Air District Ends Email Comments on Rulemaking, Launches Landmark Air Toxics Study
Board of Directors • Bay Area Air DistrictJuly 1, 2026
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The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) opened its new fiscal year July 1 with a pair of governance overhauls and a scientific initiative that could reshape how the region understands — and regulates — toxic air pollution. The board unanimously adopted a policy eliminating email as a submission channel for public comments on rulemaking and planning, requiring all electronic input to flow through a new online portal, then loosened its remote meeting rules while adding enforcement teeth.
Board mandates online portal for all public comments on regulations, ending email submissions to combat AI-generated mass campaigns that have swamped other agencies
$4M BREATHE program will create Bay Area's first comprehensive air toxics cancer risk maps, modeled on South Coast AQMD's decades-old MATES study
Flood of public commenters demand action on the proposed Oakland coal export terminal, calling for a new environmental impact report and support for AB 40
Remote meeting policy loosened — board members can now participate from hotels or out of state, but face compliance enforcement through the Finance and Administration Committee
Environmental justice leader Karen Jean Pierce honored for pioneering Bayview-Hunters Point protections that shaped the Air District's community engagement framework
Earthjustice-led coalition pushes for warehouse indirect source rule to curb diesel pollution in frontline communities
The board unanimously approved a policy that will fundamentally change how the public weighs in on the Air District's regulations. Going forward, all electronic comments on rule development or planning matters must be submitted through a dedicated online portal — not email.
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