The District receives thousands of complaints each year for which timely response and investigations of alleged sources of non-compliance are a top priority. During normal working hours, when a complaint is received and is reported as currently taking place, District supervisory staff identify the field staff nearest to the complaint location using GPS tracking systems in their assigned vehicles. The investigation of a complaint that is currently taking place takes precedence over all other assigned activities for the field staff assigned. After business hours, the District has an automated, bilingual complaint hotline for members of the public to report complaints. These complaints are immediately directed to on-call inspectors who are available 24 hours per day, 7 days a week to respond to complaints and will address reporting parties’ concerns and abate potential non-compliance in an effort to protect public health.
In addition to filing complaints via telephone, the District also provides members of the public the ability to easily submit complaints, including video and photographs, online and through the District’s Valley Air mobile app. These complaints are assigned in the same manner as complaints made by telephone. Except for instances when complaints are filed anonymously, District staff will start the process by contacting the reporting party to gather information regarding the issue(s) at the root of the complaint and will keep them informed of the investigation findings until it has been completed. The District provides multilingual translation services, in the field or over the telephone, to ensure that all communities and groups within the Valley are served with the highest levels of respect and care.
Complaints should be reported as quickly as possible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Potential air quality violations include:
County of Residence | Toll Free Number |
---|---|
San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced | (800) 281-7003 |
Madera, Fresno, Kings | (800) 870-1037 |
Tulare, Valley portion of Kern | (800) 926-5550 |
When filing an air pollution complaint, please provide a detailed description precise a location as possible, the nature of the complaint (eg., odor, burn, dust, smoke, etc.), and whether or not the activity is occurring at the moment. If possible, for odor complaints, provide the location and name of the operation you believe the source of odor is originating from.
The name and address of the reporting party are kept confidential to the extent allowed by State and Federal law.
Please note that this program only has jurisdiction over vehicles registered in the State of California.
When reports of smoking vehicles are received, the District looks up the registered owner from the Department of Motor Vehicle's database and mails an advisory letter providing informing them that a complaint has been filed regarding tailpipe smoke coming from their vehicle and recommends they have it repaired to eliminate excessive emissions. All information involved in the program remains confidential.
The following information is needed when filing a smoking vehicle complaint:
The District receives complaints that may constitute a public nuisance. The state’s public nuisance law (CH&SC 41700) prohibits emissions which cause odors or other disturbances in the community that impact a significant number of people, create a threat to public health or cause damage to property. Odors emanating from agricultural operations, which includes the growing of crops or the raising of fowl or animals, are exempt from District and state requirements.
The more detail you provide regarding the air quality issue you are describing, the better able District staff will be to follow-up on the issue. Please be as comprehensive as possible.
If you are reporting smoke from something burning, please include what is being burned (vegetation, trash, tires, lumber, etc.), if possible, in the “Description” box.
If you are reporting an odor, please include the type of odor (eg., rotten eggs, gasoline, oil, sweet, sour, smoke, etc.), whether or not the odor is currently occuring, and how often/when the odor is detected in the “Description” box.