SLO County Air Pollution Control District
Winter 2020 e-Newsletter & Burn Program Info
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Burning in SLO County
Helpful Information for Upcoming Burn Season
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On June 15, 2020, CAL FIRE suspended burn permits in SLO County. As a result, burn season is temporarily closed until further notice. CAL FIRE will reopen burn season, ordinarily after the next main downpour (which is typically around 2 inches of rainfall--minimal). Open burning is allowed in specified areas of SLO County on permissive burn days and requires a permit.
Backyard & agricultural burning is currently NOT permitted in SLO County. We have been getting questions about burn permits & will keep you informed when burn season is approaching. For now, get yourself prepared and read up on burning requirements & regulations at SLOCleanAir.org/rules-regulations/burning.
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Due to COVID-19 restrictions and protocols, we will be highly encouraging those that have held burn permits within the last 2 years to please renew this season online! It is simple and easy. Click here for more information. If you do not have access to a computer or our website, please call our office at 805-781-5912 and we would be happy to mail an application to you. It saves you time and protects yourself and our staff from possible exposure.
If you have NOT had a backyard OR an agricultural issued in the past 2 years, please visit our website, or call our office to see if you qualify for either permit. Burn restrictions may apply, depending on where your property is located in the county. https://www.slocleanair.org/rules-regulations/agriculture/burning
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Celebrating 50 Years of Protecting Blue Skies & Public Health |
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This year, SLO County APCD is celebrating 50 years of protecting public health and air quality here in San Luis Obispo County! The 1970 Clean Air Act authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and the environment. From that, 35 local air pollution control districts were formed in California to support the community by addressing air pollution at the local level. Since then, the SLO County APCD has continued to implement industry and land use emission reduction strategies, grant programs, and air quality monitoring, while keeping the public updated and aware of the air quality in SLO County! To highlight air quality achievements over the last 50 years, we developed a website to show accomplishments in air quality, highlight special stories from staff, photos from the past and a little insight into how we got to where we are today!
Click here to check out our 50th Anniversary website!
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Calling All Business Owners in Paso, Morro Bay, Los Osos, SLO and Oceano! |
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Do you have a business in Downtown Paso Robles, North Morro Bay, Los Osos, San Luis Obispo or Oceano? Then you may be eligible to receive grant funding for an Electric Vehicle Charger! Applications accepted January 18th through March 15th, 2021.
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Funding for the AB617 program is provided by the California Climate Investments Program, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment– particularly in disadvantaged communities. |
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Tips for an Environmentally Friendly Holiday Season! |
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Buy a real Christmas Tree: In a recent article by Rainforest Alliance, real Christmas trees are considered a “carbon sink” and provide a ton of other benefits, from clean air to water filtration. Fake Christmas trees are made from plastic and are often manufactured overseas. This comes with a bevy of environmental and human health problems, from the pollution that springs from the production of the plastic, steel, and brackets in the tree, to the emissions generated from shipping it from another country, to the packaging and resources required to store the tree—fake Christmas trees are not recyclable, and often end up in landfills.
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Recycle your Christmas Tree: Unlike fake Christmas trees, real trees are recyclable or compostable. If you buy a real Christmas tree this year, check with your local community about programs specifically for recycling Christmas Trees.
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Holiday Lights-Do them Right: Christmas lights are beautiful and make everyone’s homes feel warm and cozy, but according to the Center for Global Development, they use 6.6 billion kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which is enough to power 14 million refrigerators. There are two main ways to reduce your energy use while using holiday lights: replacing your traditional lights with LED lights, and using a timer to reduce the amount of time the lights are on. The US Department of Energy estimates LED lights have a longer lifespan and consume 70% less energy than conventional incandescent light strands.
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Make Handcrafts & DIY Gifts: One of the best ways to be environmentally friendly is to buy and use less stuff. There are so many ways to reduce consumption impact when giving holiday gifts. DIY gifts like homemade ornaments, crafty picture frames with photos of loved ones in them, or even handmade soaps can be as much fun to make and give as to receive.
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Wrapping Paper-choose the Recyclable: Instead of buying the most expensive wrapping paper for a one-time-use, try to repurpose household items like newspapers, magazines, or even old posters. Reusing paper around the house is a more sustainable alternative to wrapping paper. Fun fact: If every family wrapped just three gifts this way, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.
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Donate your Time or Money: Not sure what to get a family member or friend this year for Christmas? Are you looking to get more locally involved during this holiday season? Get into the holiday spirit by volunteering with a local cleanup organization within your community, which is also a great way to get the kids involved in an outdoor activity. ECOSLO is a community cleanup program located in San Luis Obispo that works on keeping our local community as clean as possible. For more info on volunteering or donating, please visit: https://ecoslo.org/community-clean-program/
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Voluntary Don't Light Tonight Advisories |
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Voluntary Don’t Light Tonight is a SLO County APCD initiative that asks residents to voluntarily refrain from burning wood or using their fireplaces and wood stoves on days with higher forecasted air pollution levels, unless they are using their fireplace/wood stove as their primary source of heat.
Don’t Light Program advisories follow the boundaries of San Luis Obispo County. When the APCD issues an advisory, we will include specific regions in SLO County that are most affected. Historically, during the winter months, these high particle pollution levels from wood smoke occur in the northern portion of SLO County (Paso Robles, Atascadero, Templeton). We have not had to issue one of these advisories in the past couple of years, but we like the public to be informed in advance!
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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT
3433 ROBERTO CT, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93401
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