The Regional Agency Coordinating Committee (RACC) was established in Spring 2002 by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The three agencies are co-lead agencies for preparing federal air quality plans and are responsible for adopting and revising the Bay Area portion of the State Implementation Plan for nonattainment pollutants, such as ozone. The committee is a successor to an earlier joint committee, the Joint Air Quality Planning Committee, which expired in 1996.
The agencies agreed to form the committee "to work in collaboration on areas of mutual concern and shared jurisdiction", with emphasis on the updating of the Ozone Attainment Plan (see Strategy for Ozone Reduction). All three agencies were also participants in the regional Smart Growth planning process, and RACC recently assumed the responsibility for working on follow-up activities to that process. To perform this role, RACC will have two linked meetings, one addressing air quality planning and the second, with expanded committee membership (other regional agencies and interest groups which previously participated in the Smart Growth Steering Committee), addressing smart growth and various incentive programs.
Meetings are currently held bimonthly on the third Friday of the month, usually at the MetroCenter. Agendas are available on the MTC Website, http://www.mtc.ca.gov
For more information, contact Chris Brittle, MTC, 510-464-7831; cbrittle@mtc.ca.gov.