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Clean Up the Country’s Dirtiest Air
Healthy Children and Communities for the San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley faces one of the largest air quality challenges in the nation. Despite its vast size, open space, and low population density, air pollution is concentrated in the Valley environment. This results in high levels of exposure to harmful ozone and particulate matter. The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District has a key role in cleaning the Valley’s air. While the region’s air quality has gradually been getting better, the rate of progress is painfully slow—unfortunately, the Valley Air Board has a history of delaying action to reduce air pollution. Senate Bill 719 (Machado) would reform the District’s Governing Board to give citizens a stronger, more representative voice.
Recent studies show that air pollution has taken a major toll on quality of life:
- One in three families in the San Joaquin Valley has a member with a respiratory ailment.
- Fresno County has one of the three highest death rates from asthma among counties in the entire U.S.
- There are more than 1,200 premature deaths each year in the Valley due to particulate matter pollution.
- 1 out of 5 of the region’s children and 1 in 8 adults suffers from asthma.
- Asthma causes at least 808,000 school absences each year in the San Joaquin Valley, accounting for $26 million of lost revenue annually to regional school districts.
- Heart and lung disease associated with the Valley’s poor air quality cost residents about $3.2 billion in health expenses each year.
In California, regional air districts must develop and implement plans to attain federal air quality standards. Since 1990, the Valley Air District has missed more than 19 clean air deadlines, prompting six lawsuits—which often provide the only impetus for the District to take major actions. Broader regional representation and more clean air expertise would help the Valley Air Board establish meaningful plans, meet deadlines, and attain clean air goals. Specifically, SB 719 expands the Valley Air Board membership from 11 to 15 members, to include additional representation from urban areas, rural areas, and public health experts.
Key features of SB 719:
- The largest cities in the region—Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Visalia, and Modesto—will gain better representation on the Valley Air Board by receiving two rotating seats.
- Two seats on the Board would be appointed to health experts: a practicing physician and a scientist, both with expertise in the health effects of air pollution.
An expanded, more effective Valley Air Board will be better able to reach clean air goals and ultimately improve Valley residents’ lives.
Update
Victory! Governor Schwarzenegger has signed SB 719 into law!
