In November, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) will convene in Egypt for its 27th meeting. Countries committed last year to return with more ambitious targets and focus on resilience and adaptation. According to the UN, this year’s conference goal is “inclusive, rules-based and ambitious, substantive outcomes, commensurate with the challenge based on science and guided by principles building on agreements, decisions, pledges, and commitments, from Rio 1992 to Glasgow 2021.”

Recognizing that every level of government must play a meaningful role in climate action, the District will join the California contingent as part of a large US public/private sub-national delegation expected to contribute to a climate strategy that reflects the urgency of the climate crisis. Local air agencies attend COP to learn, share, and connect.

Through a partnership with The Climate Registry, District representation will include 2023 incoming Board Chair Patrick Kennedy, Air Pollution Control Officer Alberto Ayala, and Jaime Lemus, head of the District’s Transportation and Climate Change Division.

For more on COP27, please visit the conference website here.

On November 1, the Sac Metro Air District will begin accepting applications for its Low Emission Vehicle Incentive Program to fund zero emission trucks and buses, clean farm equipment, EV charging stations, and other innovative clean air projects. Approximately $22 million in funding will be available.

Using the state’s Carl Moyer Program guidelines, the District will open a new online application system to receive funding requests that promote investments in cleaner equipment in the greater Sacramento Valley for small businesses, community fleets, and other projects that provide air and climate emission reductions. Project priorities for this round of funding include EV chargers for commercial applications, zero emission school buses, clean farm equipment replacement, and locomotives.

Learn more about this solicitation during virtual and in-person workshops. The virtual workshop will be hosted on Thursday, October 20 via Zoom from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. To join the virtual workshop, please use this Zoom link (Meeting ID: 820 5765 2550). The in-person workshop will be hosted on Thursday, October 20 at the South Natomas Library in the Community Room (2901 Truxel Rd, Sacramento, CA 95833) from 2 – 5 p.m.

Please sign up for the District email system for notification when the application period opens and further details about the virtual and in-person workshops.

As part of its ongoing solicitation process, the District has awarded clean air grants to a wide variety of businesses for projects in our region that reduce fossil fuel combustion pollution, advance our efforts to meet federal air quality standards and state decarbonization goals, and result in important economic development co-benefits.

The following past award winners are ready to take their projects to the next step! Congratulations to all our partners for helping to ensure clean air and a low-carbon future for all!

After two years of focused work by Sac Metro Air District staff and numerous partners and stakeholders, the District’s Board of Directors approved and publicly released the agency’s Wildfire Smoke Air Pollution Emergency Plan at their September board meeting. The need for this plan was championed by former District Board Director and former Sacramento City Councilmember Steve Hansen and shepherded into law by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty.

Following the passage of Assembly Bill (AB) 661 (McCarty, 2019), the Emergency Plan was developed by the Sac Metro Air District in close coordination with Sacramento County Public Health and various city, county, and state government partners, school districts, and local businesses. This new Emergency Plan builds on previous efforts and provides key health protective guidance for wildfire smoke events. The Plan serves as effective and important information and coordination source for Sacramento’s school districts, local businesses and agencies, and residents at large. The Emergency Plan, and the process used to develop it, will help inform future efforts throughout the state.

“The Wildfire Smoke Air Pollution Emergency Plan, based on our legislation, will help us combat the public health impact of climate change and wildfires,” said Assemblymember McCarty, author of AB 661. “With new resources, this plan will improve the coordination and integration of wildfire smoke responses throughout Sacramento County and provide the public with tools they can use to protect their health. I commend the Sac Metro Air District for their work and partnership in creating this plan with Sacramento County Public Health and many other partners and stakeholders.”

As part of the Emergency Plan process, various resources were created to help protect public health including four new Air Quality Action Charts, a video guide for schools, and a partner toolkit to help share messages about wildfire smoke and health impacts.

“The Sac Metro Air District is extremely proud to have spearheaded this effort to protect public health during wildfire smoke events,” said Sac Metro Air District Stationary Sources Division Manager, Amy Roberts. “We thank our former Board Director Hansen for calling us to action and Assemblymember McCarty for leading the legislative effort. With support and input from our local partners, the District has developed the latest suite of best practices and tools that will help our region prepare and protect residents from wildfire particle pollution. And with large and destructive wildfires becoming a common occurrence in California due to our warming climate, we know that it is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the next fire will strike. Because of the Emergency Plan and the processes created, our community is better equipped to stay safe when it does.”

Read more about the Sac Metro Air District’s Wildfire Smoke Air Pollution Emergency Plan in the District’s September 22 press release here. The Emergency Plan, toolkit and other resources are available on the District’s website at www.airquality.org/WildfireSmoke.

The Sac Metro Air District’s new environmental justice-centered Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) program funds community-based projects using a portion of penalties collected from air quality violations. Through a lens of equity and environmental justice, the program prioritizes projects that improve public health, reduce air pollution, increase environmental compliance, and bring public awareness to neighborhoods most burdened by air pollution. The SEP program is one of the District’s emerging local strategies to reduce emissions and pollution burdens in our underserved communities.

Two recent award recipients are the Midtown Association and 350 Sacramento.

The Midtown Association (MA), a property-based improvement district that serves 1,254 parcels spanning 92 city blocks in Midtown, Sacramento, was one of the SEP program’s first awardees. In 2022, MA undertook an effort to reduce its carbon footprint and identified the following actionable steps to take:

These pieces of equipment are used on a daily and weekly basis and contribute to reducing MA’s carbon footprint and exposure to pollution in the surrounding community.

350 Sacramento, a prominent and very active local nonprofit focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in the Sacramento region was also awarded a SEP grant with an environmental justice focus. In 2022, 350 Sacramento hosted a series of DIY workshops helping residents build homemade air filters. The workshops also featured education on air quality, wildfires, and climate change. The goal of the project is to equip approximately 600 Sacramento families with air filters to protect them from wildfire pollution impacting the region.

350 Sacramento created a short video highlighting the project. Watch it here.

Get more information on the Environment Justice-centered SEP Program.