Spare The Air Program

Spare The Air Program

Spare the Air is a program established by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in 1991 to combat air pollution during the summer in the San Francisco Bay Area, the season when clear skies, hot temperatures, lighter winds, and a strong temperature inversion combine and trap air pollutants near the ground.

Spare the Air days are declared for days in which levels of ground-level ozone (a constituent of smog) are predicted to exceed the EPA's federal health-based standard of 84 ppb, or an air quality index over 100. On a Spare the Air day, Bay Area residents are asked through radio and television announcements to reduce their driving, refrain from using gas-powered gardening equipment and curb other air polluting activities such as painting and aerosol spray can usage. People especially sensitive to smog are advised to limit their time outdoors.

Spare the Air nights are also issued during the winter when particulate emissions often coming from wood burning and other activities become trapped in stagnant air masses. During winter Spare the Air nights, wood burning is banned and violators may have to attend a class or pay a fine of up to $500. Exceptions are allowed if a household has a power outage. Barbecues are permitted on a Spare the Air Day, but are discouraged to reduce air pollution

Read more about Spare The Air Program:  Free Transportation Days, Criticism of Free Transportation Days, Criticism of Program, See Also

Famous quotes containing the words spare the, spare, air and/or program:

    Gracious Lord, oh bomb the Germans.
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    And if that is not too easy
    We will pardon Thy Mistake.
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    One drop would save my soul—half a drop! ah, my Christ!—
    Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!—
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    Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!—
    Mountains and hills, come, come and fall on me,
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    By the roadside a hideous carrion, quivering
    On a clean bed of pebbly clay,
    Her legs flexed in the air like a courtesan,
    Burning and sweating venomously,
    Calmly exposed its belly, ironic and wan,
    Clamorous with foul ecstasy.
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    The first man to discover Chinook salmon in the Columbia, caught 264 in a day and carried them across the river by walking on the backs of other fish. His greatest feat, however, was learning the Chinook jargon in 15 minutes from listening to salmon talk.
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