The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District on Oct. 23 presented its 2025 Air Toxic Hotspots annual report and opened a public hearing; no public speakers requested to address the board and the report was received.

Matt Baldwin, of the districts engineering and compliance division, told the board that "The Air Toxic Hotspots Act is a state mandated local program, and a report on the district's program is required by health and safety code." He explained the districts approach: inventory emissions, prioritize facilities into high/intermediate/low categories, require health risk assessments for high-priority sites, and then apply public notification and risk-reduction measures where necessary.

Baldwin summarized key findings: the district identified three core facilities as high priority, 11 as intermediate and three as low priority, with seven facilities still pending prioritization. For industry-wide facilities, staff assessed 363 gas stations (about 40% intermediate risk, 60% low risk, and none identified as high risk) and 810 diesel-engine-only facilities (about 57% intermediate risk, 43% low risk, and two facilities, roughly 0.2%, identified as high risk needing refined health risk assessments). Baldwin also noted that chrome platers remain a small but tracked category and that perchloroethylene has been phased out of dry cleaning processes in the district.

Director Kennedy asked what differentiates a gas station classified as intermediate versus low risk; Baldwin answered that the determination typically reflects proximity to a receptor and dispersion characteristics, including vent placement and buffering between the station and nearby residences. Baldwin said the district published the 2025 report on Oct. 7 and circulated the notice via the permitting and community air protection listservs.

Chair Aquino opened the required public hearing and the board clerk confirmed there were no requests to speak; the board closed the hearing and received the report for the record, directing staff to distribute it as required by the Health and Safety Code. Baldwin said staff will return next year with an updated annual report.

The presentation provided a county-level context: district staff cited statewide and county cancer-risk estimates and reiterated the programs multi-year prioritization, assessment and risk-reduction process.