West Oakland Community Action Plan

Owning Our Air: The West Oakland Community Action Plan (WOCAP) is a Community Emissions Reduction Plan developed to reduce the health effects of air pollution in West Oakland. In 2019, the Air District's Board of Directors and the California Air Resources Board adopted the WOCAP. In October of 2024, the WOCAP partners completed five years of implementation, the timeframe originally envisioned to meet the CERP targets. The WOCAP Fifth Year Annual Report highlights the reduction in air pollution and health risk in West Oakland as a result of implementing actions in the WOCAP.

The Air District is expanding existing efforts to reduce community air pollutant exposure through the state’s Community Air Protection Program, also known as Assembly Bill 617. This effort focuses on community-based emissions reductions in neighborhoods most disproportionately impacted by air pollution.

West Oakland was selected as a first-year priority community in the Bay Area.

The Air District partnered with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and a community-based Steering Committee to develop Owning Our Air: The West Oakland Community Action Plan, which will serve as a blueprint for improving air quality in this community. 

This video highlights the kick-off Steering Committee meeting held on July 27, 2018, demonstrating the strong support of community leaders and stakeholders for this effort.

Resources

• Owning Our Air: West Oakland Community Action Plan Supporting Data Package (52 Mb zip)
• West Oakland Annual Report Video 2020
• West Oakland Annual Report Youth Video

Documents and Materials

Meetings and Events

All steering committee meetings are open to the public.

2023 Meetings and Events

2022 Meetings and Events

2021 Meetings and Events

2020 Meetings and Events

2019 Meetings and Events

2018 Meetings and Events

How will the West Oakland Community Action Plan improve air quality?

The goal of the West Oakland Community Action Plan is to protect and improve community health by eliminating disparities in exposure to local air pollution. Specific pollutants that are addressed under the plan include:

• fine particulate matter
• toxic air contaminants
• diesel particulate matter

The West Oakland Community Action Plan builds on existing West Oakland work, and identifies air pollution sources and people most susceptible to air pollution. Based on this effort, the plan recommends strategies to reduce air pollution emissions and exposure. These strategies will address:

• regulatory changes for mobile and stationary sources of air pollution
• land-use decisions
• compliance with rules
• incentives
• other identified measures to reduce exposure to air pollution

Why West Oakland?

West Oakland, bounded by the Port of Oakland, the Union Pacific rail yard, and the I-580, I-880, and I-980 freeways, is one of the most impacted areas in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are numerous sources of diesel particulate matter and toxic air contaminants, and the area has long been a focus of the Air District’s Community Air Risk Evaluation (CARE) program. Sources that contribute to high levels of diesel particulate matter concentrations and toxic air contaminants include:

• seaport activities
• locomotives
• large distribution centers
• concrete plant
• power plant
• metal melting and shredding facilities
• industrial and manufacturing operations
• major freeways and busy roadways used as trucking routes

Communities adjacent to West Oakland will benefit from measures in the West Oakland Community Action Plan.

Partnership with Community

The Air District has partnered with the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), which has a history of community planning and advocacy to reduce people's exposure to diesel particulate matter and toxic air contaminants. WOEIP has led or participated in numerous air quality and health studies in West Oakland, including:

• Neighborhood Knowledge for Change: The West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (2002)
• Clearing the Air: Reducing Diesel Pollution in West Oakland (2003)
• Paying with Our Health: The Real Cost of Freight Transport in California (2006)
• West Oakland Truck Survey (2009)

WOEIP was a member of the West Oakland Specific Plan (2014) working group and continues to participate in the Oakland Army Base Stakeholder Group. In addition, WOEIP co-chaired the Port of Oakland’s 2009 Maritime Air Improvement Plan and is co-chairing the follow-up plan currently underway, the Seaport Air Quality 2020 and Beyond Plan. See links below.

Community Steering Committee

Understanding a community’s air quality challenges requires expertise and participation from a variety of stakeholders. WOEIP and the Air District worked together to establish a steering committee who will inform the development of the West Oakland Community Action Plan. The steering committee(68 Kb PDF, 1 pg, revised 10/3/2019) includes:

• residents
• health organizations
• businesses
• schools
• government agencies

The Steering Committee Charter and Participation Agreement(224 Kb PDF, 5 pgs, revised 11/5/2019) covers the below terms of the community steering committee:

• Mission Statement
• Committee Objectives
• Membership
• Roles and responsibilities
• Standard Committee Meeting Procedures
• Accessibility/Accommodation
• Dissemination of Materials
• Website

Plans and Studies Affecting West Oakland

• Mapping Traffic Related Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Events in Oakland (2018)
• Seaport Air Quality 2020 and Beyond Plan
• West Oakland Truck Management Plan
• Air Pollution Mapping with Google Street Cars (2017)
• CARE Retrospective and Path Forward Report(6 Mb PDF, 128 pgs, revised 9/21/2016)
• West Oakland Specific Plan (2014)
• Final West Oakland Truck Survey Report(2 Mb PDF, 89 pgs, revised 9/21/2010)
• Maritime Air Quality Improvement Plan (2009)
• Diesel Particulate Matter Health Risk Assessment for the West Oakland Community (2008)
• Paying with Our Health: The Real Cost of Freight Transport in California (2006)
• Clearing the Air: Reducing Diesel Pollution in West Oakland (2003)
• Neighborhood Knowledge for Change: The West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (2002)

Please visit the California Air Resources Board’s Online Resource Center and Technology Clearinghouse for more tools and information.