The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service says it will add $5 million to California’s air quality resources. With the grant, California has received a total of $20.9 million from NRCS to help farmers and ranchers reduce air quality emissions from off-road mobile or stationary agricultural sources.

The primary goal of this new portion of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program is to help farmers and ranchers attain the standards set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Producers in the 36 California counties that are currently not in compliance with one or more of these standards are eligible for the program.

“These funds should help California producers comply with local and state regulations,” Dave White, chief of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, said in a statement. “We believe agriculture can be on the leading edge of setting a cleaner, greener example for protecting the air we all breathe. We’re doing what we can to help in that pursuit — technically and financially.”

White was named chief of NRCS in March. With approximately 12,000 employees and an annual budget in excess of $3 billion, NRCS is the nation’s leading agency in conserving natural resources on private lands.

White announced the new funding program while in California to chair the national Agricultural Air Quality Task Force meeting in Fresno. The funds help pay for practices that have been shown to reduce ozone precursors, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), particulate matter and fine emissions from agricultural sources. The agency says applications will be ranked and funded based on the amount of emission reductions achieved in the proposed plan.

The 36 eligible counties are: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura and Yolo. Interested applicants in eligible counties should contact their local NRCS service center.

Applications are being taken until June 26, 2009

SOURCE USDA – Natural Resources Conservation Service