The Air District is issuing an air quality advisory due to smoke from the Somersville brush fire in Antioch. Smoke from this brush fire is expected to impact air quality in eastern Contra Costa County on Wednesday evening. Conditions can change rapidly and the amount and location of smoke at ground level is 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. The Air District will continue to monitor conditions to see if impacts will continue on Thursday. Smoky, hazy skies may be visible, the smell of smoke is possible and air quality may become unhealthy as of Wednesday evening.

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.