Inside this Issue:

Celebrating Clean Air Month May 1999
APCD Wins Earth Day Award
Air Pollution Harms Kids' Lungs
Board Roundup
Clean Air Month and Clean Air Week
Permit & Compliance Summary
On the Net

Business Focus

Index of Topics in Past Issues

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On the Air is a bimonthly newsletter published by the Planning and Community Assistance Section of the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District. For more information on items in this newsletter, or to be added to our print subscription list, contact Bobbie Bratz at bratzb@sbcapcd.org or (805) 961-8890.

Celebrating Clean Air Month May 1999

Saturday and Sunday May 15-16 at Costco in Goleta

Test Drive an Electric Car	Test Ride an Electric Scooter or Bike

Clean Air Month, the month of May, and Clean Air Week, May 17-22, are celebrated locally by APCD and the American Lung Association of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. This year APCD is coordinating a Clean Air Month event May 15-16, from 9:30 AM to 6 PM Saturday and from 10 AM to 5 PM Sunday in the parking lot of the Costco Goleta warehouse. General Motors EV-1 electric cars (pictured above) will be available for test drives, and ZAP (zero air pollution) electric bikes and the ZAPPY scooter (pictured above) will be on-hand for test-rides. Come try something new and get some Clean Air tips. For more information, contact Mary Byrd at APCD at 961-8833 or ByrdM@sbcapcd.org. For more on Clean Air Month and Clean Air Week, see inside, page three. For more on APCD’s new Old Car Buyback Program, which kicks off in May, see page four. For more on Bike to Work Day, celebrated May 18, see Business Focus.

More on Clean Air Month

APCD's EV incentive

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APCD Wins Earth Day Award

APCD was just announced as winner of a 1999 Earth Day Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region Nine, which covers California, Nevada, Hawaii, Arizona, the Pacific Islands and tribal lands. The award recognizes individuals and groups outside USEPA for outstanding collaborative efforts to improve the environment. Our agency was selected for two 1998 projects of our Innovative Technologies Group (ITG) program: the agricultural booster pump initiative, and the Clean Air Express Dual-Fuel Bus Project. For more information on the award, see Earth Day Award.

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Long-term exposure to air pollution harms kids’ lungs, reports Dr. John Peters, heading up a new study by the University of Southern California (USC) and California Air Resources Board (ARB). Peters is Director of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health at the USC School of Medicine. The study examines the relationship between air pollution and lung health of more than 3,600 kids in twelve communities of Southern California, including Lompoc and Santa Maria, chosen for cleaner air than other cities such as Riverside and Upland.

Sandra G. Johnson, Coordinator of Program Operations for Santa Maria-Bonita School District, which participated in the program, reports: "They set up the study so it really doesn’t take up much class time, which is important to us. It’s all been pretty painless from our perspective." Researchers come to schools once a year and spend ten minutes with each child who is part of the study (participation is strictly voluntary). The child breathes into a machine that measures lung capacity; parents and children are also asked some survey questions.

Peters explains that lung measurements are not conducted during the smog season, since this study focuses on chronic, or long-term, effects. Previous studies have shown many acute, or short-term, lung effects caused by ground-level ozone (commonly called smog). "We thought that if we found long-term effects, they would be due to ozone," says Peters. "Instead, we found several chronic effects due to exposure to nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter." Peters was also surprised to find differences in girls and boys. Nitrogen dioxide is one of the pollutants involved in forming smog. Particulate matter is fine dust, metal, soot, smoke, dirt, and liquid droplets suspended in the air. The study also examined effects due to exposure to acid vapor, or suspension in the air of acids such as hydrochloric acid.

The study used recorded data on levels of these three pollutants from California Air Resources Board monitoring stations. The early results are based on one year of data—eventually, ten years of data will be analyzed. Starting in 1991, researchers measured lung function of children in 4th, 7^th, and 10th grades in the twelve areas, and surveyed children and parents about lung health and differences in housing that could affect lung conditions such as asthma. Findings were then compared against air pollution levels.

The study found:

--Wheezing in boys related to levels of nitrogen dioxide and acid vapor;
--Lower lung function in girls related to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter;
--Lower lung function in girls with asthma related to levels of ozone;
--Lower lung function in boys who spend more time outdoors related to levels of ozone;
--Bronchial symptoms in asthmatic kids related to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter;
--Slowed lung function growth related to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, with effects stronger in kids who are asthmatic, or who spend more time outdoors.

Peters found stronger effects in girls than in boys, but is unsure whether this finding will hold up as researchers analyze more years of data. Many factors could be responsible for this, he notes. At age ten, asthma is almost twice as prevalent in boys as it is in girls—but by age sixteen, girls have about the same asthma prevalence as boys. "It could be that during this six-year period in which their lungs are becoming more sensitive to asthma, girls are also more sensitive to air pollution, says Peters. He continues, "That’s the benefit to doing a study like ours. Some studies look at one group of fourth graders and then study a different group of tenth graders. We will be looking at the same ten-year olds six years later."

APCD Director Doug Allard points out that while our county has cleaner air than many of the communities in the study, "That’s not entirely a fair comparison, since Southern California has some of the worst air in the country." He notes that our county does not meet federal or state health-based standards for ozone, and does not meet state standards for particulate matter.

APCD’s regulations and programs work to reduce emissions of the air pollutants examined in the study. Allard remarks, "Studies like this one underline what is at stake for us in air pollution control. We must keep our air clean—for the sake of our children, and our children’s children."

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APCD Board Roundup

Following are the highlights of the February and March Board meetings

--Received and filed the SBCAPCD Annual Financial Report for fiscal year ending June 30, 1998.
--Executed a grant agreement with Parsons Engineering Science Inc. for $250,000 to implement the Old Car Buyback Program.
--Received a briefing and provided direction to staff regarding a request by local fishermen to implement a new marine vessel repower program that would convert gasoline engines to diesel engines.
--Authorized APCD to join other air districts and contribute up to $5,000 to fund legislative advocacy services to increase state funding of grant programs to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles.

March

--Executed grant agreements with two farms for repowers of agricultural booster pumps with low-emission engines.
--Executed an agreement to allow use of the City of Santa Barbara’s compressed natural gas fueling facility as a back-up facility for --APCD cars and Clean Air Express buses.
--Adopted a resolution authorizing the District's participation in the Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Attainment Program, and approved up to $400,000 in APCD matching funds necessary to qualify for a grant from the ARB for up to $800,000.
--Considered and approved anticipated Fiscal Year 1999/2000 Work Program and costs for implementation and administration of the Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Program.
--Received a briefing on the enforcement case currently underway with Venoco, Inc.

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Clean Air Month and Clean Air Week

APCD classroom visits
During the month of May, APCD is offering county-wide classroom visits for grade levels from 5^th grade through 12^th grade. Length and content of the presentation can be adjusted for the level and type of class and can include:

Brief presentation on air pollution
Clean Air Month tips
Video on air pollution in California
Demonstration of one of our electric or gas-electric hybrid vehicles

Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools
During Clean Air Week, May 17-22, the local chapter of the American Lung Association (ALA) is kicking off an indoor air quality program for schools. A Tools for Schools kit, developed by the ALA with the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency and several other organizations, helps schools diagnose and correct indoor air problems.

For more information, call the ALA office at 963-1426.

Clean Air Tips

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On the Net: www.sbcapcd.org

Our Engineering and Permit Services web pages now feature a new page describing recent additions to this section of our website. See "What's New" on our Engineering home page, here,  to find out about new and revised items, including:

New Permit Guideline Documents;
Updated and new application forms;
Updated calculation spreadsheets;
Updated emission reduction credit (ERC) Source Register pages.

For more information, contact Mike Goldman at APCD at 961-8821, or at mfg@sbcapcd.org,

Old Car Buyback Program
Our website now features information about our Old Car Buyback Program, designed to take older, high-polluting cars off the road. The program offers $500 in cash for a car or light-duty truck that meets requirements including:

Model year 1973 or older;
Registered in the county for at least 2 consecutive years before purchase by APCD;
Passes functioning and equipment test.

Additional restrictions apply. For details, see Old Car Buyback or call the program information line at 961-8802.

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Permit & Compliance Summary

Contents of this issue | Business Focus | Index of past issues