The San Diego Air Pollution Control District is planning to purchase thousands of air purifiers for distribution to households impacted by poor air quality stemming from the Tijuana River wastewater crisis.
During a special meeting on Sept. 11, district officials said 3,200 units of the district’s Air Improvement Relief Effort (AIRE) are anticipated by the end of October.
“Once additional inventory becomes available SDAPCD plans to place an order to have all remaining units needed to reach the initial goal of 10,000 stored in California to facilitate faster delivery to households in the eligible communities,” says a report by the district.
The district approved the $2.7 million program last November and began implementation in February.
The program has an online application portal (https://filters.sdapcd.org/) for eligible households to request an air purifier and replacement filters. According to the district, 6,800 air purifier units have been approved for households in Otay Mesa West, San Ysidro, Egger Highlands, Nestor, Tijuana River Valley and Imperial Beach.
Between now and Dec. 11, the district will assess the possibility of expanding the AIRE program into 2026 with 40,000 units – up to four per household – rather than the current maximum of one.
Moving forward, the board will remove address verification for online applications, keeping this requirement for in-person registration events only.
The board has also asked district officials to explore whether eliminating an application process is a viable option permitted by the California Air Resources Board.
According to the district’s officers, several home-based daycares are already participating in the AIRE program. Officers said the current program allows distribution of units to schools, but none have been supplied so far. The district is developing a voucher-based process to pay the vendor directly once equipment is in place at campuses located within the eligible AIRE program area.
Coronado Mayor John Duncan, one of 11 members on the Air Pollution Control District Governing Board, requested updates on the district’s efforts with schools in future meetings.
