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International Border Community

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Overview

The International Border Community is in San Diego County and within the San Diego APCD’s area of jurisdiction. The areas in the 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 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.

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.

*Update: Community Emissions Reduction Program

San Diego County Air Pollution Control District adopted theInternational Border Communities San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Community Emissions Reduction Program(IBC CERP) in January 2024. After staff review and release of the International Border Communities San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Community Emissions Reduction Program (Staff Report), and a public comment period, CARB's Executive Officer reviewed the Staff Report (en Espanol) and approved the IBC CERP on July 12, 2024.  

CARB staff's report identified key strengths of the CERP, such as a high level of community participation and engagement in the development of the CERP, the introduction of a variety of strategies to reduce emissions and exposure in response to community source concerns, and the overall goals of the CERP to address the community’s highest priorities and achieve reductions. The EO approval directs CARB staff to complete CARB commitments related to enforcement and estimated benefits from future CARB regulations, and the district to build successful agency partnerships and collaboration, continue to refine strategies informed by the community steering committee, pursue the development of a participatory budgeting process, and document public questions and answers.