Title
El Dorado County Air Quality Management District (AQMD) recommending the Board of Supervisors, acting as the Board of Directors of the AQMD, authorize AQMD's Air Pollution Control Officer to execute a funding agreement with the El Dorado County Fire Safe Council (Fire Safe Council) providing funding for a biomass chipping program for residents within the Sacramento Federal PM2.5 Nonattainment Area which includes most communities in western El Dorado County.
FUNDING: Federal EPA Targeted Airshed Grant funding.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The federal Targeted Airshed Grant (TAG) program assists local, state, and tribal air pollution control agencies with developing plans and conducting projects to reduce air pollution in nonattainment areas that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has determined are the top five most polluted areas relative to ozone, annual average fine particulate matter (PM2.5), or 24-hour PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards. On June 16, 2022, the EPA awarded Targeted Airshed Grant 98T36001 (“TAG Grant”) with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (“SMAQMD”), in which AQMD was named a subrecipient. On August 16, 2022, the El Dorado County Air Quality Management District Board authorized the acceptance of TAG Grant funding for work on residential biomass chipping and unpaved roadway paving in the western portion of El Dorado County that lies within the SFNA. On September 15, 2022, AQMD and SMAQMD entered into Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) 2022-00000038, which defined each party’s role in the performance and administration of the work approved by the TAG Grant.
The biomass chipping will be conducted at private residences located within the SFNA portion of El Dorado County. Residents who wish to participate will be required to contribute to the program by cutting and stacking the biomass in an area that can easily be accessed by the Fire Safe Council chippers.
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