Be Effective, Accountable, & Customer-Oriented

Improving permitting, monitoring, and enforcement, building relationships, and enhancing communication

Overview

Under Goal 4, we will maintain an effective, accountable, and customer-oriented organization, delivering exemplary services with transparency and efficiency. We will improve our permitting, monitoring, and enforcement processes. We will improve the timeliness of permitting decisions and improve the process to be more transparent to applicants and the public. We will ensure Air District rules and associated air quality permits that we issue are clear, consistent, and enforceable to minimize air pollution.

We will improve air monitoring and associated data management systems. We will improve reliability, efficiency, data quality and accessibility, especially to support our efforts to understand local exposure to air pollution. We will also increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our inspection and investigation resources to improve compliance rates and increase the impact of our enforcement programs.

We will expand our public communication to inspire the public to support efforts to reduce air pollution and to mitigate climate change. We will strengthen our communication skills and organization-wide knowledge. We will also enhance our incident response program, in collaboration with government partners.

To make sure we keep the promises we make, we will align the Air District’s resources and annual budgets with organization and community priorities, as identified in the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan, and report on our progress.

Improve Permitting, Monitoring, and Enforcement

Build Relationships and Enhance Communication

Be Accountable

Improve Permitting, Monitoring, and Enforcement

This Objective has 5 strategies.

We will improve the timeliness of permitting decisions. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Update regulations to ensure permits can be done efficiently and timely.

Better track permit applications, address bottlenecks in permitting process, and improve internal coordination.

Establish permit project teams for complex permits.

Update resource management to align with permit workload.

A large truck parked next to a large factory

We will improve our permitting process to be more transparent and accountable to applicants and the public. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Provide more information to applicants and the public throughout permitting process.

Create user-friendly reports and enhance publicly accessible, web-based tools for permit applications, online tracking, and easily accessible information on permitted sources, permit activity, and related emissions.

Improve how we communicate information about permits and the permitting process to communities and applicants using more understandable, less technical language.

We will ensure Air District regulations and associated air quality permits issued are clear, consistent, and enforceable so that air pollution affecting communities is minimized. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Review regulations, as they are being developed, to ensure they will be clear and enforceable when included in a permit.

Review standard permit conditions and our process for translating regulations to permit conditions.

Review how we issue permits to ensure we are following civil rights laws and regulations.

Explore how to further consider cumulative impacts in our permitting process.

Review when to do a broad environmental analysis of a permitting decision.

We will update the design and operations of the air quality monitoring network to improve reliability, efficiency, data quality, and accessibility to better meet monitoring objectives and to support efforts to understand local exposure to air pollution. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Update air monitoring data systems.

Strengthen quality control systems.

Evaluate the monitoring network for possible changes and improvements.

Consider changes to the air monitoring network.

We will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of inspection and investigation resources to improve compliance and increase the impact of our enforcement program. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Target inspections and other compliance activities where they are most needed.

Streamline process inspectors use to document violations.

Improve our program of compliance assistance through better information technology tools and access to compliance resources.

Build Relationships and Enhance Communication

This Objective has 4 strategies.

We will expand our public communication to inspire the public to support efforts to reduce air pollution and to mitigate climate change. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Develop an expanded public information campaign.

Increase social media presence to expand youth outreach and engage young people.

Expand our engagement through local media outlets in communities across the region.

Increase advertising to share more information about the ways to reduce pollution and the associated health benefits of cleaner air, especially at the local level.

Work with local government partners and Board of Directors to establish an increased presence in all nine Bay Area counties.

We will strengthen employees’ organization-wide knowledge and communication skills and change our organization as needed, so people experience the highest level of service from the Air District. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Strengthen organizational knowledge and communication skills.

Develop an organization-wide curriculum for existing and new employees.

Have employees serve as liaisons to community members.

We will enhance our incident response program in collaboration with government partners. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Work with industry, communities, and other local agencies to establish better systems to detect and assess emissions from incidents.

Explore technology solutions that proactively notify communities of incidents including health information.

Partner with communities near facilities with recurring incidents to provide enhanced community-led monitoring.

Deliver short, understandable, actionable alerts during incidents, and more robust and transparent after-incident resolution and investigations.

We will provide tools for local governments to consider environmental justice, air quality, and climate priorities in local land use plans, policies, projects, and permitting decisions. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following strategy commitments:

Develop, share, and support the use of technical resources, data, tools, and best practices.

Provide guidance on how to strategically use land use regulations to address and prevent incompatible land uses.

Be Accountable

This Objective has 3 strategies.

We will ensure we have the resources and capacity to meet both Board and community expectations and honor our commitments, thereby building trust in the Air District’s capacity to succeed. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following commitments:

Put processes in place to ensure the successful launch and implementation of new regulations, policy and program changes, new initiatives, and modifications to the strategic plan.

Develop detailed operational plans and business processes that estimate the required resources and timelines, with clear responsibilities.

Develop and apply standard and best operating procedures and practices across the organization.

Apply continuous process improvement models to operations and procedures.

We will be intentional about ensuring the Air District’s resources and annual budgets are well-aligned with organization and community priorities, as identified in the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following strategy commitments:

Ensure we resource the strategies and commitments in the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan.

Re-orient annual budget process, including the allocation of funds, to the specific objectives, strategies, and commitments in the plan.

Be intentional in matching spending to be in alignment with achieving real impact by adopting new approaches to air quality management that focus on understanding and reducing disparities in local air pollution.

We will transparently report on progress in meeting the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan goals and strategies to be accountable for our commitments and meeting expectations. Read more.

Commitments

To achieve this strategy, we've created and will be tracking the following strategy commitments:

Track progress in implementing the 2024- 2029 Strategic Plan.

Do an annual progress review.

Create measurable performance metrics for each strategy and associated actions.

Identify challenges or resources needed to accomplish each strategy, as part of annual review.