Shasta County air board elects leadership, asks staff for jurisdiction briefing and adds March 11 meeting

The Shasta County Air Pollution Control Board on Tuesday elected its 2025 chair and vice chair, voted to add a March 11 meeting to its calendar and directed staff to prepare a briefing on the board's jurisdiction and work areas.

The action followed an opening motion, recorded in the minutes as made by Member Lata and seconded by Member Kray, to elect "supervisor scribe" as chair and the motion-maker as vice chair; the motion carried and the gavel was handed to the incoming chair. The board later unanimously approved the consent calendar and the calendar amendment, each by a 5-0 vote.

The jurisdiction briefing request grew out of questions raised by board members about local authority and recent policy developments at the state level. An unidentified board member read a news summary of a California Air Resources Board decision to drop the 2023 "Advanced Clean Fleets" clean-truck rule and described the rule's earlier timeline for phasing out medium- and heavy-duty diesel trucks. Separately, a member raised concerns about cloud-seeding projects and noted that, in the member's view, 13 states are moving to ban that activity. Those items prompted members to ask staff for a clear statement of what the Air Pollution Control District regulates locally before the board considers any policy position.

"What something that, I'm relatively new to the position as well, but something that I was hoping to do is, put together a presentation summarizing what, what our role is within the, as a, air pollution control district," said Sean Ewing, identified on the record as the Air Pollution Control Officer. Ewing said he needs time to prepare a thorough review and recommended returning with a presentation at a future meeting.

Board members agreed to schedule the briefing for the next meeting and to provide time for multiple viewpoints to be heard before the board considers action. Members also discussed the 2025 meeting cadence; staff said the county coordinated quarterly meetings with the air-quality management district and proposed dates that included February, June and December. The board added a March 11 meeting to ensure enough time for staff to prepare the jurisdiction briefing.

The meeting concluded after the calendar amendment passed and no members of the public made comments during the public-comment period. The board adjourned with staff noting no additional business.

Upcoming steps: Mr. Ewing will prepare and present a jurisdictional briefing at the board's next scheduled meeting (added to the calendar for March 11), after which members said they will determine whether further research, invited speakers representing differing viewpoints, or a formal agenda item are warranted.