The original APCA included membership from Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania and Haywood counties and Asheville. Transylvania and Henderson counties later withdrew, leaving Buncombe, Asheville, and Haywood. Financial support for the agency included local appropriations until 1993. The Agency now operates from federal grants, permit fees, state fuel taxes, and civil penalties. The agency is headquartered in Asheville in a building constructed with agency funds but located on property that belongs to the Buncombe County Board of Education.
Buncombe County administers budgetary and personnel functions for the agency for a fee.
For many years, Haywood County has provided free space and utilities for a part-time office at the Haywood County Health Department. Haywood County has one representative on the 20- member Technical Advisory Board. Currently, the purpose of the agency is to monitor air quality, issue permits to industrial sources which emit pollutants into the air, and enforce the regulations for open burning and asbestos removal. Over the course of the last five years the agency has come under severe criticism from individuals and special-interest groups from Asheville and Buncombe County. Charges have ranged from agency mismanagement to special allowances for some industries.