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Valley Air District Releases 2025 Annual Report to the Community
Report Highlights Valley Clean Air Milestones in 2025, Continued Efforts Ahead
The Valley Air District has released its 2025 Annual Report to the Community, now available to the public. The report provides Valley residents with a concise and easy-to-follow recap of the District’s goals, objectives, operations, and actions in the preceding year. As detailed in the report, in 2025, the San Joaquin Valley experienced record clean air improvements across a number of key metrics, reflecting decades of collective effort by residents, businesses, farmers, public agencies, and community organizations. Recognizing this progress is essential to not only demonstrate that decades of investment and collaborative effort are delivering real, measurable results, but to also reinforce the importance of continued funding, innovation and partnerships as the Valley works to meet increasingly stringent federal air quality standards.
“Based on air monitoring data collected throughout the region, 2025 was the cleanest year on record across numerous air quality metrics. For the first time, every federal reference monitoring site recorded levels below the federal 24-hour PM2.5 standard. At the same time, we continued to make meaningful progress in reducing ozone concentrations with the lowest number of exceedances of ozone standards on record. Overall, the Valley continued to have more “Good” air quality days, and a record low number of only five “Unhealthy” days across all Valley counties, down from over 100 days just ten years ago, and hundreds of days twenty years ago. These improvements bring the Valley closer than ever to attaining the remaining federal health-based standards, and represents real improvements in the air we breathe and tangible health benefits for the communities we serve,” stated by Samir Sheikh, Valley Air District Executive Director/APCO, in the opening of the Annual Report.
This progress is driven in part by the Valley’s investments in clean air programs, including District incentives for cleaner vehicles and equipment, community-based initiatives, and ongoing regulatory efforts. Despite this progress, additional efforts are needed to meet all of the federal air quality standards. The District, in partnership with the California Air Resources Board, the federal EPA and Valley stakeholders, will continue advancing strategies to further reduce emissions and protect public health.
Residents can request hard copies of the Annual Report to the Community in either English or Spanish by email public.education@valleyair.org.
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Incentives Still Available as Hundreds of Residents Upgrade to Cleaner Home Heating Options
During the 2025-2026 winter season, nearly 1,000 Valley residents took advantage of the District’s Fireplace and Woodstove Change-Out Program, replacing wood-burning fireplaces or older wood or pellet stoves with cleaner, air-friendly options. Between November 2025 and February 2026, the District issued 964 vouchers totaling more than $3.5 million in funding.
While the Residential Wood Smoke Reduction Program season has ended for the year, residents can still apply for the Change-Out program. This popular program offers residents with access to natural gas up to $5,000 to replace open-hearth fireplaces or older wood or pellet stoves with cleaner, more efficient EPA-certified choices, such as an electric heat pump or a natural gas insert.
Valley residents without access to natural gas may qualify for incentives up to $3,500 to upgrade their devices. Eligible low-income residents can receive an additional $1,500.
Residential wood burning is one of the leading sources of wintertime PM2.5 emissions in the Valley and can significantly impact neighborhood air quality. To learn more or apply, visit valleyair.org/change-out.
Residents who already have an EPA-certified wood or pellet stove can register it for use on “No Burning Unless Registered” days at valleyair.org/deviceregistration.
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District Works with Communities to Boost Clean Air Rooms Outreach
The District continues to place a strong emphasis on outreach to ensure residents are aware of and can access air quality resources. To continue to enhance outreach efforts for the Clean Air Rooms program in AB 617 communities, the District worked with community members to develop a postcard with program information and launched a direct mail campaign at the beginning of April, sending out nearly 40,000 postcards to households in the South Central Fresno, Shafter, Stockton and Arvin/Lamont boundaries.
As a result of the mail campaign, the District has seen a high level of engagement, including a significant increase in phone inquiries and hundreds of applications submitted online by eligible residents in South Central Fresno, Shafter, Arvin/Lamont and Stockton, who will receive an air purifier directly to their home.
In addition to direct mail efforts, throughout the Spring, District staff have been attending a number of community and school events in various underserved Valley communities, where residents can get assistance with the Clean Air Rooms program application process and learn more about other AB 617 incentives available. Through targeted mail campaigns and in-person engagement, the District is working to ensure that residents can take full advantage of programs aimed at improving air quality.
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Charge Up! Program Supports EV Charger Installation for Businesses and Communities
The transition from high-polluting, gas-powered vehicles to clean air vehicles is one of the key methods to help reduce air pollution in the Valley. The District’s Charge Up! Program has funding available to businesses, public agencies, and owners of multi-unit dwellings to purchase and install new EV chargers, which will support EV owners and encourage the growth of clean technology in the communities.
Eligible Charge Up! applicants can receive up to $50,000, per site. The following incentives are offered through this program:
- $5,000 for each Level 2 single-port charger
- $6,000 for each Level 2 double-port charger
- $25,000 for each Level 3 DC fast charger
Locations that include a level 3 DC fast charger must be publicly accessible and the applicant is responsible for at least 30% of the total cost. This program also encourages applicants to seek other available funding opportunities to help reduce out-of-pocket costs.
Visit valleyair.org/chargeup for more information. Applicants that are interested in Charge Up! funding must receive an approved program voucher prior to purchasing or installing any chargers.
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Connecting with Communities Across the Valley This Spring
 District staff have been busy engaging with residents these past few weeks, attending events throughout the Valley to share air quality resources, tools, and grant programs. We’ll also be participating in the following upcoming events:
- April 24: Party for the Planet, Ruiz Park, 639 E. Buena Vista Ave., Visalia
- April 25: Tracy Earth Day 2026, East Ninth Street & North Central Avenue, Tracy
- May 1: 5th Annual Día del Niño (Day of the Child), Grayson Community Center, Grayson
- May 8: Stanislaus Union School District’s 150th Anniversary Celebration, Prescott Jr. High School, 2243 W. Rumble Rd., Modesto
- May 9: Assemblymember Soria’s Spring Resource Fair, Biola Community Services District, 4925 N. 7th, Biola
- May 16: Assemblymember Soria’s Spring Resource Fair, VFW Post #7380, 1300 O Street, Firebaugh
- May 23: Assemblymember Soria’s Spring Resource Fair, Rojas Pierce Park, 300 Sorensen Ave, Mendota
Stop by the District booth at any of these events to connect with staff.
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Visit the News Room for additional Valley Air District news releases. |
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