PREPARED BY: AMANDA BOOTH DATE OF MEETING: 09/16/19
SUBJECT:
TITLE
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN PABLO DECLARING OCTOBER 2, 2019 AS CALIFORNIA CLEAN AIR DAY
Label
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Adopt Resolution
Body
Compliance statements
FY2019-21 City Council Priority Workplan
Build a Healthy Community and Enhancing Community Resilience are a major policy goals identified in the FY2019-21 City Council Priority Workplan, effective March 1, 2019. Priorities 100.9 and 202 identify healthy eating active living and long-term environmental stewardship goals as specific priority areas.
CEQA Compliance Statement
Adoption of this resolution does not constitute a project.
BACKGROUND
While California has aggressive air quality standards and legislation, seven of the most polluted cities in the United States are located in California. No part of California is immune: last year, California had some of the worst air quality in the world.
The City of San Pablo also experiences the unhealthy effects of poor air quality. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has installed a device near Rumrill Boulevard that monitors the air quality in San Pablo. Data from this device shows that San Pablo has consistent issues with particulate matter (PM), specifically PM2.5. PM2.5, also called "fine particulates," that consists of particles with diameters that are less than or equal to 2.5 microns in size. PM2.5 can be a serious health concern, since smaller particles can travel more deeply into lungs and cause more harmful effects. Consistent poor air quality days can result in negative health effects such as irritation of eyes, nose, and throat, shortness of breath, and can aggravate asthma and other respiratory conditions. Data collected by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shows that San Pablo census tracts have asthma rates 90% higher than other census tracts across the state. In addition, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development studies show that the Richmond and San Pablo zip codes have child hospitalization rates from asthma that are two times higher than the state average and higher than other communities in Contra Costa County.
As a result, to combat air pollution, staff recommends that the City join communities and organizations across the state to declare October 2, 2019 as California Clean Air Day.
California Clean Air Day is a multifaceted program built on the idea that shared experiences unite people to action to improve community health. This statewide effort will allow individuals and communities across the state to participate in ways that makes sense for them. This unified day of action serves as a reminder that all Californians can do something to make air cleaner. Focusing community, media, and individual attention around the single day will encourage people to be engaged about clean air on Clean Air Day. Social science research shows that people take action when they see others around them - people they look up to as well as their peers - doing the same thing. This will be a whole community approach modeled after efforts like Earth Day that allows for everyone to participate, and produces an impact greater than the sum of the individual actions.
California Clean Air Day has an ambitious and attainable goal of producing at least 1 million clean air actions in support of this statewide day of action on October 2, 2019. These actions can be taken by individuals, companies, government entities, and even communities. In support of California Clean Air Day, the City of San Pablo plans to perform the following actions:
• Post flyers with information about California Clean Air Day.
• Use various social media outlets to post information about California Clean Air Day and recommended actions that the community can take.
• Provide information to the community about projects and programs in San Pablo to improve air quality.
• Provide information to City staff about California Clean Air Day and support ways staff can get involved.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no anticipated fiscal impact for the support of California Clean Air Day beyond approximately eight hours of staff time to develop posters, social media posts and informational emails.