Title
Environmental Management, Air Quality Management District, recommending adoption of Resolution 103-2008 approving the Reasonable Further Progress (RFP) demonstration for the Sacramento Federal Ozone Nonattainment Area (SFNA).
Body
Fiscal Impact/Change to Net County Cost: No impact to net county cost.
Background:
In July 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) 8-hour ozone standard to protect public health. In June 2004, EPA designated the Sacramento region as a serious 8-hour ozone nonattainment area with an associated attainment deadline of June 15, 2013. The SFNA includes all of Sacramento and Yolo counties and parts of El Dorado, Placer, Solano and Sutter counties. The federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA 8-hour ozone regulations require nonattainment areas classified “moderate and above” to submit an ozone attainment plan (SIP) and to annually reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by 3 percent per year to demonstrate reasonable further progress (RFP) toward attaining the ozone standard. The federal CAA allows the substitution of nitrogen oxide (NOx) reductions for VOC reductions if NOx reductions are needed to meet the ozone standard. The annual progress requirement is demonstrated at specified milestones, this plan covers the 2011 milestone. The RFP demonstration plan was required to be submitted to EPA by June 15, 2007.
On March 17, 2008, EPA issued the "Findings of Failure to Submit" letter to numerous 8-hour ozone nonattainment regions within the United States, that have not submitted the required SIP document or the required RFP Plan. The SFNA has not submitted either document. During the AQMD Board meeting on February 5, 2008, the reasons detailing why the documents had not been submitted in a timely manner were presented to the Board with a request for an early voluntary reclassification from serious to severe ozone nonattainment designation. This ...
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