Air Quality Monitoring – CARB A.B. 617

In 2015, the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians began development of an air quality program to understand the Reservation’s air pollution risks.  Initially, data consisting of pollutant concentrations and emission inventories were retrieved from sources such as the California Air Resources Board (CARB),  South Coast Air Quality Management District.  In 2018, the Tribe was awarded a CARB AB617 Community Air Grant, which was used to begin an air quality monitoring program that would meet compliance standards for environmental and public health. The air monitoring station is recording regulatory-grade, defensible, data that can be used to make accurate decisions regarding health risks in the eastern Coachella Valley. The target parameter for the Tribe is Particulate Matter (PM) – small particles that are readily suspended in air and known to pose threats to human health. With anticipated increases in air quality pollutants due to vehicle emissions and new emissions from the exposing lakebed of the Salton Sea, the community needs to be vigilant. Moreover, the Tribe will conduct outreach to educate people about the air monitoring program and local air quality risks.