Brightline and SRO Tenant Leaders of the Central City SRO Collaborative discuss creating a community-driven air quality monitoring project, September 2019
Environmental justice nonprofit Brightline was selected by the State’s key regulatory agency on air pollution for creating a community-driven air quality monitoring program that serves three low-income communities in San Francisco: South of Market (SoMa), Mid-Market, and Tenderloin. The Air Grants Program is part of the California Air Resources Board’s overall efforts to implement Assembly Bill 617, which was signed into law in 2017 and established a community framework to improve air quality and reduce exposure to toxic air pollutants in California communities most impacted by air pollution. During this round of funding, CARB selected Brightline as the only grantee serving San Francisco.
This much-needed grant will serve three communities that face air quality concerns due to a number of issues: close proximity to highways, increasing vehicular traffic from across the region, wildfire impacts, and high density of diesel emergency generators, among many other concerns.
Brightline with a youth leadership cohort of CYC.
This project will also benefit low-income tenants of Single-Room Occupancy buildings (sometimes referred to as “SRO Hotels” or simply “SROs”). Concentrated in SoMa and the Tenderloin, the majority of SROs active today were built shortly after the 1906 earthquake and were originally intended for a blue-collar and immigrant workforce. Consequently, air filtration systems do not exist in this building stock more than 100 years old and are extremely vulnerable to bad air quality events from wildfires. Through the Brightline Air Quality Monitoring Program, Brightline and Central City SRO Collaborative will work together to collect air quality data that educates, empowers, and benefits SRO residents. The Brightline Program also creates a collaboration with current youth programming at Community Youth Center of San Francisco to identify long-term career and job pathways for priority populations in air quality science and monitoring.
The Clarity Node-S Device - coming soon to San Francisco!
The Brightline Program will continuously evaluate air pollution levels throughout these three communities with Clarity Node-S devices as well as analyze the data to help shape programs and policies to create sustainable environments. These devices are solar-powered and currently used in other environmental justice communities such as the City of Richmond as well as over 70 cities in 40 countries.
Finally, the Brightline Program will connect community to at least five regional and local government agencies working on air quality and the environment: Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), SF Department of Public Health, SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), SF Planning Department, and SF Department of Environment, among others.
“This program represents a strong grassroots-driven collaboration to identify air quality issues and improve environmental policy for our communities - Brightline’s work will grow rapidly in January 2020,” said Eddie Ahn, executive director of Brightline.