The Air District celebrated the exceptional public service of outgoing Board Director and former Mayor of the City of Berkeley, Thomas H. Bates, by awarding him a Lifetime Achievement Award at today’s Board of Directors meeting. The Lifetime Achievement Award is the first of its kind issued by the Air District and honors the distinguished career of those serving to improve air quality and protect the climate for all residents of the Bay Area.

The Bay Area's Winter Spare the Air season begins on Tuesday, November 1. During a Winter Spare the Air Alert, it is illegal to burn wood, manufactured fire logs or any other solid fuel, both indoors and outdoors, until the Winter Spare the Air season concludes on February 28, 2017.

The Air District is inviting Bay Area residents to provide input on two new draft regulations. Regulation 11, Rule 18 would reduce health risk to local residents from toxic air contaminants emitted by facilities in the Bay Area, and Regulation 12, Rule 16 sets limits on facility-wide petroleum refining emissions.