From NRCS: "Under the Agricultural Act of 2018, the Secretary shall provide eligible producers with technical and financial opportunities to address serious air quality concerns from agricultural operations and help meet regulatory requirements.

In Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020), the NAQI ranking pool is designed to help agricultural producers meet air quality compliance requirements and offer opportunities to support practices that reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and particulate matter (PM) emissions from agricultural sources.  Reducing emissions helps achieve and maintain the health- and welfare-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in California.

Financial assistance priority is targeted toward counties identified as having significant air quality resource concerns based on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “nonattainment” designations for Ozone and Particulate Matter or predesignated as “Attainment (Maintenance Area)” for PM10 or PM2.5.  These areas experience air pollution levels that persistently exceed the NAAQS established by the Clean Air Act.  EPA posts the NAAQS nonattainment area designations on-line     .

The conservation treatment for the National Air Quality Initiative is to reduce diesel exhaust emissions through the removal from service and permanent destruction of:

• A fully functional in-use off-road mobile agricultural equipment rated at 25 or greater brake-horsepower (bhp) and powered and self-propelled by a nonroad compression-ignition engine (e.g. diesel-fueled engines); and,
• Replace with a new “like” off-road mobile agricultural equipment rated at 25 or greater bhp (not exceeding 125 percent of the baseline horsepower rating) and powered and self-propelled by a new nonroad diesel engine that meets Tier 4-Final emissions-certification, as determined by the applicable EPA Engine Family Name and State of California Air Resources Board (ARB) Executive Order (or EPA Certificate of Conformity, when applicable).  Emissions certified under an EPA or ARB Flexibility Provision will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for equivalency with 2019 or 2020 model-year standards."

For More Information about the NAQI program, please visit the NRCS NAQI Program Page. To apply, please contact us via the website or directly by email at scrcdoffice@gmail.com.