Progress continues to be reported regarding improving California’s air quality each year. But most of the grades being handed out this year by American Lung Association haven’t changed, including for Nevada County. The county has, again, received a “B” for particle pollution, or soot. And a senior policy analyst for the Association, Will Barrett, says the county also got another “F” for ozone pollution. The grades are based on three-year averages, in this case 2014-2016. Barrett says summer smog was especially bad in 2016, which was the second-hottest year on record…

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The Association says the Sacramento Region ranks 5th in the nation for worst ozone pollution. But it also says the region has experienced a 56-percent reduction in unhealthy ozone days since its first report in 2000 and an 83-percent drop in unhealthy particle days since 2004. El Dorado County is the most smog-polluted county in the region. Barrett says the best way to improve grades is for people to change their transportation habits, where possible…

click to listen to Will Barrett

The report says 90-percent of Californians live in areas with unhealthy air at some point during the year.