| Quarterly meeting
Tuesday August 25, 2009 |
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Save the Date for our next Quarterly Luncheon! |
Date:
Tuesday, Aug. 25
Time: 11:30AM -1:30PM
Location: West Sacramento Galleria
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| Next Quarterly Luncheon to Focus on
Region's Air Quality Successes |
Are you in need of some good news? Then join us for the next Cleaner Air Partnership Quarterly Luncheon on August 25th in West Sacramento. We will celebrate the rich history of the Cleaner Air Partnership and hear about exciting projects underway to improve air quality including:
- The Climate Change Compact of Yolo County
- A.I.R. - A high school based air quality assessment project
- Cap-to-Cap federal advocacy successes
Date: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Location: West Sacramento City Hall Civic Center Galleria
1110 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento
RSVP: Please RSVP via email to Tara Thronson or (916) 325-1630 by Friday, August 21st. |
| The Cleaner Air Partnership Strongly Supports the Federal CARS Program |
Program Benefits the environment, public health and the business community
 In keeping with a deep history of supporting actions which improve the Sacramento Region's air quality, The Cleaner Air Partnership is proud to strongly embrace the federal Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS). Thousands of Californians die prematurely each year due to cancer, respiratory diseases or other ailments related to breathing air contaminated by automobile emissions. The Cleaner Air Partnership believes the residents of our region benefit greatly when we work together to reduce the pollution emitted from cars, trucks and mobile sources, which make up 70 percent of our air problem. The CARS program, also popularly titled "Cash for Clunkers", provides $3,500 or $4,500 rebates to dealers for trade-in vehicles when consumers purchase or lease a new vehicle with improved fuel ratings. In addition to the environmental and public health benefits from replacing gas-guzzling vehicles with more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, this program is energizing the economy by boosting auto sales. The Cleaner Air Partnership supports the $2 billion extension to this program because it is a win-win-win for the environment, public health and the business community. Please see the Cleaner Air Partnership Website for a summary of the CARS program and links for more information about eligible cars for trade-in and purchase. |
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"Check Before You Burn" Proposed Changes |
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Proposed changes to "Check Before You Burn" Rule may avoid stringent and costly regulations
 The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District's 2008/09 winter Check Before You Burn program ended its second season on February 28, and reported a reduction in fine particle pollution up to 23 percent.
While those reductions are impressive, they're not enough to achieve the federal health standard for PM2.5. Changes to Rule 421 are necessary to achieve further reductions so our area can make considerable progress toward attaining the federal standard. The U.S. EPA examines 3 years worth of PM2.5 data to assess the attainment/nonattainment status of an area. Actions taken now may avoid the need to adopt other more stringent and costly regulations that could affect homeowners, businesses, and agriculture.
The District presented four options to strengthen the rule at five public workshops in July. While each of these options would increase the number of No Burn days, they would also reduce the number of days that exceed the federal health standard. Three of these options would take effect immediately and would increase days within the federal standard by an average of 3-5 days per year. A proposed contingency option would take effect if our area does not achieve the federal standard requirements by the required date, resulting in mandated lower thresholds.
A public hearing for adoption of the changes by the AQMD Board of Directors is scheduled for September 24, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors' chambers, 700 H Street, room 1450. Please join and share your support to proactively improve our air quality! For questions, call Marc Cooley, AQMD, at (916) 874-4846.
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| The Cleaner Air Partnership is a joint project of Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails, the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and Valley Vision to help the Sacramento Region meet clean air standards that protect health and promote economic growth. | |
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