Effective July 1, the Air District is expanding the Vehicle Buy Back Program, which takes older, high-polluting vehicles off the road that would otherwise likely remain in operation. The program is increasing the incentive amount to $2,000 per vehicle and including vehicles that are model year 2000 and older.

The Air District has reached a pivotal settlement with Chevron that will significantly enhance air monitoring data transparency, providing more information about air pollutants around the Richmond refinery. The agreement requires Chevron to take new data access and community engagement actions beyond those required by regulation or permit.

The Air District's Board of Directors approved allocating $4 million in Community Air Protection Incentives funding to support home and school air filtration programs in Bay Area communities at their June 4 meeting. As part of this initiative, the Air District Board authorized up to $1.3 million of upgrades in public schools in Richmond, North Richmond, San Pablo, and Tara Hills. An additional $1.7 million will be used to expand air filtration upgrades in schools in Bayview-Hunters Point in San Francisco, and $1 million will be allocated to the Air District’s Home Air Filtration program.

The Air District is extending an air quality advisory due to wildfire smoke from Canadian wildfires in the Bay Area through Thursday, June 5. Smoke from various Canadian wildfires in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba is expected to impact air quality in the Bay Area through Thursday. Conditions can change rapidly and the amount and location of smoke at ground level are hard to predict. The public can check for real-time smoke pollution levels in their local area with the U.S. EPA’s Fire and Smoke Map. Smoky, hazy skies may be visible, the smell of smoke is possible, and air quality may become unhealthy through Thursday, June 5.