In This Issue

In this issue, you’ll find articles about an Air District community air quality funding survey, an open application to join the Air District’s Community Advisory Council, and the upcoming All Aboard Bay Area Transit Day. Other articles cover an Air District-sponsored environmental justice scholarship for college students, how to submit an electronic job interest card to the Air District, and a recent penalty assessed to Kinder Morgan, Inc. Current grant opportunities are also summarized.

The Air District is preparing to invest millions in Bay Area communities impacted by air pollution to enhance public health, environmental quality and community well-being — and we need your input! This funding comes from penalties collected from industry and businesses that violate Air District regulations. 

Your feedback will help shape how these funds are used to reduce air pollution and improve health outcomes in your community.

We want to hear from you about:

• Community priorities and needs
• The types of projects that should be funded (e.g., research, education, infrastructure)
• How funds should be distributed
• The best ways for us to communicate with you

Take the Survey by May 10,2025.

For more information, visit the Community Investments Office web page or contact communityinvestments@baaqmd.gov.

The Air District is soliciting applications for thirteen seats on its Community Advisory Council. The thirteen open seats represent: Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties, as well as at-large and youth seats.

In November 2021, the Board of Directors approved the formation of the Air District’s inaugural CAC, consisting of 17 community members from across the Bay Area. The Board created the CAC in response to community input and to support an equity-forward policy agenda. The CAC provides guidance to the Board of Directors on programs and policies that impact all communities, including overburdened communities.

The CAC reflects the diversity of the Bay Area and lived experiences in communities heavily impacted by air pollution. The CAC is composed of individuals with diverse skill sets and a range of relevant knowledge and technical expertise. This includes, but is not limited to, individuals who reflect the diverse demographics of the Bay Area and/or have been or are impacted by air pollution, as well as individuals who utilize community-centered approaches and have expertise and knowledge on air quality issues.

The CAC meets bi-monthly in person and members are expected to: 

• Review materials for CAC meetings and participate during the meetings; 
• Attend required trainings;
• Join at least one ad hoc committee every year, except CAC leadership;  
• Perform all other duties as prescribed by the charter, including following civility expectations.

Council Members are compensated $500 for attending the bi-monthly CAC meetings and $75 per hour for other meetings.

First time applicants should complete this application. Current CAC members interested in reapplying should contact CAC staff. 

For more information on the work of the CAC, selection criteria and background documents, visit the CAC web page. 

For questions, please contact the Air District at communityadvisorycouncil@baaqmd.gov. The application launches on May 1 and closes on June 1, 2025, at midnight.

Bay Area transit agencies, in partnership with the Air District and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, are encouraging residents to ride transit on Tuesday, May 6, for All Aboard Bay Area Transit Day, which coincides with the start of the Spare the Air summer smog season.

All Aboard Transit Day encourages people to get out and ride transit – or perhaps try it for the first time – as more people return to the office and as transit ridership grows.

Remote work has had a significant impact on transit ridership and the fare revenues agencies rely on. Bay Area transit agencies have used federal and state pandemic emergency funds to prevent drastic service cuts, enhance safety and cleanliness on their systems and to improve interagency schedule coordination to reduce travel times.

On All Aboard Transit Day, local transit agencies are showcasing their improved service and customer experiences, including new trains, buses and fare gates, cleaner stations, and added safety patrols on BART.

All Aboard Transit Day will take place on a Tuesday, because that day of the week has typically seen not only high transit ridership in the Bay Area, but also significant traffic on freeways, bridges and roadways.

On May 6, transit agencies will offer free stickers and other swag items to riders throughout the day to thank them for riding, while also soliciting their feedback.

MTC and Bay Area transit agencies have created a joint website to share the various projects they are coordinating on to improve transit. Learn more at allaboardbayarea.com.

The Air District, in partnership with the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, is pleased to announce the third year of the Marie Harrison Environmental Justice Scholarship! Scholarships have been awarded to 16 students in the first two years of the program and the plan is to award another 12 students this year.

This $5,000 scholarship supports college students who demonstrate a passion for improving environmental health and air quality in the overburdened frontline communities of the Bay Area. The Marie Harrison Environmental Justice Scholarship continues the legacy of Marie Harrison, an environmental justice leader and supporter of impacted youth. Ms. Harrison spent decades working to bring environmental, health and social justice to the Bayview Hunters Point community in San Francisco. She passed away in May 2019. Her actions inspired environmental justice communities throughout the Bay Area and California.

For more information about the scholarship, visit the application form web page. Applications are due May 30, 2025.

Prospective applicants can now set up an Interest Card to receive Air District job announcements.

Visit the Interest Card web page, select the desired job categories, and fill out the requested information.

For the next 12 months after you submit this form, you will receive an email notification each time a position opens with the Air District that matches the categories you've chosen.

Join us in our efforts to protect public health, reduce environmental inequities and mitigate climate change and its impacts!

The Air District has fined subsidiaries of Kinder Morgan, Inc., an energy infrastructure company that operates pipelines and fuel terminals throughout North America, $226,990 for air quality violations at two fuel terminals, one in Richmond and another in San Jose. 

A fuel terminal is a large storage and distribution facility where fuel is stored in tanks before being shipped to gas stations or other sites.

Air quality regulations are intended to reduce harmful emissions - such as volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter - which can cause public health issues and environmental degradation. They also ensure compliance with federal, state and local air quality standards.

This penalty addresses eight Notices of Violation issued by the Air District in 2022 and 2023. The violations include:

• Gaps in tank roofs at the Richmond terminal
• Exceeding a fuel storage limit of a tank at the Richmond terminal
• Viewports that were smaller than allowed by regulation on a tank roof at the Richmond terminal
• A 10-gallon gasoline spill at the San Jose terminal
• Two vapor leaks at the San Jose terminal

All violations included in this case have been corrected.

The Air District issues Notices of Violation when a facility violates a specific air quality regulation or rule. Violators are required to correct the problem and pay a monetary penalty based on the seriousness of the violation. Corrective actions may include shutting down certain operations or modifying operations or equipment to achieve compliance.

In 2024, the Bay Area Air District’s Board of Directors adopted a policy directing a portion of collected penalty funds to be used in the community that is impacted by the violation. These funds will support local projects aimed at reducing pollution and improving public health.

The Air District administers a number of grant funding programs that offer incentives for clean air projects.

Grant Funding for Clean Air Projects

Grant programs for Bay Area businesses and public agencies: 

• Climate Tech Finance Loan Guarantee Program is available to support the development and purchase of climate technologies for small businesses in California. Climate entrepreneurs can apply for loan guarantees up to 80 percent of the loan principal or $5 million, whichever is less, to accelerate the growth and impact of their businesses. This program is open and accepting applications. https://ctf.baaqmd.gov/

• OPEN NOW – Charge! Program for electric vehicle (EV) charging projects is currently accepting applications until June 6, 2025, at 5 PM PT. Charge! is a grant program that helps offset the cost of purchasing and installing new chargers for light-duty EVs, including publicly available chargers at qualifying facilities and private chargers to serve multi-family housing and case-by-case workplace locations within the Air District’s jurisdiction. The solicitation is competitive, which means that all complete applications will be scored and ranked. A total of at least $10 million in funding is available to qualified applicants. Visit the Charge! Program website for more information and to apply. www.baaqmd.gov/charge

• Coming soon! The Air District is working to develop several programs that will launch later this year targeting: 
  • Competitive Grant Solicitation for Electric Transport Refrigeration Units (TRUs) to award $30 million to support the transition from diesel to electric TRUs that operate in Goods Movement transport corridors.
  • A new pilot commercial electric lawn and garden (eL&G) voucher program to reduce the cost for commercial operators to exchange conventional, high-polluting combustion-powered lawn and garden equipment with zero-emission equipment will launch mid-2025. To learn about this program and to sign up to receive email notifications with program updates visit https://www.baaqmd.gov/en/funding-and-incentives/public-agencies/lawn-and-garden.

  Visit our website to learn more about our programs and to sign up for email alerts: Apply for Funding

Grant programs available to Bay Area residents:

• Vehicle Buy-Back–Passenger Car and Light-Duty Truck Retirement – On July 1, 2024, the incentive amount that is paid by the Vehicle Buy Back Program to participating Bay Area residents increased to $1,500 per vehicle. The program accepts operable, registered, model year 1998 and older passenger cars or light-duty trucks for scrapping, removing the highest-polluting passenger vehicles from the road. www.baaqmd.gov/vbb

• Clean Cars for All Program, Passenger Car and Light-Duty Vehicle Replacement – The Clean Cars for All Program provides grants to income-qualified Bay Area residents to retire older (model year 2007 or older), high-polluting vehicles and replace them with a new or used plug-in hybrid, fuel-cell, or electric vehicle. The program is open to all Bay Area zip codes and provides grant amounts up to $12,000, which includes an additional $2,000 for participants who live in disadvantaged community census tracts that purchase a plug-in electric or fuel cell electric vehicle. Residents that don’t want to purchase a replacement vehicle can receive $7,500 towards alternative mobility options (e.g. public transit or electric bicycles). Clean Cars for All is currently oversubscribed. Applications are still being accepted, but all new applications will go on a backup list. www.baaqmd.gov/cleancarsforall

• Clean Heating Efficiently with Electric Technology (Clean HEET) – The Clean HEET Program offers eligible residents $3,000 - $6,500 to replace an eligible fireplace or woodstove with an electric heat pump and $1,000 to permanently render a fireplace or woodstove inoperable (“decommission”). Residents who participate in qualifying low-income assistance programs are also eligible for additional plus-up incentive funding. Clean HEET is currently accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis. All Bay Area homeowners are eligible to apply; however funds are prioritized for homeowners located in the communities of West Oakland, East Oakland, Richmond-San Pablo, and Bayview Hunters Point/Southeast San Francisco, and homes that are in disadvantaged and low-income communities. The program seeks to award $2 million to reduce wintertime wood smoke pollution and improve air quality by helping to lower the costs for Bay Area homeowners to remove and/or replace their existing, operational, freestanding wood-burning stoves or pellet stoves, fireplace inserts, or open-hearth fireplaces with electric heat pumps. For complete information about funding, eligibility. and program requirements visit: https://www.baaqmd.gov/woodsmokegrant.

Other state-wide grant programs funded by Volkswagen NOx Mitigation Trust:

• VW Combustion Freight and Marine Projects – This program offers grant funding to equipment owners to accelerate the replacement of older, higher polluting diesel engines with the cleanest available technologies. Equipment eligible for replacement includes Class 7 and 8 freight trucks (including waste haulers, dump trucks, and concrete mixers) or their engines (2012 model year and older) that are compliant with current regulations; freight switcher locomotives or their engines; and ferry, tugboat, and towboat engines (pre-Tier 3). This solicitation is open and accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis until all funds are fully allocated. This program is administered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
  https://xappprod.aqmd.gov/vw/combustion.html

• VW Zero-Emission Class 8 Freight and Port Drayage Trucks - This program offers grant funding to equipment owners to support the expansion of zero-emission truck availability in the heaviest weight class. Vehicles eligible for replacement include Class 8 freight trucks (including drayage trucks, waste haulers, dump trucks, and concrete mixers) or their engines (2012 model year and older). This solicitation is open and accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis until all funds are fully allocated. This program is administered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
  https://xappprod.aqmd.gov/vw/zero-emission.html  

• VW Zero-Emission Transit and Shuttle Buses – This program offers grant funding to owners of bus fleets that operate in California to support early adoption of zero-emission bus technologies to reduce harmful exposure for the state’s most sensitive populations. This solicitation is open and accepting applications for transit and shuttle buses on a first-come, first-served basis until all funds are fully allocated. This program is administered by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
  http://vwbusmoney.valleyair.org/

• VW Zero-Emission Freight and Marine – This program offers funding for projects in California that repower ferries, tugboats, and towboats, or replace heavy-lift forklifts or cargo handling equipment with zero-emission alternatives. This solicitation is accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis until all funds are fully allocated. This program is administered by the Bay Area Air District. Sign up to receive program email alerts at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CaliforniaVW. 

This summer, the Air District and Spare the Air will be participating in the following outreach events.

May

Marin County Bike Coalition (MCBC) Bike Fest – Novato
May 3

Napa County Bike Coalition (NCBC) Bike Fest – Napa
May 4

May and June

San Mateo County Fair – San Mateo
May 31 - June 1

June

East Oakland Futures Fest – Oakland
June 7

Sunday Streets (Tenderloin) – San Francisco
June 15

San Francisco Pride – San Francisco
June 28-29

Alameda County Fair – Pleasanton
June 21-22, June 28-29

July

Alameda County Fair – Pleasanton
July 5-6

Marin County Fair – San Rafael (Pending confirmation)
July 5 

Sunday Streets (Mission) – San Francisco
July 20

Back to Top