Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhoods
Overview
- Selected for: Community Air Monitoring Plan (2018) and Community Emissions Reduction Program (2019)
- Air District: San Diego Air Pollution Control District
- CARB Community Lead Contact: Andrea Juarez
The neighborhoods of Barrio Logan, West National City, Logan Heights, and Sherman Heights that make up the Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhoods Community is in the San Diego Air Pollution Control District (District). The community is impacted by emissions from the local port, freight, rail, and industry contributing to high cumulative air pollution exposure burden.
The Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhoods Community (Community) is approximately 8 square miles with a population of about 53,000. As per initial community assessment, the Community includes a variety of air pollution sources such as the Port of San Diego, highly industrialized areas, and high truck traffic, including the Interstates 5 and 15. The community has large stationary sources like aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment manufacturing, and a power generation plant. The community also has a number of small stationary sources including metal recyclers, welding shops, and auto body repair and paint shops that are located very close to homes. Sensitive receptors in the community include 24 schools, 16 licensed daycare facilities, and 2 hospitals. The community experiences some of the highest rates of asthma, poverty, and unemployment in the region.
Community Boundary
Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhoods' community boundary files
Community Air Monitoring
In 2018, the Community was nominated by the District and selected by CARB as a monitoring community. The District published the Community Air Monitoring Plan titled Community Monitoring AB 617 Elements and Required Criteria in June 2019.
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 to 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 San Diego 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
In 2019, at the recommendation of CARB staff, the CARB Board selected the Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhoods Community to transition and develop a community emissions reduction program, in addition to continued implementation of the 2018 Community Monitoring Plan.
The Community was selected to develop and implement a community emissions reduction program. The community emissions reduction program was adopted by the District Board July 2021. The California Air Resources Board approved the Community Emissions Reduction Program for the Portside Community in San Diego October 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 to the broader Portside Community.
The Portside Environmental Justice Neighborhoods Steering Committee members were selected representing a diverse range of community viewpoints. This broad range of stakeholders also forms various collaborative subcommittees to identify, develop, and implement solutions.
The Portside Steering Committee charter last updated in October 2020 describes the Portside Community Steering Committee membership process, how meetings are conducted, and how information is made available to its members and the public.
USS Bonhomme Richard Fire Post Incident Review
On Sunday, July 12, 2020, while docked at the San Diego Naval Station for overhaul, a fire broke out aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard and burned for five days. To address the impacted community’s concerns about the response to the fire and potential health impacts from its smoke, CARB formed an interagency working group to assess how agencies involved in the response communicated, coordinated, and reacted during the incident and reviewed the potential health impacts from the smoke. Visit the USS Bonhomme Richard Fire Post Incident Review webpage for more information.