PPIC Statewide Survey July 2004- Special Survey on the Environment in collaboration with The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: This survey on Californians and the environment—a collaborative effort of the Public Policy Institute of California and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation—is a special edition of the PPIC Statewide Survey. This is the seventh in a series of eight surveys—two per year for four years—launched in May 2001. The intent of the survey series is to inform state, local, and federal policymakers, encourage discussion, and raise public awareness about a variety of growth and environmental issues facing the state. The current survey focuses in particular on public perceptions, policy preferences, and political choices regarding air quality and energy-related issues.
PPIC Statewide Survey June 2006 Special Survey of the Central Valley in collaboration with the Great Valley Center: The Central Valley has been of considerable interest to researchers and state and national leaders because of its significant role in the social, economic, and political life of California. The region is the agricultural center of the state and recent land use trends, such as the urbanization of farmland, are of great concern to state and local policymakers. The impacts of population growth on the water supply, air quality, surface transportation, education facilities, housing affordability, economic conditions, and the perceived quality of life are major concerns today throughout the region.
USEPA- The Plain English Guide To The Clean Air Act: The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act provides a brief introduction to the 1990 Clean Air Act. The 1990 Clean Air Act is the most recent version of a law first passed in 1970 to clean up air pollution. This summary covers some of the important provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act and may help you understand what is in the law and how it may affect you.
PPIC Californians and the Environment: The current survey examines environmental perceptions, attitudes, and policy preferences. We focus on the related issues of global warming, energy, and air quality because these are current topics in public policy and political debates at the regional, state, and federal government levels. California public opinion is relevant for several reasons. The state has several regions with high air pollution levels, including the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, and the San Joaquin Valley. California has taken the lead nationally in policy efforts on global warming, alternative energy, and air quality. State residents have also dealt with multi-year increases in gasoline prices.
Confined Animal Facilities - Air Resources Board (June 2006)
The California Air Resources Board, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, and the dairy industry’s environmental coalition, CARES, collaborated on three projects that have improved the understanding of the nature of dairy emissions. The reports include: 1) A study at UC Davis, led by Dr. Frank Mitloehner, which focused on emissions from cows housed in environmental chambers to evaluate emissions directly from cows and their fresh manure. 2) A study at two operating dairies in the San Joaquin Valley, led by Dr. Chuck Schmidt, in which measurements were made at many locations on and around the dairy facilities including the corrals and turnouts, bedding areas, lagoons, feed storage areas, flush lanes, and bunker feed. 3) A study by Dr. Schmidt to validate the effectiveness and capture efficiency of using flux chambers to quantify volatile fatty acid (VFA) emissions.
State of the Air Report for 2006 - American Lung Association
The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside metropolitan area continues to be listed as one of the most polluted cities for 24-hour and annual particle pollution levels, and Bakersfield is now ranked as the most ozone-polluted city in the nation. As for counties nationwide, Kern County moved to the top of the list of most polluted counties for ozone and Riverside County had the worst particle pollution as measured on a 24-hour and annual basis. Twenty-eight of California's 52 counties with air quality monitoring stations received failing grades.
School Bus Pollution Report Card (2006) - Union of Concerned Scientists
The report found that the nation's 505,000 school buses were some of the oldest and dirtiest vehicles on the road. More than a third have been in use for more than a decade, and a single bus can produce between twice and 10 times as much diesel soot as a big rig. California leads the nation in regulatory efforts and funds to replace aging buses, the study said, but still has made limited progress. State cleanup programs reduced school bus soot by less than 9% from 1999 to 2005, the report said. Less than 10% of California's fleet is retrofitted with sophisticated soot-traps, and less than 5% is powered by cleaner natural gas.
The Health and Related Economic Benefits of Attaining Healthful Air in the San Joaquin Valley - California State University, Fullerton (March 2006)
This study, conducted by leading researchers in the fields of economics and air quality, shows that the health-related impacts of air pollution in California’s San Joaquin Valley drains the region’s economy of $3 billion every year. That's the cost of shortened life spans, hospitalizations, job absences and other economic and health effects of the region's chronically poor air quality.
Plagued by Pollution: Unsafe Levels of Soot Pollution in 2004 - U.S. PIRG (January 2006)
This report is a comprehensive analysis of levels of fine particle pollution in the U.S. in 2004, based on a survey of state environmental agencies. Its findings include the fact that ninety-six million Americans - 32% of the population - live in areas with unsafe levels of fine particle, or "soot," pollution.
The Clean Air Act at 35: Preventing Death and Disease from Particulate Pollution - Environmental Defense (2005)
This report examines this landmark national health standards program and the significant public health achievements delivered over the last 35 years. Thanks to the Clean Air Act, enacted in December 1970, millions of Americans breathe cleaner, healthier air, and tens of thousands of illnesses and premature deaths have been prevented. Over the years, the costs of complying with the rules have amounted to a fraction of the trillions of dollars saved in health costs – making the Clean Air Act one of the most cost-effective regulatory programs in American history.
State of the Air Report for 2005 - American Lung Association
The American Lung Association's annual air-quality "report card" flunks the air quality in many San Joaquin Valley counties for the sixth consecutive year. The ALA ranked several Valley counties and cities among the most unhealthy places in the country to breathe. Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties failed almost every test of clean air.
An Analysis of Diesel Air Pollution and Public Health in America - Clean Air Task Force (Feb. 2005)
Breathing diesel exhaust is an altogether too-familiar experience in America - and unfortunately an unpleasant one. Today there are approximately 13 million diesels at work in the U.S. helping to build our cities and landscape, transport food and goods and takes us to and from work. However, more than three quarters of the U.S. population lives in cities near intersections, bus stops, highways, bus and truck depots, heavy industry and construction sites - all concentrated emissions sources. Rural areas with their agriculture and industry suffer their share of health effects from agricultural, construction and industrial diesel emissions too. The following report describes the methodology and results of a Clean Air Task Force analysis of death and disease from diesel in the U.S. each year, a more detailed companion to Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat.
Clearing the Air in the San Joaquin Central Valley: Developing an Action Plan for Regulators, Legislators, and the Public - Union of Concerned Scientists and the Kirsch Foundation (2004)
This report examines the sources and effects of the San Joaquin Valley's air pollution problem and some recent legislative and regulatory efforts to clear the air. It outlines an action plan to put the valley on the road to healthy air. (Also see press conference pictures.)
Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: IV. Continuing Research Progress - National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences (March 24, 2004)
This report, fourth in a series, summarizes the salient findings from six years and over $300 million in federal research funding. It concludes that significant progress has been made in understanding the health risks posed by particle pollution in the air, and identifies areas for further research is needed.
Dangerous Days of Summer - Environmental Defense (2004)
More than half of American families - over 160 million people - live in places where air quality does not meet federal standards. Environmental Defense has rated 50 major U.S. cities to see where air pollution can make outdoor play dangerous to your health, and offers practical solutions to cleaning up dirty air so that everyone can breathe easier.
State of the Air Report for 2003 and 2004 - American Lung Association
For the fourth straight year, the top four most ozone-polluted metropolitan areas in the nation were in California: Riverside; Fresno; Kern; and Los Angeles counties.
Sick of Soot: Reducing the Health Impacts of Diesel Pollution in California - Union of Concerned Scientists (June 2004)
California, with the largest population of people and diesel vehicles in the country, is in essence a microcosm of the national health risks of diesel emissions.
Clearing the Air 2003: Public Health Threats from Cars and Heavy Duty Vehicles - Why We Need to Protect Federal Clean Air Laws - Surface Transportation Policy Project (2003)
California contains the five metropolitan areas that have had the highest number of unhealthy air days over the last three years. They are Riverside-San Bernardino, Fresno, Bakersfield, Los Angeles-Long Beach, and Sacramento.
Asthma in California: Findings from the 2001 California Health Interview Study - UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (2003)
This in-depth report describes asthma in California based on data from the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), the largest state-level health survey in the nation. It examines the prevalence of asthma, access to care for those with asthma, emergency room use and hospitalization for asthma, and disparities in and consequences of frequent asthma symptoms among California's children and adults. The policy report provides several recommendations including on-going surveillance of asthma, improving control of asthma through the reduction of environmental triggers, reducing disparities in the burden of asthma, and suggesting community-based, culturally appropriate interventions.
Closing the Diesel Divide: Protecting Public Health from Diesel Air Pollution - American Lung Association and Environmental Defense (2003)
This report examines two sources of diesel pollution that represent holes in the regulatory patchwork: diesel engines in a range of nonroad equipment from lawn tractors to excavators, and stationary internal combustion engines used in electric generators. These two categories encompass a huge range of engines from small loaders and household generators used in residential neighborhoods to massive mining machines and backup generators that provide power to industrial facilities. The United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) forthcoming rule on nonroad diesel engines presents an important opportunity for the federal government to begin closing the diesel divide and to achieve historic reductions of diesel pollution that will allow Americans to breathe easier.
Particle Civics: How Cleaner Air in California Will Save Lives and Save Money - Environmental Working Group (May 2002)
In California, respiratory illnesses caused or made worse by airborne particulate matter (PM) are responsible for 9,300 deaths, 16,000 hospital visits, 600,000 asthma attacks and five million lost work days each year. By saving lives and preventing illnesses, tougher standards could save more than half a billion dollars a year.
High Diesel Exhaust Levels Found in School Buses - University of California Berkeley (January 2001)
This report is intended to inform parents, educators, school administrators, and federal, state and local policy makers of the hazards children face from exposure to diesel exhaust inside school buses and the cleaner alternatives which are readily available.
Breathtaking: Premature Mortality Due to Particulate Air Pollution in 239 American Cities (May 1996)
A report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, estimating that approximately 64,000 premature deaths from cardiopulmonary causes may be attributable to particulate air pollution each year.
