1990 – South Coast AQMD established an Ethnic Community Advisory Council to advise on the impact of air quality in ethnic communities. May 1, 2009 - the Governing Board restructured the group into the Environmental Justice Advisory Group (EJAG), with a focus on air quality and environmental justice through the reduction and prevention of air pollution.

1997 – South Coast AQMD adopted 4 guiding principles and 10 initiatives to ensure environmental justice for all.

1999 – The Governing Board developed a follow-up plan with an additional set of initiatives which became the Children's Air Quality Agenda (PDF, 19kb).

Workplans have been adopted to continually update and enhance Environmental Justice Programs.

Some of the key initiatives that have been implemented under the program to date include:

• 1998 – The Carl Moyer Program began providing funding to encourage owners of diesel engines to go beyond regulatory requirements by retrofitting, repowering, or replacing their engines with newer and cleaner ones.

• 2000 – Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study (MATES) II, the nation’s most comprehensive study of toxic air pollution for the South Coast Basin, was published.

• 2000 – Adoption of an Air Toxics Control Plan examining the overall direction of the South Coast AQMD's air toxics control program over the course of the next decade.

• 2001 – Began providing substantial incentives to public school districts to purchase new very clean CNG buses and low-emitting diesel buses under the Lower Emission School Bus Program.

• 2003 – The nation’s first strategy for reducing Cumulative Impacts, or combined sources, of air pollution in the region.

• 2003 – A series of EJ Training Workshops were hosted by the South Coast AQMD throughout Southern California which garnered representatives from over 150 organizations.

• 2004 – New funding opportunity became available for retrofitting diesel backup generators with PM traps located at or near schools, in an amount not to exceed $250,000.

• 2004 – Electric vehicle buyers were offered an opportunity to take advantage of new purchase incentives of $9,000 under guidelines approved by the California Air Resources Board for the Zero Emission Vehicle Incentive Program.

• 2005 – A series of Clean Fleet rules geared to reducing diesel exhaust from transit buses, trash trucks, street sweepers, airport taxis, school buses and other fleets.

• 2005 – Development of a Guidance Document for Addressing Air Quality Issues in General Plan and Local Planning for cities to use when updating their general plans.

• 2005 – Preparation of a Guidance Document on Air Quality Issues in School Site Selection (pdf 730 kb) which provides suggested policies that school districts can use to prevent or reduce potential air pollution impacts and protect the health of their students and staff.

• 2008 – MATES III, a follow up study to MATES II, to assess current levels of cancer-causing toxic air pollutants was published.

• 2008 – Allowed fleets to meet the State "Surplus Off-Road Opt-In for NOx" (SOON) provision of the California Air Resources Board's off-road diesel regulation.

• 2008 – Heavy duty diesel truck replacement was implemented by the South Coast AQMD through Goods Movement Emission Reduction Funding Program (Proposition 1B) funds.

• 2010 – The Carl Moyer VIP, a streamlined approach to reduce emissions by replacing old, high-polluting vehicles with newer, lower-emission vehicles was implemented.

• 2010 – Implementation of the Clean Communities Plan (CCP) to reduce the exposure to air toxics and air-related nuisances throughout the district, with emphasis on cumulative impacts.

• 2011 – $5.4 million awarded to install and maintain high-performance air filtration devices at more than 40 schools in the Wilmington area.