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 123-2024, approving the amendments to Rule 215 Architectural Coatings; 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. The SFNA is currently designated as nonattainment for the 1979 1-hour and 1997, 2008, and 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
The Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) requires that nonattainment areas develop State Implementation Plans (SIPs), outlining strategies to meet the NAAQS through emission reductions. Sections 172(c)(9) and 182(c)(9) of the CAA require these plans for ozone nonattainment areas classified as serious or higher to include contingency measures.
In June 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) partially disapproved the SFNA SIP for the 2008 ozone NAAQS (0.075 ppm) because it did not include contingency measures consistent with CAA requirements. To obtain reapproval, the SFNA air districts must submit contingency measures that collectively achieve reductions in emissions. The AQMD proposes amendments to Rule 215 to fulfill the regional contingency measure commitment in the SFNA SIP for the 2015 ozone 8-hour NAAQS (0.070 ppm). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted several “Suggested Control Measures” (SCMs) that can be model rules for air districts needing additional emissions reductions for the attainment or maintenance of federal o...
Click here for full text