State of California
AIR RESOURCES BOARD



NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING TO CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE PROPOSED 2003 STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR PARTICULATE MATTER IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, INCLUDING NEW STATE STRATEGIES TO REDUCE EMISSIONS


The Air Resources Board (Board or ARB) will conduct a public hearing at the time and place noted below to consider the approval of the proposed 2003 plan to attain the federal standards for inhalable particulate matter (PM10) prepared by the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (District), as well as a State commitment for additional emission reductions to support this plan. If adopted, ARB will submit both of these elements to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) for approval as a revision to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP).

DATE: June 26, 2003
TIME: 9:00 AM
PLACE: In-Person

San Joaquin Valley Unified
Air Pollution Control District
1990 East Gettysburg Avenue
Fresno, California

Via Videoconference
District Northern Region Office 4230 Kiernan Avenue, Suite 130 Modesto, California
District Southern Region Office 2700 M Street, Suite 275 Bakersfield, California

These items will be considered at a two-day meeting of the Board, which will commence at 9:00 a.m., June 26, 2003, and may continue at 8:30 a.m., June 27, 2003. These items may not be considered until June 27, 2003. Please consult the agenda for the meeting, which will be available at least 10 days before June 26, 2003, to determine the day on which these items will be considered.

If you have special accommodation or language needs, please contact ARB's Clerk of the Board at (916) 322-5594 or sdorais@arb.ca.gov as soon as possible. TTY/TDD/Speech-to-Speech users may dial 7-1-1 for the California Relay Service.

If you are a person with a disability and desire to obtain this document in an alternative format, please contact the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator at (916) 323-4916, or TDD (916) 324-9531, or (800) 700-8326 for TDD calls from outside the Sacramento area.

BACKGROUND

The federal Clean Air Act (Act) sets plan provisions, plan submission schedules, and attainment deadlines for areas that violate the 24-hour and annual average National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10. The San Joaquin Valley was classified as a serious PM10 nonattainment area with an attainment deadline of December 31, 2001. On July 23, 2002, U.S. EPA made a final finding that the San Joaquin Valley failed to attain the PM10 standards by that deadline. As a result, the State must submit a SIP revision that provides for attainment by the most expeditious date practical and achieves a five percent annual reduction of PM10 or PM10 precursor emissions until the standards are achieved.

In the San Joaquin Valley, high particulate levels are due to the combination of directly emitted particles (from dust and soot) and aerosol droplets formed in the atmosphere by precursor chemicals (from a variety of sources, such as fuel combustion, livestock operations, and vegetation). The SIP relies on extensive data gathered during field studies done in the Valley in 1995 and the comprehensive California Regional Particulate Air Quality Study conducted in 1999 - 2001. Based on this science, the attainment assessment in the SIP shows that reducing emissions of direct PM10 and the precursor nitrogen oxides (NOx) is the most effective way to attain the standards in the region. The SIP responds with a multi-pollutant control strategy that provides for attainment by 2010, the earliest feasible date.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED SIP REVISION

To satisfy the requirements of the Act, the proposed SIP revision consists of the following elements:

State SIP Element

Adopted State and federal regulations for on-road vehicles and off-road equipment will cut San Joaquin Valley NOx emissions by over 140 tons per day (TPD) between 1999 and 2010, and reduce other PM10 contributors as well. To support this SIP, ARB staff is proposing that the Board commit to achieve an additional ten TPD of NOx and 0.5 TPD of direct PM10 reductions in the San Joaquin Valley by 2010. Staff is also proposing a commitment to develop statewide control measures for Board consideration (affecting passenger vehicles, heavy trucks and buses, and off-road equipment) and improvements to the Smog Check program for implementation by the Bureau of Automotive Repair. The emission reduction commitment could be achieved by adoption of these or other State measures. The State measures are a subset of the Proposed 2003 State and Federal Strategy for the California SIP that ARB will consider later this year. The State's proposed commitments for the San Joaquin Valley PM10 SIP are described in Section I, Chapter D of the comprehensive strategy document. Only the emission reduction commitment for the San Joaquin Valley PM10 SIP and the associated measures identified in this portion of the document will be considered by the Board at its June meeting.

Local SIP Element

The District staff released a draft SIP on March 25, 2003. The District prepared the technical elements of the plan in consultation with ARB, U.S. EPA, and local transportation agencies. The draft SIP reflects 20 TPD of NOx reductions from adopted District rules for stationary and areawide sources, as well as proposed local commitments to achieve over 50 TPD of additional PM10 reductions, over 30 TPD of NOx reductions, and six TPD of sulfur oxides reductions by 2010. The local strategy affects sources under District jurisdiction, including agriculture operations, industrial facilities, fugitive dust, residential woodburning, as well as on-road vehicles through transportation control measures to be implemented by the county Councils of Government.

ARB staff has reviewed the draft SIP and expects that the District will make any necessary revisions for federal approvability in the revised version due out by May 19, 2003. ARB staff will review the District's final proposed plan following its release and will publish an ARB staff report no later than May 23, 2003. The ARB hearing described in this notice will be held only if the District's Governing Board adopts the SIP prior to June 26, 2003.

AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTS


The Proposed 2003 State and Federal Strategy for the California State Implementation Plan will be publicly available on May 12, 2003. ARB staff's report to the Board with its evaluation and recommendations on the San Joaquin Valley 2003 PM10 Plan will be publicly available on May 23, 2003. Both documents will be posted on the ARB's website at http://www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/sip.htm. In addition, written copies may be obtained from the Board's Public Information Office, 1001 I Street, 1st Floor, Environmental Services Center, Sacramento, California 95814, (916) 322-2990.

PUBLIC PROCESS

The hearing will be conducted in two parts. First, the Board will consider approval of the State commitment for additional emission reductions and measure development to support the San Joaquin Valley 2003 PM10 SIP. Second, the Board will consider approval of the San Joaquin Valley 2003 PM10 Plan as a SIP revision. If adopted by ARB, both of these elements will be submitted to U.S. EPA as a revision to the California SIP.

During each part of the hearing, ARB staff will make an oral presentation and present recommendations to the Board. Interested members of the public may also present comments orally or in writing at the meeting, and in writing or by e-mail before the meeting. To be considered by the Board, written comments submissions not physically submitted at the meeting must be received no later than 12:00 noon, June 25, 2003, and addressed to the following:

Postal mail is to be sent to:

Clerk of the Board
Air Resources Board
1001 "I" Street, 23rd Floor
Sacramento, California 95814

Electronic mail is to be sent to sjvsip@listserv.arb.ca.gov and received at ARB no later than 12:00 noon, June 25, 2003.

Facsimile submissions are to be transmitted to the Clerk of the Board at (916) 322-3928 and received at ARB no later than 12:00 noon June 25, 2003.

The Board requests, but does not require 30 copies of any written submission. Also, the ARB requests that written and e-mail statements be filed at least ten days prior to the meeting so that ARB staff and Board members have time to fully consider each comment. Further inquiries regarding the San Joaquin Valley PM10 Plan or the proposed State commitment to support the plan should be directed Ms. Sylvia Morrow, Air Resources Engineer, at (916) 324-7163.

CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD




Catherine Witherspoon
Executive Officer


Date:


The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumption. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy costs, see our Web-site at www.arb.ca.gov.

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