We are pleased to announce a new opportunity at the Sac Metro Air District to further our efforts to improve air quality in Sacramento while investing in our communities that are most in need. Our Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) program has been revamped to allow for community-based projects to be funded using a portion of penalties collected from air quality violations. The new program can fund any project as long as the project is related to air quality, climate change or other Air District efforts. Examples of SEPs include using low-cost air quality monitors in a community, planting shade trees, providing education on zero-emission electric transportation, restoring native habitat spaces to help improve air quality and livability, or building community gardens in an area highly impacted by air pollution.

We are energetically using this program to reinvest in our historically overburdened communities. To make sure projects benefit these areas, all selected projects must be within District priority communities – either within our South-Sac Florin Air Monitoring Community or as identified as medium to high sensitivity area on the one-of-a-kind resource map that our partners over at SMUD created. SMUD’s Sustainable Communities Resource Priorities Map not only includes our District traditional maps, such as designated Disadvantaged Communities and our South-Sac Florin Air Monitoring Community, but it also incorporates other local agency priority areas, such as the Sacramento Promise Zone and Medically Underserved Areas. By requiring projects to be in medium-high sensitive communities highlighted in SMUD’s resource map, we are tailoring our project funding to the areas most in need in Sacramento County. For the current SEP, $140,000 is available to fund multiple projects.

The District is now accepting applications from community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, academic institutions, or tribal organizations. Applications must be submitted to the Sac Metro Air District by 5:00 pm (PST), July 30, 2021. For more information and the promotional tool kit, click here.

The Sac Metro Air District’s Our Community CarShare (OCCS) program is an innovative project bridging transportation gaps for disadvantaged communities by improving access to zero or near zero-emission vehicles and ridesharing opportunities. The program makes electric cars available on a reservation basis, for residents of select low-income housing communities and has recently added the Eskaton retirement community of Jefferson Manor and Green Tech’s North Sacramento Mobility Hub to the list of locations it serves. Members of OCCS have access to transportation options including clean technology car sharing, electric bike sharing, and pre-paid incentive cards for ride hail services and regional transit.

To date OCCS has clean air vehicles available at 10 sites with over 570 members. As part of the California Climate Investments statewide initiative, OCCS is proving that Cap-and-Trade dollars are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen the economy by enabling members to get to and from work or school more easily and conveniently, and improve the health of the public and the environment especially within disadvantaged communities.

Part of the OCCS mission is to reduce vehicles miles of travel (VMT), the use of fossil fuels, and emissions. Since its inception, the program has reduced approximately 90 thousand VMT and over 50 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

For more information about Our Community CarShare, click here.

The Sacramento region is changing in response to the climate crisis with new policy mandates and economic drivers. The Climate, Justice, and Jobs Summit, took place on March 30, 2021, to explore how our region has and will continue to respond to this critical moment, and determine the roadmap for access to a low carbon future.

Spearheaded by City of Sacramento Councilmember Eric Guerra and Sacramento Metro Air District Executive Director Dr. Alberto Ayala, this event included discussions on current climate legislation, justice and inclusion, and workforce development efforts.

During the summit, the importance of mobility was evident when discussing critical regional issues and challenges that stem from climate change.

Future mobility actions resulting from the summit include agency and organizations continuing to partner and expand their efforts to provide equitable access to clean, safe, and reliable transportation. This includes increased frequency and efficiency of public transit, reduced costs for alternative forms of transportation, and incentivizing the move for the region’s residents and businesses to zero emission vehicles.

The Summit provided a vision of an economic recovery grounded in addressing the needs of communities most impacted by economic underinvestment and environmental harm. It was hosted by Valley Vision and can be viewed here.

The Air District is proud to announce that Oliverio Barragan has come on board as the most recent member of the professional career staff at the agency. Oliverio worked at the District as a Cristo Rey intern in 2015. This is an important occasion for the Air District, which has been a proud sponsor of the Cristo Rey Sacramento High School Work Study Program for the last nine years.

This unique intern program is a win-win for workforce development and future professionals. The high school is a college preparatory school, providing education to students living in communities with limited educational options. Each student participates in a work-study program, which pays approximately 60% of their educational costs. In return, each participating sponsor or business employing these interns benefits from the talent and contributions of the students.

Oliverio will be working in the Transportation and Climate Change Division. He will assist with innovative clean air technology incentive programs, including zero-emission, electric school buses, electric commercial trucks, projects targeting off-road fleets, and providing engineering support to Our Community Carshare and Mobility Hub projects. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Welcome back to the District Oliverio!