and air districts throughout California, CARB is developing a statewide community-focused strategy to implement AB 617.

There are five central components to the new AB 617 mandate:

  • Community-level air monitoring
  • A state strategy and community specific emission reduction plans
  • Accelerated review of retrofit pollution control technologies on industrial facilities subject to Cap and Trade
  • Enhanced emission reporting requirements
  • Increased penalty provisions for polluters

Additionally, CARB may direct additional grant funding to communities determined to have the highest air pollution burden.

​Sac Metro Air District’s Implementation


For its part, the Sac Metro Air District has launched a new program to broaden our existing air quality efforts, plan for and improve awareness and community-level engagement on actions to reduce air pollution exposure and improve health in our communities. 

The District submitted its preliminary recommendations to CARB on April 30, 2018. The District submitted its final community identification recommendations on July 31, 2018. 

On  September 27, 2018, CARB made its final selection. The South Sacramento-Florin community was chosen as one of the 10 statewide communities to recieve additional air monitoring and community engagement efforts under the AB 617 Community Air Protection Program.

With the selection of the South Sacramento-Florin community, the Sac Metro Air District's AB 617 work continues. District staff are working closely with CARB, local stakeholder groups, regional legislators and members of the community to discuss strategy and implementation of the Community Air Protection Program in Sacramento. Below are links to specific discussions of upcoming District efforts related to this program.

 

​Upcoming Meetings and Workshops


Sac Metro Air District’s Board of Directors received an informational update from staff on the monitoring aspect of the Community Air Protection Program at its March 22, 2018 meeting. The presentation from that meeting is available to download.

Community input and engagement is vital to the success of the program. The District attended numerous community meetings to discuss the community identification for the community monitoring and/or community emission reduction program to shape its final community identification recommendations. District staff continues to engage the public on investment priorities.

We encourage community members to take our online priorities survey -- it's quick, easy, and immensely valuable to these efforts.

You can also provide your feedback and ask questions about Community Air Monitoring by emailing CommunityAirProtectionMonitoring@airquality.org.

​Key Correspondence

 

Sac Metro Air District is deeply invested in stakeholder conversations and regional advocacy to secure and deploy needed resources to fully implement the Community Air Protection program. Below you will find a selection of correspondence related to community air protection in the Sacramento region. These documents provide a window into the District’s advocacy efforts to secure investments for the region.

​Subscribe to the Community Air Protection e-mail list to get updates on the program.

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