Considering the troubling situation facing anyone who breathes in the San Joaquin Valley, you might rightly ask, who is responsible for cleaning up this mess? And why has the situation become so bad?

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The EPA, as a federal agency, sets national air quality 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. EPA also ultimately approves or disapproves all attainment plans and control measures adopted by the local and state agencies. When local and state agencies fail to come up with federally mandated attainment plans and control measures by certain deadlines, the Clean Air Act requires that EPA impose sanctions and/or step in to enforce air pollution regulations, or write the plans that aren't in place. For more info, visit www.epa.gov. In Spanish: www.epa.gov/espanol.

 

Is EPA doing its job?
Since the formation of the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District in 1991 until early 2002, the EPA failed to take any action on any of the Valley's woefully inadequate plans to control particulate matter. In 2002, under pressure from lawsuits and environmental and community groups, EPA was forced to take a more active role in the San Joaquin Valley. In 2004, the EPA approved the Air District's weak PM-10 Plan, which lacked key elements required by the Clean Air Act. EPA is now proposing new standards for PM that are less stringent than scientists recommend and would exempt agriculture, mining, and other "similar" sources, leaving millions of Valley residents without protection from dangerous levels of dust and soot.
 
The California Air Resources Board (CARB)

State government, through CARB, sets more stringent state air quality standards, oversees local actions, and implements air pollution control measures for motor vehicle emissions, fuels, and smog checks, as well as consumer products, such as some paints and coatings. CARB is also charged with ensuring that the transport of pollutants from one air district to another is mitigated through the local agencies' plans. For more info, visit www.arb.ca.gov.

 

Is CARB doing its job?
Traditionally, CARB rarely intervenes in local air districts' pollution control planning processes. Although this agency has the potential to require stricter pollution controls before it signs off on attainment plans and control measures, it rarely does more than simply pass the plans from the local agencies to the federal ones. In order to really make a dent in the air pollution problem that plagues the San Joaquin Valley, CARB must take a more active role in ensuring that local plans to control air pollution are consistent with both federal and state law, and it must refuse to approve plans that fail to meet those standards.
 
Transportation Planning Agencies (TPAs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs)

TPAs and MPOs are city, county, or regional planning agencies charged with planning and allocating funding for local and regional transportation infrastructure. The San Joaquin Valley has eight individual county-based TPAs. Each TPA is responsible for writing Regional Transportation Plans, which serve as blueprints for the development of mass transit, highway, airport, railroad, bicycle and pedestrian facilities. TPAs are also charged with developing ãtransportation control measuresä to improve air quality and ensuring that transportation plans comply with Clean Air Act standards.

 

Are the TPAs doing their job?
Because transportation planning is dispersed among eight individual agencies, there is little regional coordination for regional or universal air quality-friendly transportation planning. The TPAs need to work together to offer the region transit options that are fast, clean, and accessible, so people can leave their cars at home. Studies have shown that widening freeways only facilitates sprawl and exacerbates congestion. Transportation agencies must do more to plan for infill and mixed-use development that provides housing options closer to work, schools, and recreation.
 
Local Air District: The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District

Local air districts develop plans for attaining the federal ozone and particulate matter air quality standards, and they implement the control measures contained within those plans in their areas. These controls primarily affect stationary sources such as factories and power plants. Local air districts also conduct public education and outreach efforts. For more info, visit www.valleyair.org

 

Is the Air District doing its job?
Currently, the region has no plan in place to control ozone. The Valley's most recent Extreme Ozone attainment plan was rendered obsolete when the EPA revoked the 1-hour ozone standard in June of 2005. The Air District must submit an 8-hour Ozone attainment plan by June of 2007. The Air District submitted and EPA approved a PM-10 Plan in 2004. The Plan pushes back the attainment deadline for PM-10 to 2010.