Title
HEARING - Air Quality Management District (AQMD) recommending the Board, acting as the AQMD Board of Directors:
1) Adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 013-2024, approving the adoption of Rule 611 Clean Air Act Nonattainment Fees; and
2) Direct staff to forward the rule to the California Air Resources Board for transmittal to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a revision to the State Implementation Plan.
FUNDING: N/A
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The Sacramento Federal Nonattainment Area (SFNA) comprises Sacramento and Yolo counties, the western portion of El Dorado and Placer counties, the southern portion of Sutter County, and the northeastern portion of Solano County. AQMD is the agency responsible for maintaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in El Dorado County (EDC). Western EDC is designated as severe nonattainment for the 1997 ozone NAAQS and the 2008 ozone NAAQS. The SFNA is currently classified as serious for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. However, air quality photochemical modeling conducted by the CARB forecasts that the SFNA will not attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS by the serious attainment date of August 2027. The SFNA air districts have requested to be reclassified to severe to extend the attainment date to August 2033. EPA is expected to reclassify the SFNA to severe in a final rule.
Ground level ozone is a secondary pollutant formed from photochemical reactions of ozone precursors nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. The 1990 Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) amendments included, for the first time, penalty fee assessments for nonattainment areas that fail to meet ozone standards. This provision was included to address a shortcoming in the CAA that allowed areas to miss attainment deadlines without substantial consequences. The Federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7511d CAA) Section 185 requires the imposition of a penalty, on major sources, of $11,922 (for 2023) ...
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