SOMCAN has launched a campaign to improve air quality in San Francisco. Low-income residents living close to freeways are disproportionately affected by air pollution from traffic congestion, which can lead to long-term health conditions like asthma, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. You can learn more about the harmful effects of air pollution by watching this video here. To address this, SOMCAN is advocating for policy solutions that will provide cleaner air to all low-income residents within one mile of a freeway.

Specifically, SOMCAN is advocating for an amendment of Article 38 of the San Francisco Health Code. You can learn about all of our primary demands by clicking here.

What is Article 38?

Under Article 38, San Francisco’s Health Code requires all new residential construction in areas of poor air quality to install enhanced ventilation systems to protect residents from the harmful effects of air pollution. These areas of poor air quality are known as the Air Pollutant Exposure Zone, displayed in the map below:

Currently, only residential buildings constructed after 2008 are required to have enhanced ventilation systems, leaving out SROs, rent-controlled buildings, and apartments that many low-income residents live in. Amending Article 38 would mandate that the City improve air filtration systems in all buildings within one mile of a freeway.

How Should we amend Article 38?

Article 38 should be amended to include the following:

Mandate enhanced ventilation systems in all residential buildings within one mile of a freeway
Require retrofitting of older residential buildings within Air Pollutant Exposure Zone with enhanced ventilation
Upgrade ventilation in all affordable housing units in the City (including buildings outside of the Air Pollutant Exposure Zone) to be capable of filtering out wildfire smoke (MERV 13 filtration)
Ensure that costs of retrofitting will not be passed on to tenants or non-profit housing providers

Importantly, we ask the City to secure state and federal funding to pay for the installation of enhanced ventilation systems in pre-2008 residential buildings.

How Do I Get Involved?

If you live in a building that is not included in Article 38, we want to hear from you! Share your experiences of air pollution with us, and let your neighbors, friends, and family know why it’s crucial for us to change the Health Code!

We need support from across the City to pass this amendment! In order for our proposed legislation to pass, we need the support of 6 out of 11 Supervisors. If you are concerned about air pollution in your neighborhood, contact us so we can work together to tell your Supervisor why amending Article 38 is important to you!

If you want to improve air quality for everyone in the City, contact SOMCAN’s Environmental Justice Organizer at (510) 603-5350 or zfrial@somcan.org.

What is Article 38? Why Do We Want to Change It?