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April 2012
Upcoming Events:
- April 30 - May 4: Air Quality Awareness Week
- May: Bike Month
- May 11: APCD Bike Breakfast in SLO & Bike-n-Movie at Johnson Park
- May 12: 2012 National Train Day @ LA Union Station
- May 12: Lopez Lake Nature Festival
- May 16: SLO Chamber Mixer Showcase at Madonna Inn
- May 19: Clean Air Ambassador's Girl Scouts Air Quality Day at Cal Poly
- May 23: APCD Board Meeting and Make the Grade and Executive Bike Challenge
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| General Information | | Burn Season Ends Today, April 30, 2012.
To find out more information on the APCD's Burn Program, please visit our website or call 805-781-5912. |
| Be Air Aware! | | It's Air Quality Awareness Week
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Weather Service want Americans to "Be Air Aware" during Air Quality Awareness Week, April 30 to May 4, 2012. During Air Quality Awareness Week, the APCD urges residents to keep informed of your local air quality by subscribing to an email service that sends air quality information straight to your inbox. Each day of Air Quality Awareness Week the APCD will distribute press releases to the local media and national weather service to highlight useful tips individuals can take to keep our air clean.
Tip #1: Sign up to receive the daily air quality forecast via email by subscribing online using the APCD website. Air quality information is reported using the Air Quality Index (AQI), a color-coded scale for reporting daily air quality. This program allows the community to know how clean or pollution the air is, and when to take precautions when the region is impacted by high ozone levels, smoke from wildfires or high wind dust events.
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| Spring Events | | | APCD gets out and about to promote clean air.
APCD staff has participated in multiple events in April to help promote clean air and encourage the public to take steps to protect the air they breathe. Below are pictures from the 2012 Children's Day in the Plaza on April 14, where kids were able to spin the Wheel of Change to answer a question about air quality to win a prize and Pledge to be a Clean Air Kid! See the list of events at the top of this e-newsletter to see where we will be next! |
| Join the Challenge: Bike Month 2012 | | 
Bike Month is a national and local movement that occurs annually each May. San Luis Obispo County's Bike Month is a program of the SLO Regional Rideshare, and is powered by dedicated and energetic volunteers in our community who like to have fun and ride bikes. San Luis Obispo countywide Bike Month movement includes a wide spectrum of events and the online Commuter Bike Challenge. Bike Month matters, that's why we're challenging YOU to ride your bike at least ONCE during May and LOG IT ONLINE! To see all of the events, visit the Rideshare Calendar.
APCD Sponsored Bike Month Events:
- May 11 @ 7 am: APCD Bike Breakfast - check Rideshare Calendar for location.
- May 11 @ 7:30 pm: APCD Bike-In Movie, showing Napoleon Dynamite under the stars in Mission Plaza.
- May 23 @ 7 am: Executive Challenge. Ride solo or join a number of scheduled group rides. Contact Andy Mutziger at amutziger@co.slo.ca.us for details.
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| Greenhouse Gas (GHG) CEQA Thresholds | | |
On March 28, the APCD Board approved the CEQA greenhouse gas (GHG) emission thresholds for residential, commercial and industrial projects. These thresholds were developed based on substantial evidence that adheres to the requirements of Senate Bill 97 in a consistent and defensible manner and ensures new development is able to provide its fair share of GHG reductions to meet the State's AB 32 GHG reduction goals.
Through extensive research, APCD determined a menu approach for residential / commercial land use projects was the most effective approach for assessing the GHG emission impacts. Any of the three options may be used to determine the significance of a residential or commercial project's GHG emission impacts: 1) Qualitative GHG Reduction Strategies (e.g., Climate Action Plans); or, 2) Bright-Line Threshold (1,150 MT CO2e/yr); or: 3) Efficiency-Based Threshold (4.9 MT CO2e/service population/yr).
The APCD's CEQA Air Quality Handbook has been revised to incorporate the new thresholds, Both the Handbook and Greenhouse Thresholds and Supporting Evidence document are available on our website (SLOCleanAir.org)
For more information, please contact Aeron Arlin Genet, Planning and Outreach Division Manager, at aarlingenet@co.slo.ca.us.
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| APCD Short Film | |
In our last e-newsletter, we let everyone know about the short film APCD and C5 had been working on with Mr. Eco, the Environmental Rap Superhero and our First Place win at the SLO Green Shorts Film Festival on March 11!
On April 6, the video was part of the Santa Barbara Green Shorts Film Festival and shown on the big screen at the Lobero Theater. The video took Third Place overall and also won the Traffic Solutions Award, which is an award for a video that focuses its message on sustainable transportation. Professor Ozone (Alyssa Roslan), Percy the Penguin (Meghan Field) and Mr. Eco (Brett Edwards) walked the green carpet to receive the awards.
The music video encompasses many programs the APCD supports such as smart commuting options, alternative fuels and renewable energy. The 2 minute video will also serve as a useful tool for our Kids Outreach Program and will be featured on our website and shown at events.
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| Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition | | Idling Gets You No Where Campaign
On April 10, the Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition (C5) and the APCD (Aeron Arlin Genet) participated in a press conference hosted by Congresswoman Lois Capps. The media event was also attended by the SLO Regional Transit Authority (Geoff Straw), SLO Regional Rideshare (Angela Nelson) and the SLO Council of Governments (Ron De Carli). It provided an excellent opportunity to launch C5's Idling Gets You Nowhere campaign as spotlight all of the transportation alternatives available throughout our region.
On April 22, the Idling Gets You No Where campaign was also launched to the public at the Earth Day Festival at El Chorro Regional Park in San Luis Obispo. Did you know that idling a vehicle for 10 minutes a day uses an average of 26.4 gallons of gas a year? This translates into each vehicle polluting approximately 530 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year! Turn off your engine if stopped more than one minute.
Join our efforts and take the Idling Gets You Nowhere pledge today!
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| $250,000 Secured to Prepare for Plug-In Electric Vehicles | | |
The Air Pollution Control Districts in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties have secured $250,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission to develop an Electric Vehicle Community Readiness Plan for the Central Coast of California. The goal is to develop a plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging infrastructure along the Highway 101 corridor through the Central Coast, connecting Southern California and the Bay Area.
The three air agencies, working with non-profit organizations - the Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition and the Community Environmental Council -have created an EV Coordinating Council (Plug-In Central Coast) to support the emerging PEV market on the Central Coast. These local efforts are part of a larger statewide effort to expand EV infrastructure throughout the state of California.
For more information, please contact Melissa Guise at mguise@co.slo.ca.us. |
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