In early 2026, the District will start a year-long project to collect samples of particulate matter (PM) at several locations in the Santa Maria Valley. After the samples are collected, they will be analyzed, and the District will prepare a report and conduct bilingual community outreach to share information about the study with Santa Maria Valley residents and organizations. The District received federal grant funding for this effort to better understand what makes up the PM pollution in this area.
Over the last decade, the Santa Maria Valley has experienced almost 25 exceedances annually of the California 24-hour PM10 standard (50 μg/m3), which is a health-based standard that defines the maximum amount of a pollutant that can be present in the outdoor air without harming human health. As a result of those exceedances, Santa Barbara County is designated as nonattainment for that state PM10 standard.
With this study, the District aims to better understand the PM concentrations, compositions, and sources present throughout the Santa Maria Valley — including the cities of Santa Maria and Guadalupe as well as the unincorporated communities of Orcutt, Garey, and Sisquoc — and how they are affected by location, time of year, and weather conditions. The District will also identify potential strategies to reduce PM10 pollution in the Santa Maria Valley, and will engage with residents in English and Spanish to increase community-level awareness about air quality and provide tools to help protect people from exposure to high levels of PM10.
Questions? Email us: [email protected].