San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Governing Board Meeting November 17, 2016 1 • Valley and California experienced worst drought in over 100 years in 2013 and 2014 • Valley experienced more precipitation in 2015 with El Niño (less than anticipated) • In 2016, better rain totals for northern California, Valley at or below normal levels • Recent drought conditions have exacerbated wildfire risk, with fire danger at all-time high – Tree mortality epidemic from drought and bark beetle infestation creating additional fuel for wildfires 2 • Air pollution generated from wildfires is enormous and well exceeds total industrial and mobile source emissions in San Joaquin Valley overwhelming all control measures • Wildfires generate particulate, NOx, and VOC • Results in excessively high PM2.5 concentrations – High concentrations during summer season with otherwise low PM2.5 concentrations – More than double historical concentrations during peak PM2.5 season (winter months) • Exacerbates ozone concentrations • Exceptional events cause violations of federal ambient air quality standards 3 • California has experienced many large fires throughout the state • Many wildfires have directly impacted Valley’s air quality and health of Valley residents • More wildfires in 2016 compared to 2015 and 5 year average to date (Cal Fire jurisdiction) Timeframe Fires 5 Year Avg. (Jan 1 – Oct 29) 4,412 2015 (Jan 1 – Oct 29) 4,825 2016 (Jan 1 – Oct 29) 5,585 4 – Soberanes Fire (Monterey – Rey Fire (Santa Barbara County) County) • 132,000 acres • 32,600 acres – Sand Fire (Los Angeles – Mineral Fire (Fresno County) County) • 41,000 acres • 7,000 acres – Cedar Fire (Kern County) – Sacata Fire (Fresno • 29,300 acres County) – Canyon Fire (Santa Barbara • 2,100 acres County) – Meadow Fire (Tulare • 12,500 acres County) – Goose Fire (Fresno County) • Active • 2,200 acres – Hidden Fire (Tulare – Chimney Fire (San Luis County) Obispo County) • Active • 46,300 acres 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 32 33 • 24-hour PM2.5 elevated to 20-50 µg/m3 range, when normal summer concentrations are often single digits (over 30 days this summer) • Hourly concentrations exceeded 100 µg/m3 in Fresno County on July 28 due to smoke from Soberanes Fire • Ozone precursors from wildfires have also increased ozone throughout the Valley • Valley back on track to meet 65 µg/m3 24-hr PM2.5 standard despite these challenges – District has flagged air quality data impacted by wildfires and will prepare Exceptional Event documentation for submittal to ARB/EPA 34 • District provided timely information to Valley residents to minimize wildfire smoke exposure – Health cautionary statements when air quality is impacted by wildfires – RAAN notifications when wildfire plumes enter Valley and elevate ozone and PM2.5 levels to particularly dangerous levels – RAAN notifications utilized by schools and public in order to curtail outdoor activities during high pollution/smoke episodes – Wildfire information website that serves as clearinghouse for updated fire and air quality information from various sources 35 • Per your Board’s direction in November 2015, District has worked with land managers to pursue fuel reduction strategies aimed at minimizing wildfire impacts – Flexible in decision making for proposed prescribed burn projects – Allowed projects to occur even under marginal dispersion conditions, being careful to ensure projects were remote in location and nearby communities were not impacted – Authorized all requested prescribed burning without requiring segmentation of burn projects into multiple smaller burns resulting in quicker project completion, while also reducing personnel costs 36 • Authorized burn of 806 total acres - June 11-16, 2016 – Close coordination with Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park • In past, District may have restricted project by only allowing a limited amount of acreage burned per day • Per your Board’s direction last year, District provided multi-day burn window under marginal dispersion conditions with no acreage restrictions • Regional smoke impacts were short in duration and temporarily reduced visibility, with no health related smoke impacts observed – Public outreach conducted in neighboring communities • Air monitoring sites did not record any smoke impacts 37 .