San Joaquin Valleywide Air Pollution Study Agency Governing Board Meetings are generally held on the third Thursday of each month at 9:00 A.M. at the Central Region Office, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Governing Board Room, 1990 E. Gettysburg Avenue, Fresno, CA though they may be rescheduled occasionally due to conflicts with other scheduled meetings. Meetings are usually held immediately prior to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Governing Board Meeting. Study Agency meetings are held only when there are actions to process; therefore the decision to hold a meeting is made on a month-by-month basis. To encourage public participation, the Study Agency and District Governing Board Meetings are held via the District’s video teleconferencing system and can be attended in the Central Region Office, Fresno, the Northern Region Office, 4800 Enterprise Way, Modesto or the Southern Region Office, 34946 Flyover Court, Bakersfield.
San Joaquin Valleywide Air Pollution Study Agency (Study Agency) was formed to commission and administer scientifically sound air quality studies to improve understanding of the contributing factors and conditions that result in poor air quality in our local area and in the surrounding areas of central California and to develop technical tools for use by decision makers to guide the development of policies, procedures, plans, rules and regulations necessary to fulfill the state and federal air quality mandates. The studies are funded by commingled public and private sector contributions, requiring establishment of a Joint Powers Agency (JPA) for funds administration. Under joint powers law the Study Agency is an agency distinct from the counties and the District. Fiscal authority resides with the San Joaquin Valleywide Air Pollution Study Agency Governing Board.
The San Joaquin Valleywide Air Pollution Study Agency Governing Board is comprised of eight members: a county Supervisor from each of the eight Valley counties (Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare) selected by their respective county Boards of Supervisors. These locally elected officials, acting as policy makers, ensure that the research commissioned by the Study Agency provides information to support implementation of state and federal air pollution mandates in the Valley, that the research is applicable to local conditions and is responsive to local needs.
Planning, design and fundraising for research projects is coordinated by the Policy Committee, a policy and technical group, Chaired by the California Air Resources Board. The Study Agency established the Policy Committee to engage federal agencies, state agencies, and local government and agency representatives in cooperation with representatives of stakeholders to design and oversee the research programs. Participating local government air quality agencies include the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the Sacramento Air Quality Management District, the San Luis Obispo Air Pollution Control District.
Technical project development operational management are guided by technical committees for ozone, particulate matter, and agricultural related research (technical committee names: ozone –Central California Ozone Study, particulate matter – California Regional PM10/PM2.5 Air Quality Study, agricultural air quality research- AgTech).
The San Joaquin Valleywide Air Pollution Study Agency ensures that the process of developing and implementing air quality research is conducted in an open, public forum, as required by California law. Public participation and input are encouraged at meetings of the San Joaquin Valleywide Air Pollution Study Agency Governing Board. Completed and published information is available to the public through the California Air Resources Board web site and through published journal articles and technical conferences. The web site provides access to requests for proposals to initiate projects, data collected by conducted projects either in the form of a report or database, final reports of analysis performed on the data, final reports on modeling conducted with the data, and related technical reports and meeting agendas.
