With $600,000 in funding from the California Air Resources Board’s Community Air Grants program, the San Joaquin Valley Environmental Justice Collaborative (Collaborative) is engaging residents in disadvantaged communities to learn about their air quality concerns, informing them about air pollution sources, health impacts, and mitigation resources, implementing a network of community‑based air monitors. The project is prioritizing communities that are located furthest from existing regulatory air monitors that are part of the California Ambient Air Monitoring Network and providing real‑time air quality alerts based on local air pollution data. The California Ambient Air Monitoring Network consists of more than 250 monitoring stations operated by federal, State, and local agencies that generate data to define the nature and severity of pollution in California, determine attainment status with Ambient Air Quality Standards, provide real-time air quality information, assess community exposure, and more.
The Collaborative, comprised of community‑based organizations (CBO) from across the San Joaquin Valley, is leading the San Joaquin Valley Community Air Monitoring Network (SJVAir), which has installed and is operating consumer‑grade PurpleAir and high‑performance Met One BAM 1022 Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 air monitors. The Collaborative developed and maintains an active database of all PurpleAir and regulatory monitor PM 2.5 data for the eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley. SJVAir performs regressions on data from 16 sites each day to generate regional San Joaquin Valley conversion algorithms that are applied to hundreds of PurpleAir monitors across the valley. The calibrated PurpleAir data, along with data from the network of regulatory monitors, is displayed in real‑time on the Collaborative’s website, SJVAir.com. SJVAIR provides real‑time air quality alerts to schools and residents via email, text message or a free downloadable app, which automatically identifies and provides real‑time data for the nearest monitor based on the phone’s GPS.
Over the past year, the Collaborative has begun installing school‑based air monitoring networks that include a regulatory‑grade PM monitor and a dozen or more consumer‑grade monitors at surrounding schools. Two school‑based networks have been completed with Community Air Grants funding, one in partnership with Delano Union Elementary School District and the other with Los Banos Unified School District. The Collaborative has since secured grant funding from CalEPA and US EPA to install similar school‑based air monitoring networks in four additional SJV school districts.
The Collaborative has also established CBO‑led, local Community Steering Committees in multiple disadvantaged communities across the San Joaquin Valley. Local Community Steering Committees assist with identifying locations and installing SJVAir monitors, creating and disseminating informational materials on air pollution and SJVAir, and identifying emissions sources of concern in their community. With funding from a separate Community Air Grant, the Collaborative is supporting the development of local Community Emissions Reduction Plans by three SJV CSCs. These plans are based on mitigation strategies identified and implemented by formal AB 617 Community Steering Committees across the state.