Amador County – Amador is one of 36 counties that are eligible to get part of $10.9 million in funds to improve air quality. The funds, which are about a third of the federal 2008 farm bill, will help farmers and ranchers come into compliance for particulate matter and 8-hour ozone levels. Most of the counties included in the grant are situated along the Central Corridor, a region notorious for heavy smog and consistently low air quality. In a report released last year by the American Lung Association, the organization found that in 32 of 58 counties, residents were being exposed to air pollution at levels considered unhealthy. Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama and Tuolumne counties were some of the places with the unhealthiest air. In March of 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency launched a set of multibillion-dollar smog restrictions it called "the most stringent standards ever." The new, primary eight-hour standard is .075 parts ozone per million and the new secondary standard is set at a form and level identical to the primary standard. The funds will be administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS, the USDA agency charged with providing technical and financial conservation assistance to private landowners. Funds will be made available through the popular Environmental Quality Incentives Program that has been operating in California since 1996 and last year provided $54 million in cost share assistance. Ed Burton, State Conservationist of NRCS in California, said that “while we don't know all the details on how the program will be administered, we do hope to augment our strong history of air quality work with new and innovative methods.” Story by Alex Lane