History of San Francisco Bay Area Ozone Attainment Program (Keynote Speaker)

It has been fifty years since the inception of an air quality agency in the San Francisco Bay Area. The needs of fifty years ago have been sated but the challenge of bringing clean-healthful air to the nearly seven million residents in the region continue.

Looking back in time, fifty years ago the San Francisco area was not attaining the health based air quality standards for ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, lead and sulfur dioxide. Fortunately, the use of science based decision making to formulate a regulatory program brought healthy air while allowing continued growth in the regions economy.

The cornerstone of the regulatory program was the use of atmospheric models to determine the most expeditious path to attainment. The air quality control pioneers of the regional air district established a robust air-monitoring network to identify where the poor air accumulated. This information, coupled with an emission inventory and knowledge of the wind patterns, allowed for the identification of viable and effective control strategies.

Now, one half of a century later, the region‘s air quality monitors demonstrate attainment for all of the federal air quality standards.