The District adopted the 2018 Plan for the 1997, 2006, and 2012 PM2.5 Standards on November 15, 2018. This plan addresses the EPA federal 1997 annual PM2.5 standard of 15 μg/m³ and 24-hour PM2.5 standard of 65 μg/m³; the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard of 35 μg/m³; and the 2012 annual PM2.5 standard of 12 μg/m³. This plan demonstrates attainment of the federal PM2.5 standards as expeditiously as practicable.
District Governing Board Approves Attainment Plan Revision for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 Standard
On August 19, 2021, the Valley Air District’s Governing Board approved the Attainment Plan Revision for the 1997 Annual PM2.5 Standard to establish a new attainment target for the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard. The Valley would have met this standard by the projected attainment target of 2020, but for the significant wildfire impacts and data collection issues at the air monitoring site in Bakersfield (operated by CARB). Based on implementation of the control strategy in the 2018 PM2.5 Plan, modeling has shown that the Valley will attain the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard by the new attainment date of 2023, if not earlier.
EPA approves portions of the 2018 Plan for the 1997, 2006, and 2012 PM2.5 Standards
U.S. EPA has taken a number of actions to approve portions of the 2018 Plan for the 1997, 2006, and 2012 PM2.5 Standards. Notably, EPA has taken actions on the following:
The District continues to work with CARB and EPA to receive full approval of the remaining Plan elements.
