Air Quality Grant to Fund Education, Anti-Pollution Efforts

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District announced Wednesday that it has allocated $250,000 to boost Bay Area projects that both mitigate air pollution and increase awareness about the pollution.

The air district approved the allocation for the James Cary Smith Community Grant Program in its budget for fiscal year 2016.

James Cary Smith, a former district community outreach manager who died earlier this year from amyotrophic later sclerosis (ALS), spearheaded the grant in 2009. Through the pilot program, $250,000 was dispersed to grantees throughout the Bay Area, according to district officials.

Air district chief executive officer Jack Broadbent said establishing the grant based on that pilot program will “help to further local air quality community health initiatives.”

“And (it will) provide a lasting legacy for the man who initiated this program, our friend and colleague,” Broadbent said.

Under the program, the district will award grants of up to $25,000 to non-profit organizations or community-based groups in the nine-county Bay Area.

The grant funds, which must be expended by June 30, 2017, can be used for air quality research, education and outreach efforts, as well as air pollution mitigation projects.

“We know from our experience that success and innovation result when we provide grants for local projects,” Broadbent said.

--Bay City News, photo via Shutterstock