A L A S K A C A L I F O R N I A F L O R I D A M I D -P A C I F I C N O R TH EA S T N O R TH ER N R O C K I E S 

N O R TH W ES T R O C K Y M O U N TA I N WA S H I N G T O N , D . C . I N T ER N A TI O N A L

C A L I F O R N I A O F F I C E 5 0 C A L I F O R N I A S T R E E T , S U I T E 5 0 0 S A N F R A N C I S C O , C A 9 4 1 1 1

T : 4 1 5 . 2 1 7 . 2 0 0 0 F : 4 1 5 . 2 1 7 . 2 0 4 0 C A O F F I C E @ E A R T H J U S T I C E . O R G W W W . E A R T H J U S T I C E . O R G

Mr. Andrew Steckel (AIR-4)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX

75 Hawthorne Street

San Francisco, CA 94105

September 16, 2015

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

Dear Mr. Steckel, 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on EPA’s rulemaking proposing to approve 

emission reductions from incentive programs into the San Joaquin Valley portion of the 

California State Implementation Plan (“SIP”). Based on the materials submitted by the 

California Air Resources Board (“ARB”), these emission reductions are not enforceable by the 

public, and should not be accepted as SIP-creditable emission reductions. 

EPA’s own definition of enforceable shows that these emission reductions cannot be approved 

into the SIP. EPA’s enforceability criteria require that “citizens have access to all emissionsrelated information obtained from participating sources [and] citizens may file suit against a 

responsible entity for violations.”1 ARB’s Report on Reductions Achieved from Incentive-Based 

Emission Reduction Measures in the San Joaquin Valley (“Emission Reduction Report”) simply 

states that Carl Moyer-funded projects “are independently verifiable and enforceable by ARB 

and the District.”2 The Carl Moyer program allows air districts to enter into emission reduction 

agreements with grant recipients, with ARB added to contracts as a 3rd party with enforcement 

rights.3 The public has no right to enforce the emission reduction agreements entered into 

among ARB, an air district, and a grant recipient. 

Based on the information presented in the Emission Reduction Report, citizens would not even 

be able to obtain the information necessary to quantify and verify emission reductions. For 

stationary and portable farm engines funded through the Carl Moyer Program, for example, 

total project life varies from two years to ten years. Project life varies in part because emission 

reductions cannot be counted as surplus after the compliance date for a regulation applicable to 

that project.4 ARB is required to ensure that emission reductions from projects are no longer 

counted as SIP-creditable emission reductions after that compliance date. However, there is no 

 

1

80 FR 51150. 

2 Emission Reduction Report, p. 7. 

3 Emission Reduction Report, p. 6. 

4 Emission Reduction Report, p. 9. 
2

way to verify that those emission reductions were counted accurately from the information that 

ARB has provided. In order to determine whether the stationary and portable farm engine 

projects were counted only for the years during which they could be considered surplus, one 

would need to know: what type of engine was used as a replacement; the horsepower of the 

engine used as a replacement; tier of the original agricultural engine; and fleetwide particulate 

matter (“PM”) levels.5 Neither EPA nor the public has any way of knowing whether or not these 

projects were counted for only the years in which they were surplus because ARB does not 

provide enough information to determine a project’s compliance date. 

California’s incentive programs for the regulated community provide vital emission reductions, 

but cannot be approved into the SIP as a replacement for emission reductions from regulations 

without fulfilling the four fundamental integrity elements. The emission reductions obtained 

under these programs are not currently enforceable to the extent that EPA requires in its 

definition of enforceability. In addition, it is not possible for the public to quantify and verify 

emission reductions based on the materials submitted by ARB. We urge EPA to require that 

emission reductions from incentive programs be enforceable and quantifiable by citizens before 

approving them into the SIP. 

Sincerely, 

Adenike Adeyeye

Research & Policy Analyst

Earthjustice 

 

5 California Air Resources Board. 2011. Fleet Rule Implementation Charts for Use with the 2011 

Carl Moyer Program Guidelines, pp. 73-81.