Smoke, Dust and Odor Complaints in San Diego

Air quality complaints in San Diego are not handled by the City. They go to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (APCD), which says it investigates air quality concerns including odors, truck idling, smoke, dust and improper asbestos removal to determine compliance with air quality rules. As of November 1, 2026, the City's guide to Get It Done reports lists no report type for dust, smoke or odors from a business. The City still handles a few related problems, covered below: permits for grading and demolition, runoff into storm drains, and sewer smells.

This guide is written for the City of San Diego, but the APCD covers the whole county. For other City problems, see our guide to reporting a problem to the City of San Diego.

As of November 1, 2026, the APCD's Air Quality Complaints page lists three ways to report:

• The APCD mobile app (Apple, Android). The APCD says the app lets you report odors, dust, asbestos, smoke and other concerns directly, and that it investigates each concern submitted within 48 hours or less. The app is available in Spanish by setting your device language to Español.
• Phone: 858-586-2650. For after-hours concerns, call the same number and select option 2.
• Email: apcdcomp@sdapcd.org.

The APCD says this information helps it investigate:

• Your name, address and telephone number.
• The time and date it happened, and whether it is still going on.
• What it is: smoke, dust, odor or something else.
• The name and address of the source and the type of operation causing it, if you know them.

The APCD also publishes a complaint mapping tool and dashboard and an Air Quality Complaint List, so you can see whether others have reported the same source.

Dust from construction and demolition is covered by APCD Rule 55, Fugitive Dust Control. As of November 1, 2026, it says:

• The 3-minute standard. No one may carry out construction or demolition subject to the rule in a way that sends visible dust beyond the property line for periods adding up to more than 3 minutes in any 60-minute period. The rule covers active operations, open storage piles and inactive disturbed areas such as graded dirt.
• Dirt tracked onto the street. Visible dirt on paved roads from trucks and equipment leaving a site must be minimized with measures such as track-out grates or gravel beds, wheel washing in muddy conditions, and covered or watered truck loads. It must be removed at the end of each work day, or every 24 hours for continuous operations, and using blowers to remove it is prohibited.
• What is not covered. Rule 55 exempts noncommercial construction or demolition on a home for no more than four families (the rule defines commercial as work done for pay by someone other than a tenant or the property owner), emergency work, utility work during unplanned outages, and permanent unpaved roads, among other exemptions. Sites covered by Rule 55 are also subject to Rule 50 (visible emissions) and Rule 51 (nuisance).
• No permit at all? If the dust comes from grading or demolition you believe has no City permit, you can also ask the City's Building & Land Use Enforcement Division to investigate, online or at 619-236-5500. Its priority list puts unpermitted grading in Priority II (inspected within five business days) and unpermitted demolition in Priority III (within 20 business days). See our code enforcement guide.
• Mud and runoff. Material or muddy water from a site flowing into gutters or storm drains is a City Stormwater issue: Get It Done's Illegal Discharge report is for material or fluid being dumped or released into the City's storm water system.

For dust, debris or other problems at street and utility work, see our road work and construction problems guide.

• Burning trash, yard waste or debris. APCD Rule 101 prohibits open burning for disposal of waste including ornamental or landscape vegetation, paper, plastics, tires, pallets, paint cans, shop waste, and construction or demolition debris, and prohibits residential burning in the western section of the county. It counts a burn barrel as open burning. Permitted burns, such as fire hazard reduction or agricultural burning, need a burn permit from the local fire authority and a permissive burn day, the APCD's Open Burning page says.
• Fire pits, fireplaces and grills. The APCD says it does not currently prohibit burning in fireplaces, fire pots, fire rings, grills or chimineas; Rule 101 exempts recreational, ceremonial and cooking fires that use clean dry wood or charcoal, natural gas, propane or cooking fuel. But it says any fire that produces excessive smoke or odors could be a public nuisance, which you can report to the APCD.
• City fire rules. San Diego Fire-Rescue's Recreational Fires page says a recreational fire may have a fuel area of no more than 3 feet across and 2 feet high and must be at least 25 feet from a structure (15 feet for a fire in an approved container), must be constantly attended with a way to put it out nearby, and is not permitted if it is offensive or objectionable because of smoke or odor, or if conditions make it hazardous.
• Smoke from a business. APCD Rule 50 says no single source may discharge an air contaminant darker than Number 1 on the Ringelmann Chart (or of equivalent opacity) for periods adding up to more than 3 minutes in any 60 consecutive minutes. Report persistent dark smoke to the APCD.
• Smoking vehicles. The APCD's smoking vehicle page sends these to the California Air Resources Board's complaint form. Have the vehicle type, license plate, make and model, and the date, time and location ready.

Odors fall under APCD Rule 51, Nuisance, which says no one may discharge air contaminants that cause injury, detriment, nuisance or annoyance to any considerable number of persons or the public, or that endanger their comfort, repose, health or safety. The APCD's Nuisance Complaint Program page cites the same standard in California Health and Safety Code section 41700 and says complaints about stationary sources (business, government or military) can be reported by phone, email or the app.

• Paint, chemical, cooking and other business odors. Report them to the APCD with the business name and address if you know it, the times you notice the smell, and how long it lasts. An inspector may ask how often it happens, who else is affected, and for a description of the odor.
• Agricultural odors are exempt. Rule 51 does not apply to odors from agricultural operations in growing crops or raising fowls or animals, and the APCD's complaints page says such odors are exempt under Rule 51 and the Health and Safety Code.
• Odors the APCD sends elsewhere. For marijuana smoke, the APCD says to call local police (SDPD's 24/7 non-emergency line is 619-531-2000). For mold and mildew, it says to contact your landlord or property manager or an industrial hygienist.
• Sewer and storm drain smells. Get It Done says to report a sewer issue to the Public Utilities Department at 619-515-3525; a smelly storm drain can be reported with Get It Done's Storm Drain report, which has a Foul Odor option. See our sewer spills and odors guide.
• South Bay odors. The APCD keeps a dedicated page with updates on odor complaints from communities around the Tijuana River Valley.

The APCD's Asbestos Program page says asbestos is commonly found in buildings built before 1980 and some built later, and that it can be released when materials are disturbed during remodeling or demolition. It regulates certain renovation and demolition projects through Rule 1206, and says improper removal can also violate Rule 51.

• Survey and notice. For projects the rule covers, Rule 1206 requires a facility survey for asbestos before renovation or demolition, kept on site, and written notice to the APCD no later than 10 working days before the work starts.
• Small homes are mostly exempt. The rule does not apply to renovation or demolition at a residential building with four or fewer dwelling units, or a single mobile, manufactured or modular home, unless it is part of a larger group of buildings or used for commercial, institutional, public or industrial purposes. It also exempts renovations disturbing less than 100 square feet of building materials in any 365-day period.
• Reporting it. Improper asbestos removal is one of the concerns the APCD lists on its complaints page; report it at 858-586-2650, apcdcomp@sdapcd.org or through the app.

As of November 1, 2026, the APCD's Nuisance Complaint Program page describes the process:

• Dispatch. Complaints go to a District inspector as soon as possible, but those received outside normal business hours may be dispatched the next business day. Whenever possible, the inspector calls the person who complained to learn more.
• Inspection. The inspector locates the source, tells it about the complaint while keeping the complainant confidential, and inspects the facility to find the cause and check its compliance.
• Enforcement. The inspector issues Notices to Comply or Notices of Violation for any violations observed. The APCD's Notice of Violation page says most cases are settled with a penalty, that maximum civil penalties under the Health and Safety Code range from $5,000 to one million dollars per day of violation, and that serious cases may be referred for criminal prosecution.
• Follow-up. The inspector contacts the complainant to discuss the findings within 3 days of completing the investigation. The APCD advises reporting any further incidents as they happen.
• Keep a record. Since inspectors ask about frequency, timing and duration, a simple log of dates, times and how long each episode lasted, plus photos or video of visible dust or smoke taken from your own property, makes a report easier to follow up.

• Current conditions. The APCD home page shows current air quality at monitoring sites around the county, and its Smoke Advisory page posts any active smoke advisories. Its Incident Response page points to AirNow for air quality by ZIP code or city and to the EPA Fire and Smoke map.
• Protecting yourself. The same page links to the California Air Resources Board's Protecting Yourself from Wildfire Smoke. The APCD's Air Quality Information page links to an AirNow guide explaining the Air Quality Index and the health effects at each level.
• After a fire. The APCD's Wildfire Asbestos Advisory warns that fire-damaged buildings and debris may contain asbestos, and advises wetting ash and debris during cleanup, keeping asbestos-containing material separate, and disposing of it at a landfill approved to receive asbestos.