The Long, Slow History of Bad Air and Frustration Wind has been blowing across the Oceano Dunes for as long as the dunes have existed. Long before humans lived on the California Central Coast, sand has been moving off the dunes and it gradually built the Nipomo Mesa. However, the human-made dust pollution we have today is relatively recent. It came with the start and growth in popularity of off-highway vehicle recreation over past several decades. This activity has destroyed the foredunes and native vegetation that were a part of the natural Oceano Dunes complex. When the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (ODSVRA) was established by the State, and for years following, the unnatural levels of fine particular matter (PM) dust emissions that this destruction caused was not understood to be a public health problem. Decades later it has been demonstrated to be a real and critical public health threat. Nevertheless, State Parks has been slow to employ solutions to resolve the public health issues caused by off-highway vehicle activity on the dunes. The history of efforts of concerned officials and concerned citizens to remedy the problem is a long, slow history of bad air and frustration. This history is depicted on a poster prepared by the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution District ( click here ). It depicts the timeline of important events in the struggle to enforce air quality standards on the operation of the ODSVRA and to get the State of California to comply with its own air quality standards. On April 30, 2018 the SLO County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) Hearing Board approved a Stipulated Order of Abatement (SOA) that requires State Parks to implement dust control measures designed to bring the ODSVRA into compliance with federal and state air quality standards and to reduce PM10 emissions by 50% over four years. (See the Filed SOA.) In 2019 little was accomplished toward the PM reduction objectives of the SOA issued in April of 2018. State Parks demonstrated a continuation of its long history of denial, resistance, foot dragging and excuse-making. (See the SOA Background page). In the summer of 2019, State Parks made three attempts at an Annual Report and Work Plan (ARWP) that conformed to the requirements of the SOA. Each version was found to be deficient by the Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO), Gary Willey, and Scientific Advisory Group (SAG). As a consequence, on November 1 Gary Willey petitioned the Air Pollution Control District (APCD) Hearing Board for a hearing and approval of an Amended SOA. On November 18, 2019 the Hearing Board received testimony from Willey and APCD staff, State Parks and the public. The State Parks Off- Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division was represented by Lisa Mangat, Director of California Department of Parks and Recreation. At that time, she committed to the Hearing Board a new resolve to comply with the requirements of the SOA. The Hearing Board then approved an Amended Stipulated Order of Abatement (see the Amended SOA and original SOA) . The following is a list of the Amended SOA-required 2020 PM reduction efforts and the current implementation status: • Fencing of 48 acres of foredunes by January 1, 2020 Status: Fencing completed on time • Start of planting these 48 acres by April 1, 2020 Status: Planting 48 acres completed by March 31 • Fencing and installation of 40 acres of seasonal wind fencing by April 1, 2020 Status: Completed • Fencing of 4.2 acres of permanent dust controls in a highly emissive area by June 1, 2020 Status: Completed • Completion of all other dust controls as required by the original SOA Status: Ongoing • S ubmit a revised Annual Report and Work Plan ( click here ) addressing the above by January 1, 2020 Status: Completed State Parks made meaningful progress in 2020 toward implementing the PM reduction measures required by the Amended SOA and revised Work Plan. This progress was a hopeful sign that State Parks has started to take seriously its legal obligation to reduce Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV)-related emissions. The current Work Plan season runs to the end of July 2020.