Eastern Coachella Valley

Eastern Coachella Valley

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Overview

The Eastern Coachella Valley Community includes the city of Coachella and the unincorporated areas of Indio, Thermal, Oasis, Mecca, and North Shore. The Community is located in Riverside County in the SCAQMD. Key sources impacting the community include fugitive dust from construction activities, unpaved roads and parking lots, and agricultural activities (including pesticide application and agricultural burning). AB 617 provides an opportunity to address these local sources and reduce the community’s cumulative exposure to air pollution. This will build on and complement other efforts to address dust and odors from the receding Salton Sea.

The Eastern Coachella Valley Community has a high cumulative exposure burden, a significant number of sensitive receptors, and includes census tracts that have been designated as disadvantaged communities. The residents of Eastern Coachella Valley have been actively engaging with SCAQMD and CARB as well as other agencies to improve air quality within the community. The community has been recommended by community-based organizations such as Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Comité Cívico del Valle, and La Union Hace La Fuerza. SCAQMD has also nominated the Eastern Coachella Valley Community for the development of a community air monitoring plan and community emissions reduction program. On September 6, 2019, the SCAQMD Board approved the Eastern Coachella Valley Community to be nominated to the CARB Governing Board as one of the 2019 communities.

Community Boundary

Image displaying East Coachella Valley's AB 617 community boundaries

Eastern Coachella Valley's AB 617 community boundary files

Community Air Monitoring

In 2019, the Community was nominated by the District and selected by CARB as a monitoring community. The District published the community air monitoring plan version 1 in November 2020. 

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 was designed to obtain detailed air pollution levels through the Community, determine areas in the community of highest risk, quantify sources of air pollution within the community, and positions 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 Riverside 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 considered 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 supported 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 and can be downloadable on AQView where monitoring data from other AB 617 community air monitoring plans are also included.

Community Emissions Reduction Program

The Eastern Coachella Valley community emissions reduction program was approved by the District in July 2021. CARB approved the community emissions reduction program for the Eastern Coachella AB 617 community in September 2021. 

Community Engagement

Community engagement is a key part of the AB 617 program. Air districts are responsible for convening a community steering committee using an open and transparent nomination process. Community steering committees create new, and foster existing, local partnerships which drive the AB 617 program. In this advisory role, community steering committees oversee the development and implementation of the program such as in community identification, community air monitoring, and community emissions reduction programs. The steering committee aims to identify metrics, track progress, solicit, and share information with the Eastern Coachella Valley community. The current Community Steering Committee was selected representing a diverse range of community viewpoints. This broad range of stakeholders also forms a collaborative AB 617 Technical Advisory Group, which provides input to South Coast AQMD staff on technical details related to source attribution, air monitoring, and other technical analysis needed to develop air monitoring plans and Community Emissions Reduction Plans for AB 617 implementation.

The current Community Steering Committee charter describes the Eastern Coachella Valley Steering Committee membership process, how meetings are conducted, and how information is made available to its members and the public.

Additional Resources