Money paid by refineries and other polluters for breaking air quality rules is headed back to the neighborhoods that breathed the pollution. On Friday, Oct. 9, the Bay Area Air District announced $65 million in grants for Richmond, Contra Costa County, Benicia and nearby communities, with $38.7 million aimed at Richmond, San Pablo and surrounding West County neighborhoods, according to the district and Richmondside.
The grants come through a program called Bay REPAIR, short for Reinvesting Penalties for Air Improvement and Resilience. The district adopted the underlying policy in May 2024, and it says these are the first awards of their kind in California. The money is separate from the $550 million Chevron agreed last year to pay the City of Richmond over a decade, Richmondside reported.
Where the money goes
The two largest awards, called Catalyst grants, total $23.6 million. The City of Richmond gets $10.7 million for an effort it calls Richmond Rising Together, run with 11 community organizations. Its 10 projects include support for electric public transit, planting 600 trees, transit passes for 1,500 residents, upgrades to 100 income-qualified homes, asthma prevention resources, and youth jobs and leadership programs.
Contra Costa County gets $12.9 million for the North Richmond Community Resilience Initiative with Urban Tilth, the Community Housing Development Corporation, The Watershed Project and the Bay Area Regional Energy Network. Plans include finishing the North Richmond Farm Community Resilience Center, electrifying affordable housing and a senior center, planting 120 shade trees, improving the Wildcat Creek Trail, and clean energy upgrades for homes and child care sites.
Most of the remaining money, $39.8 million, goes to smaller Opportunity grants, with $1.8 million in Seed grants. Richmondside reported those include park improvements in San Pablo, help for refinery workers moving into new jobs, and clean energy upgrades for 189 homes in Pinole. The district said it reviewed 54 eligible applications from the Richmond area.
What officials said
Air District executive officer Philip Fine said the grants send penalty money back so residents can decide how to reinvest it. Supervisor John Gioia, who sits on the district board, said communities that have endured pollution deserve to benefit from the fines. Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez welcomed the money but told Richmondside that reinvesting penalties does not replace strong regulation or prevent pollution in the first place.
What happens next
A district official told Richmondside that contract negotiations with the city, county and grantees should wrap up by spring, so work can begin. The grants will run two to five years.