Officials at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District have released the 2025 Annual Report to the Community, now available to the public. The report provides Valley residents with a concise and easy-to-follow recap of the District’s goals, objectives, operations, and actions in the preceding year.
As detailed in the report, in 2025, the San Joaquin Valley experienced record clean air improvements across a number of key metrics, reflecting decades of collective effort by residents, businesses, farmers, public agencies, and community organizations. Recognizing this progress is essential to not only demonstrate that decades of investment and collaborative effort are delivering real, measurable results, but to also reinforce the importance of continued funding, innovation and partnerships as the Valley works to meet increasingly stringent federal air quality standards.
“Based on air monitoring data collected throughout the region, 2025 was the cleanest year on record across numerous air quality metrics. For the first time, every federal reference monitoring site recorded levels below the federal 24-hour PM2.5 standard. At the same time, we continued to make meaningful progress in reducing ozone concentrations with the lowest number of exceedances of ozone standards on record,” said Samir Sheikh, Valley Air District Executive Director/APCO, in discussing the annual report. “Overall, the Valley continued to have more “Good” air quality days, and a record low number of only five “Unhealthy” days across all Valley counties, down from over 100 days just ten years ago, and hundreds of days twenty years ago. These improvements bring the Valley closer than ever to attaining the remaining federal health-based standards, and represents real improvements in the air we breathe and tangible health benefits for the communities we serve.”
The progress is driven in part, added officials, by the Valley’s investments in clean air programs, including District incentives for cleaner vehicles and equipment, community-based initiatives, and ongoing regulatory efforts.
“While 2025 marks a significant achievement, our work is far from over,” said Tulare County Supervisor and Valley Air District Governing Board Chair Amy Shuklian. “We remain committed to advancing innovative solutions, strengthening partnerships, and continuing to improve air quality and public health for all Valley residents.”
Despite this progress, additional efforts are needed to meet all of the federal air quality standards. The District, in partnership with the California Air Resources Board, the federal EPA and Valley stakeholders, will continue advancing strategies to further reduce emissions and protect public health.
Free printed copies of the annual report can be ordered by emailing public.education@valleyair.org or calling (559) 230-6000.
The Valley Air District covers eight counties including San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and San Joaquin Valley air basin portions of Kern. For more information about the Valley Air District, visit valleyair.org or call the regional office in Modesto at 209-557-6400.
