Requesting CARB Emergency Air Monitoring Support Services

Contact

This procedure applies to any emergency involving release of a hazardous airborne contaminant for 
which a local agency has exhausted its resources to protect public health or the environment.  
Requesting agencies typically include local air districts, public or environmental health 
departments, and county or city fire departments.  The process for requesting State support is 
established by the Emergency Services Act (Government Code § 8550-8692 et seq.) and the State 
Emergency Management System, or SEMS.

The California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Incident Air Monitoring Section (IAMS) can provide 
State-level support for air contaminant monitoring, sampling, analysis, and dispersion modeling.  
IAMS also coordinates with numerous partner agencies to provide emergency toxicological 
assessments, health advisory recommendations, indoor air quality assessments, air monitoring for 
recovery operations, and assessment of air quality for re-entry.


Steps to Obtain IAMS Support

A.  Contact IAMS

  1. Contact an IAMS team member from the Contact Table below at the earliest indication of the need for air monitoring and/or assessment support.  If IAMS cannot be reached, call the State Warning Center directly at (916) 845-8911 to initiate a support request.
  2. Describe in as much detail as possible the release situation and the specific services needed.  This enables us to assess your needs and determine how we can provide timely assistance.
  3. Follow up the request with an e-mail, including your name, position, agency, contact information and name of the incident if known.
  4. IAMS will review your request, assess the situation and resources available and respond as quickly as possible with initial recommendations. This will be documented in e-mail.

B.  Obtain a State Support “Mission Task”

  1. Contact your Operations Area or County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the organization designated to coordinate assistance from the State.
  2. Ask the Operations Area to assist you in submitting a “Mission Request” for air monitoring support.  This is the official process for counties or special districts to request state assistance.  You will need to provide the same information as noted in Step A. 2. and 3. above.
  3. If your agency (e.g., air district) covers more than one county jurisdiction, it will be most expedient to submit a Mission Request via the most impacted county.


C.  Mission Request Approval

  1. The Operations Area will forward a Mission Request to the Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC).  The REOC will approve the mission or forward it to the State Office of Emergency Services Operations Center (SOC) for approval.
  2. Once approved, a “Mission Task” is issued authorizing IAMS to support the incident and expend available resources as necessary.
  3. The REOC or SOC will notify IAMS and the Operations Area duty officer of the approval and the Mission Task number.

D.  Deployment

  1. IAMS will contact the requesting agency directly to coordinate monitoring logistics and data disposition.  IAMS will work with you to complete a Monitoring and Sampling Plan for the incident.
  2. IAMS will contact Incident Command or Unified Command and monitoring partners of our activities.
  3. IAMS will follow-up with the requesting agency on data access, equipment performance, potential equipment repositioning, short-term monitoring needs, and demobilization plans as dictated by the incident.


SERVICE NOTE:  CARB does not have an on-call system. IAMS makes every effort to maximize their 
availability for during emergency events, but is not a 24/7 operation.