Legislators request $75M to invest in air monitoring

SACRAMENTO — Nearly 50 state legislators have signed a letter asking Gov. Jerry Brown and leaders of the state Senate and Assembly to ensure a new state clean air law gets full funding in the 20182019 budget.

The lawmakers, including Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia and state Sen. Ben Hueso, have requested the state allocate $75 million to Assembly Bill 617 for the the upcoming fiscal year.

AB 617, which was signed into law last year, requires new community air-monitoring programs and community emission-reduction plans. It also provides for emissions inventory work and a new program for best-available retrofit control technology on stationary sources to reduce air pollution to improve community health.

However, the current proposed budget for 2018-2019 does not include any funding for the program, unlike the previous fiscal year, when the state allocated $27 million to the California Air Resources Board for this purpose.

“The groundbreaking passage of AB 617 has been the most significant advancement in air pollution laws since the California Clean Air Act,” Garcia said in a release.

“Now we need to lock in the funding. This is the crucial next step in our state’s ability to fulfill its commitment to alleviate air quality concerns for our most environmentally disadvantaged communities, like those in my district.”

Garcia said Imperial County is reported to have 12,000 children with asthma, the county has more than double the state’s rate of young children’s hospital and emergency room visits for this respiratory illness.

“These funds will equip local air districts with the resources necessary to implement community-led air monitoring programs, mitigate pollution and improve overall public health,” he said.

Legislators said in the letter the local air districts need extensive resources to cover costs of outreach, purchasing of hardware, renting and leasing space for monitors, laboratory analysis of data and preparation and tracking of the emission reduction plans.

“Adequate ongoing funding is essential if this new effort is to succeed,” the letter signed by the lawmaker’s states.

The Air Resource Board is expected to finalize statewide plans to guide implementation in the fall. It is also expected to provide technical grants to community-based organizations to develop emission-control programs and mandate local air districts to implement plans to reduce emissions within their own communities. The new model mirrors the air monitoring network put in place in the Imperial Valley by Comite Civico del Valle, which last week announced the initial results of air-quality data it had collected. The data showed Calexico is the area most affected by particulate matter pollution. The equipment also identified 10 times more unhealthy air episodes than government-regulated ambient air monitors.