In This Issue

In this issue, you’ll find articles about the Air District’s allocation of funding to upgrade air filtration systems in West Contra Costa County Schools, the expansion of eligibility requirements for the Vehicle Buy Back program with a corresponding incentive increase, the Air District’s advice on how to prepare for wildfire season, and publication of the Air District’s 2024 Annual Report. Other articles cover an upcoming hearing on proposed amendments to the Air District’s wood-burning rules, a settlement with Chevron that will enhance air monitoring and transparency for local communities, and an enforcement action against Radius Recycling for violations related to a 2023 fire at the facility. Current grant opportunities are also summarized.

In June, the Air District’s Board of Directors approved the allocation of $4 million in Community Air Protection Incentives funding to support home and school air filtration programs in Bay Area communities.

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 Contra Costa investment will deliver high-efficiency air filtration retrofits and five years of filter replacements in up to 14 public schools in Richmond, North Richmond, San Pablo and Tara Hills, at no cost to the West Contra Costa Unified School District. This work builds on previous upgrades already completed by the Air District at Washington, Dover, Riverside and King elementary schools.

The School Air Filtration Program directly supports Strategy 4, Action 4.2 of the Richmond-North Richmond-San Pablo Community Emissions Reduction Plan, or Path to Clean Air, developed in collaboration with the Community Steering Committee, local residents and community partners through the Community Air Protection Program. School selection was informed by the Richmond-North Richmond-San Pablo CERP, the CSC, the California Air Resources Board and the Air District.

As of July 1, the Air District has expanded eligibility for the Vehicle Buy Back Program, which takes older, high-polluting vehicles off the road that might otherwise remain in operation. 

The program’s incentive amount has increased to $2,000 per vehicle and it now includes vehicles that are model year 2000 and older.

The Vehicle Buy Back Program encourages owners of older, high-emission cars and small trucks to voluntarily retire their vehicles. Since older vehicles typically lack modern emission control systems, they disproportionately contribute to local air pollution.

Current eligibility requirements for the Vehicle Buy Back Program, as of July 1:

• Vehicle must be model year 2000 or older
• Vehicle must be currently registered as operable and drivable
• Vehicle must have been registered as operable in the Bay Area for the past 24 months
• Vehicles within 60 days of a required smog check must pass the smog check

The Vehicle Buy Back Program effectively reduces air pollutants, including particulate matter and ozone precursors. Retiring these vehicles also significantly cuts greenhouse gas emissions, which helps combat climate change. Since its inception in 1996, the Air District’s Vehicle Buy Back Program has successfully retired over 95,000 vehicles, preventing millions of pounds of pollutants from entering the Bay Area’s atmosphere.

The Air District is encouraging residents to prepare for potential smoke impacts this summer to protect their health in the event of widespread unhealthy air quality. 

Wildfire smoke poses a serious health risk, especially during prolonged events. The best way for Bay Area residents to protect their health from smoke is to remain indoors with windows and doors closed, if temperatures allow. Residents can further reduce their exposure to high levels of air pollution by following these tips:

• Stay informed on local air quality conditions. Sign up for Air Quality Incident Notifications and Spare the Air Alerts to get notified when wildfire smoke impacts the Bay Area. Real-time smoke pollution levels are available on the U.S. EPA’s Fire and Smoke Map.
• During high heat and heavy smoke, keep indoor air cool or visit a Clean Air Center.
• Weatherize the home by replacing or fixing old, leaky windows and doors; use caulking to seal cracks and holes to prevent smoke from entering the space.
• Consider using a non-ozone-producing air purifier to create a cleaner air room in the home or a MERV 13 or greater filter for heating and cooling systems.
• Set car ventilation systems to recirculate to prevent outside air from moving inside.
• Avoid adding additional air pollution by curtailing activities such as wood burning, lawn mowing, leaf blowing, driving, barbecuing or other dust-producing activities.
• For those who must be outside, consider wearing a properly fitted N95 mask. Bandanas and typical surgical masks do little to protect against smoke particles.

Smoke can irritate the eyes and airways, causing coughing, a scratchy throat and irritated sinuses. Elevated particulate matter in the air can trigger wheezing in those who suffer from asthma, emphysema or COPD. Pregnant people, the elderly, children and individuals with heart or lung disease are particularly susceptible to elevated air pollution levels and should take extra precautions to avoid exposure.

For more information on preparing for and responding to smoke events, visit www.baaqmd.gov/wildfiresafety.

In 2024, the Air District continued its mission to reduce the disproportionate levels of air pollution faced by many communities and provide clean air for all Bay Area residents. Through its community-focused programs, regulatory actions and innovative climate protection programs, the agency strengthened its ability to reduce emissions and climate-warming pollutants. 

The Air District’s 2024 annual report Advancing Clean Air highlights its achievements in 2024 through a dynamic website featuring original video content and animated graphics.

View the 2024 Annual Report.

The Air District will host a public hearing in October and is currently accepting comments on proposed amendments to two regulations:

• Regulation 5: Open Burning (Regulation 5) and
• Regulation 6: Particulate Matter, Rule 3: Wood-Burning Devices (Rule 6-3). 

The proposed amendments to Regulation 5 would waive operation fees for all persons conducting prescribed burns, expanding the current exemption that applies only to public agencies. This change is intended to reduce administrative barriers and improve operational flexibility for nonprofit organizations and private landowners who may be positioned to carry out prescribed burns in areas where public agency capacity is limited.

The proposed amendments to Regulation 5 support statewide efforts to expand beneficial fire practices for wildfire prevention and land stewardship.

Under Rule 6-3, the Air District announces a prohibition against wood-burning, or mandatory burn ban, when the agency forecasts that the 24-hour average fine particulate matter concentration will exceed a designated threshold that is currently set at 35 micrograms per cubic meter. The proposed amendments to Rule 6-3 would lower this 24-hour average fine particulate matter threshold to 25 micrograms per cubic meter, enabling the Air District to issue mandatory burn bans when it forecasts that conditions will meet this lower threshold.

This change is intended to reduce short and long-term peaks in fine particulate matter exposure from wood-burning. Multiple scientific and regulatory bodies have cited evidence supporting the need for more health-protective measures to curb particulate matter emissions.

The Air District Board of Directors will consider adopting these amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3, and approving a determination that adoption of these amendments is exempt from provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act, at a public hearing during the Air District’s scheduled October 1, 2025, Board of Directors meeting.

The Air District has been soliciting written comments on the proposed amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3 and the Staff Report. These should be addressed to Rule Development, Bay Area Air District, 375 Beale Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94105. Comments may also be sent by e-mail to woodsmokerule@baaqmd.gov.

Comments on the proposed amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3 are requested by August 13, 2025, at 5 PM.

For more information and to access the proposed amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3 and the Staff Report, please visit the Air District’s Woodsmoke Rule Amendments web page.

In June, the Air District 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 that exceed those required by regulation or permit.

The Air District’s Refining Emissions Tracking Rule (Regulation 12, Rule 15) requires Bay Area refineries to operate fenceline air monitoring systems that measure pollutant concentrations near their property lines. In October 2023, the Air District disapproved the Fenceline Air Monitoring Plans of all five Bay Area refineries because their plans did not meet the rule requirements.

Following its disapproval, the Air District worked with each of the refineries to help them meet all requirements and bring them back into compliance. Chevron is the first among the Bay Area refineries to resolve the disapproval of its fenceline air monitoring plan. The Air District will continue to work with the other refineries to bring them into compliance.

The agreement requires Chevron to:

• Implement the approved Fenceline Air Monitoring Plan and make additional monitoring improvements in the near future. Collectively, this includes:
  • Operating a network of four point monitors for hydrogen sulfide, which includes one additional new monitor beyond those that are already operating
    • The point monitors required by this settlement have a lower detection limit, better accuracy and precision, and are less affected by atmospheric conditions than the current hydrogen sulfide open-path monitoring equipment Chevron is operating
    • Clearer requirements for operating, maintaining and assessing the performance of the monitoring equipment for all pollutants to improve accountability and transparency
• Provide public access to real-time and historical data that can be easily downloaded
• Provide quarterly reports summarizing measured pollutant concentrations and detailing the results of quality assurance and quality control checks
• Hold a public meeting in 2025 to solicit feedback and respond to comments from Richmond residents on improvements to the availability and visualization of data from Chevron’s fenceline and other air monitoring systems
• Pay the Air District a penalty of $100,000, with additional penalties to ensure immediate accountability if Chevron violates any settlement terms

The Air District will coordinate closely with Chevron to make sure all settlement obligations are implemented while continuing to engage with the local community to ensure that residents have clear, timely information.

As technology and air quality data needs evolve, the Air District works to continually improve its emissions and air quality measurement programs, particularly for communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution. 

In July, the Air District and Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson filed a joint civil lawsuit against Radius Recycling, formerly Schnitzer Steel Industries, for air quality violations related to the fire at the company’s facility in West Oakland on August 9-10, 2023. 

Previous enforcement actions by the Air District and the district attorney required Radius Recycling to install new equipment that has eliminated hundreds of tons of air pollution and reduced cancer risk by 84 percent since 2022. The Air District also finalized the operating permit for this important equipment in July.

Radius Recycling shreds and sorts scrap metal materials, such as end-of-life vehicles and appliances, which are then sold and transported from the facility for reuse in steel mills and foundries globally.

The lawsuit seeks penalties against Radius Recycling for its negligence regarding a major fire that broke out on August 9, 2023, causing significant air quality impacts in West Oakland.

Radius Recycling’s shredder was down at the time, but the company continued to accept more scrap despite running out of storage space. It consequently put the material in an area which is not equipped with water cannons to keep the material wetted and heat-detection cameras to spot dangerous temperature increases – crucial fire-prevention measures required by the facility’s air permit. The company’s failure to keep the material adequately wet, and its failure to monitor the materials’ rising temperature, were substantial factors in creating the conditions that caused the fire.

The lawsuit asks the court to assess a monetary penalty against Radius Recycling and seeks an injunction prohibiting Radius Recycling from storing any scrap material in locations that do not have adequate watering systems and heat-detection cameras.

The finalized permit for the air pollution control equipment stems from earlier enforcement actions by the Air District and by the Alameda County District Attorney, in partnership with the California Attorney General and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Those enforcement actions ended in 2020 and 2021 and required Radius Recycling to install two new thermal oxidizers and two new packed-bed acid gas scrubbers on the metal shredder to comply with Air District regulations.

In 2022, Radius Recycling installed this mandatory air pollution abatement equipment, which has been effective in reducing the shredder’s potential to emit smog-forming organic compound emissions by approximately 98 percent. It has greatly reduced cancer and other public health risks associated with these emissions.

Radius Recycling incurred some violations during the initial startup of the new abatement systems, for which the Air District fined the company $575,000 in 2024. The company addressed those problems and is currently operating in compliance with applicable regulations. The operating permit issued in July requires continued operation of this abatement equipment in the future, with revised permit conditions to ensure ongoing compliance.

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: 

The 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/ We invite you to take a short survey to help us assess the program’s effectiveness and gather feedback to improve how we support climate innovation.👉 Climate Tech Finance Needs Survey 

The Charge! Program for electric vehicle (EV) charging projects is not currently accepting applications. 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. www.baaqmd.gov/charge

Coming soon! A new voucher-based Lawn and Garden Equipment Electrification Program is being piloted in 2025 for commercial operators. This program aims to reduce the cost of switching to zero-emission lawn and garden equipment. 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:

• The Vehicle Buy-Back program pays Bay Area residents a cash award to retire an older light-duty vehicle (i.e., passenger car or light-duty truck). As of July 1, 2025, the incentive for retiring an older passenger car and light-duty truck is $2,000 per vehicle. The program accepts operable, registered, model year 2000 and older passenger cars or light-duty trucks for scrapping, removing the highest-polluting passenger vehicles from the road. www.baaqmd.gov/vbb

• The Clean Cars for All Program provides grants to income-qualified Bay Area residents to retire an older (model year 2007 or older) passenger vehicle and replace it 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 do not want to purchase a replacement vehicle can receive $7,500 towards alternative mobility options (e.g. public transit or electric bicycles). ). New applications will be accepted starting in late August/September. www.baaqmd.gov/cleancarsforall

• The Clean Heating Efficiently with Electric Technology (Clean HEET) Program offers property owners up to $10,500 to retire a wood-burning fireplace or woodstove and replace it with an electric heat pump. A property owner may also be eligible for a $1,000 award to decommission a fireplace or woodstove and render it permanently inoperable (“decommission”). Clean HEET is accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis through September 30, 2025. All Bay Area property owners are eligible to apply. 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 more information on the program, visit: https://www.baaqmd.gov/woodsmokegrant.

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

• The VW Combustion Freight and Marine Program offers grants 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

• The VW Zero-Emission Class 8 Freight and Port Drayage Trucks Program offers grant funding for equipment owners and aims to accelerate electrification of Class 8 freight trucks, including drayage trucks, waste haulers, dump trucks, and concrete mixers or their engines. Eligible trucks must be 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  

• The VW Zero-Emission Transit and Shuttle Buses Program offers grant funding to bus fleet owners that operate in California to support early adoption of zero-emission bus technologies that will 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/

• The VW Zero-Emission Freight and Marine Program offers funding for projects in California that repower ferries, tugboats, and towboats, or that replace heavy-lift forklifts or cargo handling equipment with zero-emission alternatives. This solicitation is accepting applications on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline to apply for funding for marine vessel repower projects is August 14 at 4 PM. After this deadline, applications for this project category will no longer be accepted. Applications for replacing forklifts and port cargo handling equipment will remain open 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 fall, the Air District and Spare the Air will be participating in the following outreach events.

August

San Mateo Disaster Preparedness Day – San Mateo
August 2

Sonoma County Fair – Santa Rosa
August 2-3, 9-10

Festival of India – Fremont
August 16-17

Sunday Streets (Bayview) – San Francisco
August 24

September

Ember Stomp Wildfire Safety Festival – Marin
September 6

Mountain View Art & Wine Festival – Mountain View
September 6-7

The Bay Ride – San Francisco
September 13

Los Gatos Art & Wine Festival – Los Gatos
September 20-21

Sunday Streets (Western Addition) – San Francisco
September 21

October

Sunday Streets (SOMA) – San Francisco
October 5

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival – Half Moon Bay
October 18-19

Sunday Streets (Excelsior) – San Francisco
October 19

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