International Border Community
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Contact
Overview
- Selection year: 2022
- Selected for: Community Air Monitoring Plan and Community Emissions Reduction Program
- Air District: San Diego Air Pollution Control District
- CARB Community Co-Leads Contact: Liliana Nunez and Andrea Juarez
The International Border Community is in San Diego County and within the San Diego APCD’s area of jurisdiction. The areas likely to be included in the proposed International Border Community span approximately 23.5 square miles. This community has an approximate population of 64,400 and includes about 8 schools, 1 senior care facility, 5 daycare facilities, and 7 hospitals or clinics. This community covers San Ysidro and Otay Mesa and is located at the U.S-Mexico International Border. Emissions from sources in the Tijuana Metropolitan Area likely add to this community's air quality burden.
The proposed International Border Community has two international Ports of Entry – at San Ysidro and at Otay Mesa. The San Ysidro port of entry is the busiest land crossing in the Western Hemisphere. Every day, as many as 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians cross here . In recent years, the San Ysidro port of entry has grown to be the third-busiest commercial port on the Border. The Otay Mesa port of entry is the busiest heavy-duty truck crossing in the state and one of the busiest in the country. San Diego APCD has indicated that this community faces some of the worst DPM pollution in the state due to high volumes of truck traffic that crosses the international border daily.
This community is actively developing their local Community Steering Committee; check back for further updates.
Community Air Monitoring
In 2021, the International Border Community was nominated by the District and selected by CARB as a monitoring community.
The Community Air Monitoring Plan identifies areas of interest for AB 617 monitoring such as stationary and mobile sources, monitoring site locations, sampling schedules, and types of equipment and strategies. The plan is designed to obtain detailed air pollution levels throughout the Community, determine areas in the community of highest risk, quantify sources of air pollution within the community, and position the Community to develop emissions reduction strategies and monitor the effectiveness of those strategies.
CARB and the District have historically implemented air monitoring which includes regulatory monitoring in Los Angeles County. The AB 617 community air monitoring plan is specifically designed with the community steering committee input to measure and collect localized and elevated air pollution levels data. The District can consider health statistics, air quality concerns from residents in multiple communities, as well as screening tools that combine environmental, health, and socio-economic information to calculate community-wide risk factors in the planning and implementation of community air monitoring. Community-level expertise through steering committee meetings and input from a broad range of stakeholders supports the District's development of this plan.
The collection of comprehensive air quality data is essential to develop emissions reduction plans and strategies. The monitoring data will be provided to CARB once available (currently two sites) and can be downloadable on AQView where monitoring data from other AB 617 community air monitoring plans are also included.
Community Engagement
San Diego APCD nominated the International Border Community and the Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhood community for the AB 617 program in 2018. Residents from the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa area have expressed concerns over the air quality impacts from the ports of entry in their community. San Diego APCD has worked with local communities and environmental groups, such as Casa Familiar, to develop monitoring plans in the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. State and local air agencies worked with Casa Familiar and academia to conduct a study that concluded that PM emitted from local and regional sources, especially those from the Tijuana Metropolitan Area, greatly impacted the proposed International Border Community. During CARB’s December 7, 2021, Public Meeting on Draft Recommendations, several community residents expressed support for the nomination.