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The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control
District is made up of eight counties in
California’s Central Valley: San Joaquin,
Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings
Tulare and the Valley portion of Kern.
The Valley Air District is governed by an eleven
member Governing Board consisting of representatives
from the Board of Supervisors of all eight counties and
three Valley city representatives.
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The Air District’s Mission
The San Joaquin Valley Air District is a public health agency whose mission
is to improve the health and
quality of life for all Valley residents through efficient, effective and
entrepreneurial air quality-management
strategies.
The Air District’s Vision
Healthful air that meets or exceeds air quality standards for all Valley residents. The District is a leader
in air-pollution control. Valley residents take pride in our collective efforts to continuously improve air
quality.
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Core Values
Protection of Public Health – The District shall continue to strive to protect the health of Valley residents
through efforts to meet health-based state and federal ambient air-quality standards.
Active and effective air pollution control efforts with minimal disruption to the Valley’s economic prosperity
– District staff shall work diligently to adopt and fully implement cost-effective air pollution-control
measures, provide meaningful incentives for reducing emissions, and develop creative alternatives for
achieving emissions reductions.
Outstanding Customer Service – District staff shall work to provide excellent customer service for stakeholders
in activities including: rule and plan development; permitting and emissions inventory functions;
compliance activities; financial and grant-funding transactions; and responses to public complaints and
inquiries.
Ingenuity and innovation - The District values innovation and ingenuity in meeting the challenges we
face. Examples of this spirit of innovation include developing programs that provide new incentives for
emissions reductions, and providing alternate compliance strategies that supplement traditional regulatory
efforts and generate more emissions reductions than could otherwise be reasonably obtained.
Accountability to the public – The District serves, and is ultimately accountable to, the people of the Valley
for the wise and appropriate use of public resources, and for accomplishing the District’s mission with
integrity and honesty.
Open and transparent public processes – The District shall continue to provide meaningful opportunities
for public input and be responsive to all public inquiries.
Recognition of the uniqueness of the San Joaquin Valley – The Valley’s meteorology, topography and economy
differ significantly from those in other jurisdictions. Although it is valuable to review and evaluate
efforts of other agencies, we must consistently look for solutions that fully consider the Valley’s unique
needs.
Continuous improvement –The District works to continually improve its internal operations and processes,
and strives to streamline District operations through optimally utilizing information technology and human
resources.
Effective and efficient use of public funds – The District shall continually strive to efficiently use all resources
and to minimize costs associated with District functions.
Respect for the opinions and interest of all Valley residents – The District shall respect the interests and
opinions of all Valley residents and fully consider these opinions, working collaboratively, in carrying out
the District’s mission.
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The Jurisdiction Puzzle
Federal and state laws require emission control measures in areas where air pollution exceeds standards.
The San Joaquin Valley is one of these areas. With a variety of state and federal agencies implementing
air pollution reduction programs, it can be difficult to understand the mission and jurisdiction of each
organization.
The federal government, primarily through the Environmental Protection Agency, sets standards, oversees
state and local actions, and implements programs for toxic air pollutants, heavy-duty trucks, locomotives,
ships, aircraft, off-road diesel equipment, and some types of industrial equipment.
State government, through the Air Resources Board and Bureau of Automotive Repair, sets more stringent
state standards, oversees local actions, and implements programs for motor vehicle emissions,
fuels, and smog checks.
Local air pollution control districts, such as the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (Valley
Air District), develop plans and implement control measures in their areas. These controls primarily
affect stationary sources such as factories and plants. Local air districts also conduct public education
and outreach efforts such as the Valley Air District’s
Spare
the Air, Wood Burning, and
Smoking Vehicle
voluntary programs.
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Local cities and counties are responsible
for implementing air friendly community
planning that promotes pedestrian traffic,
commute alternatives and cleaner transit
fleets.
While their jurisdiction and specific
programs may vary, all of these
organizations share a common goal:
to work cooperatively in establishing
comprehensive air quality control
programs to benefit all California
residents.
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Where the
District Gets its Funding
The revenue to fund the District’s annual operating budget comes
from the following three sources:
Permit fees paid annually by applicable businesses operating within the
District.
Motor vehicle registration fees generated by a $7 surcharge fee for every
vehicle registered within the
District. A part of these fees are used for the internal operations of the
District and a portion is distributed
to qualified applicants for programs intended to reduce vehicle emissions.
| These include the REMOVE and Heavy-Duty
Engine Incentive programs. The District receives federal and state
grants annually from the California Air
Resources Board and the United
States Environmental Protection
Agency.
The chart (at right) illustrates the
approximate breakdown of the
three revenue sources by
percentage:
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Making Progress
Air pollution within the District comes from a variety of sources. These
include industrial facilities,
vehicles and consumer products. The pie chart below illustrates the sources
of ozone components and
their levels.
Emissions of reactive organic gases and oxides of nitrogen Estimated by
California Air Resources Board
Emissions
of reactive organic gases and oxides of nitrogen
Estimated by California
Air Resources Board
Efforts to reduce emissions from these sources are required by
federal and state mandates such as the
Federal Clean Air Act Amendments and the California Clean Air Act. Though
effective air pollution control
programs are still needed, past efforts have brought about an overall
improvement in air quality, as
illustrated below.
The Valley’s air quality has improved significantly despite a
natural low capacity for pollution, created by
unique geography, topography, and meteorology.
The Valley has reduced emissions at the same rate or better than
other areas in California.
The amount of pollution per square mile released in Los Angeles
is about ten times more than the San
Joaquin Valley. The amount of pollution per square mile released in the Bay Area
is about six times more
than the San Joaquin Valley.
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South Coast air quality is only marginally worse than
the San Joaquin Valley’s in spite of a much greater
pollution density. The Bay Area’s air quality is much
better than the San Joaquin Valley’s, even though
more pollution is released in the Bay Area.
The San Joaquin Valley is the first air basin classified
as “serious nonattainment” to come into attainment
of the PM10 standards. This is a historic achievement
unparalleled by any other region in the nation.
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Ozone and PM2.5 precursor emissions were substantially
reduced in the San Joaquin Valley from 1990-2005:
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- NOx reduced by 41%
- VOC reduced by 40%
- Direct PM10 reduced by 13%
- Direct PM2.5 reduced by 10%
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Although the challenges are great, air-quality is improving in the
San Joaquin Valley and the Valley Air
District is committed to seeing all our air-quality goals reached.
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