In 1955, the Bay Area Air Pollution Control District, now called the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, became the first regional air pollution control agency in the nation. The agency has a long history of championing cleaner air. Outdoor Bay Area air quality is measurably cleaner than it was when the district was created. But the agency's work to protect and improve regional air quality is far from done. As agency officials explain, "scientific research has demonstrated the negative impact of air pollution on health. Air pollution has been linked with disease or damage to the lungs in the form of asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema. There is also increasing evidence that air pollution contributes to heart attacks and strokes, diabetes, and dementia." 

The Importance of Air Quality

Most recently, air pollution has been linked to increased migraine activity, according to a study published earlier this month in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. In short, reducing air pollution is an important way to protect community health. To meet that goal, the Air District has many programs that benefit residents and businesses directly. The Spare the Air program, for example, warns the public when air quality becomes unhealthy and educates them on ways to reduce air pollution. 

The Clean Heating Efficiently with Electric Technology (Clean HEET) program offers grants to help homeowners remove and decommission their existing wood-burning stove, wood-burning fireplace insert, pellet-burning stove or fireplace insert, and open-hearth or free-standing fireplace. Additional grants of up to $6,500 help eligible homeowners replace those devices with a cleaner, more efficient electric heat pump system. Air District officials encourage Bay Area homeowners to apply now because funding may run out. The application deadline is July 14, 2026 at 5 pm.

The Clean Cars for All program was updated in October 2025. The program offers grants to qualified Bay Area residents that help them retire their older cars and replace them with less polluting vehicles. The program reduces air pollution by taking the most polluting vehicles off the road. Those who are accepted by the program may buy or lease a new or used plug-in hybrid, electric, fuel cell vehicle, or zero-emission motorcycle. They may choose instead to receive a prepaid card for use on public transit or to purchase e-bikes and bike accessories. The average Clean Cars for All vehicle costs $36,000, and the average Clean Cars for All incentive is $8,300. 

The Clean Air Centers program provides funding for county agencies in the Bay Area to create a network of Clean Air Centers. These centers, often at libraries, schools, and community centers, run air filter systems during periods of poor air quality because of wildfire smoke. The centers allow residents to get a break from wildfire pollution, for example, by going to a location with cleaner air.

Tri-Valley Air Quality Climate Alliance

Nonprofits also play a key role in educating and protecting the public from outdoor air pollution. The Tri-Valley Air Quality Climate Alliance (TVAQCA) was formally established under the fiscal agency of the Tri-Valley Nonprofit Alliance in March 2020. Since its founding, TVAQCA has fought to improve the Tri-Valley's future air quality as well as educate consumers on how to protect themselves from pollutants. Since the summer of 2025, the nonprofit has collaborated with the Statewide Mobile Monitoring Initiative. This initiative "is a $27 million legislative investment to generate the first ever block-by-block picture of air quality in over 60 consistently nominated AB 617 communities across California," according to state officials.

Funding from the California Air Resources Board has enabled a California Public Benefit Corporation called Aclima to visit designated areas throughout the state to collect detailed air quality data. The company measures concentrations of 10 pollutants at various times of day and in different seasons. In the spring of 2025, Tri-Valley cities were surveyed with the help of TVAQCA. In May 2026, Aclima will provide the results of its hyperlocal air quality data for areas of particular concern around the Tri-Valley, such as the I-580 and I-680 traffic corridors. 

Tom Edmunds, TVAQCA Co-Chair, worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory  for 32 years. Edmunds wrote the proposal to measure Tri-Valley air pollution as part of the Statewide Mobile Monitoring Initiative. After the proposal was accepted, the nonprofit had public meetings to "survey the community and ask the community what their pollution concerns were and where the measurement vehicles should be driven."  TVAQCA generated route maps for the vehicle drivers for measuring the pollutants during the summer of 2025. In May, the results will be available to the public.

"The Tri-Valley is very fortunate to be a region filled with innovations and talents," says TVAQCA Director of Operations Terry Chang. "The members of our group are uniquely qualified to address environmental and air quality concerns with both technical expertise and passionate energy. For example, one of our co-founders, Ron Baskett, is an atmospheric scientist with forty-plus years of experience assessing health effects from air pollution and air quality hazards. We also have energy, water, engineering, and law experts on our small but mighty team."

Earlier in the year, TVAQCA cohosted the Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour with the Tri-Valley Conservancy at Livermore's Bankhead Theater. Officials say the event featured an eco-fair with 12 booths tabled by local organizations, a speaker's panel, a raffle, and 14 short films. The goal was to bring the community together and inspire actions for the environment. In April, the nonprofit was also involved in the dedication and naming ceremony at Livermore's Christensen Middle School Miyawaki Pocket Forest. Since 2024, TVAQCA's Director of Schools Outreach, Ann Brown, has spearheaded the planting of the Tri-Valley's first native mini forest. Students and volunteers worked together to prepare the soil and then plant 37 species of California native trees, shrubs, and perennials, according to officials of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. In addition to the school district and TVAQCA, the project was supported by a coalition that included the Livermore Valley Education Foundation, the Tri-Valley NonProfit Alliance, and the Rotary Club of Livermore Valley.

"We are a group of dedicated and passionate Tri-Valley residents committed to protecting air quality in our airshed," notes Chang. "Our goal is to bring practical, local, and doable climate and clean air solutions to our neighbors. We want to make sure our community doesn't take clean air for granted, and we will continue to do the work necessary to ensure a healthy and habitable world. The air quality in the Tri-Valley has continued to improve over the last few years despite the increase in population and traffic, partly due to residents' choices for electric landscaping and automobiles."

That work has become more challenging as federal agencies cut back on funding and local agencies face a huge increase in requests for support. "With the completion of our three-year Bay Area Air District funding, we continue to do our outreach and educational activities mostly on a voluntary basis," says Chang. "As a result of the loss of the grant, we don't have the means to continue popular initiatives such as the Air Cleaner program and the Internship program."

TVAQCA's popular Air Cleaner program built and distributed nearly 300 simple air filter systems to help protect the Tri-Valley residents most vulnerable to air pollution. They include the elderly, the young, pregnant women, and those with asthma. Such systems are valuable all year and especially important when the Tri-Valley's air quality is degraded by wildfires. Through the nonprofit's Internship program, college and high school students were able to benefit the Tri-Valley by advancing their skills in climate-related work. One intern, for example, worked with a TVAQCA co-founder to develop a Tri-Valley cancer risk map based on pollutants in the area.

There are ways for the community to help bring back the Air Cleaner and Internship programs. Each donation made to TVAQCA during the month of April 2026 will be matched by 50% as part of the Breathe Better Campaign. Through the last day of April, the Tri-Valley's Community Health and Education Foundation is matching donations by 50%. It is also covering all administrative and processing fees associated with these donations. Those who can contribute time are also welcome to apply as a volunteer.

"Even though some environmental policies aimed at keeping us healthy are being dismissed at the federal level, here locally we're just as passionate, if not more so, about taking action to safeguard our health, our home, and our community," Chang adds. "Global warming is already impacting us, and we're committed to helping our community become more resilient and prepared."

For more information about the Spare the Air program, please visit www.baaqmd.gov/en/About-Air-Quality/Spare-The-Air.

For more information about Clean HEET, please visit www.baaqmd.gov/?sc_itemid=B423E924-862D-4D18-9D5D-7A41B21F8F70.

For more information about Clean Cars for All, please visit www.baaqmd.gov/en/Funding-and-Incentives/Residents/Clean-Cars-for-All/Program-Overview.

To donate to the Tri-Valley Air Quality Climate Alliance via the Breathe Better campaign, please visit chefgivingcommunity.org/breathebetter.

For more information about the Tri-Valley Air Quality Climate Alliance or to donate after April 30, 2026, please visit tvaqca.org.

To volunteer, please visit tvaqca.org/?page_id=92.

Photo by Raisa Milova on Unsplash