# SanJoaquin Valley

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT 

# 1%1c HEALTHYAIR 

# LIVING"

July 10, 2012

Jared Blumenfeld U.S. EPA Region IX 75 Hawthorne Street Mail Code: ORA-1 

### San Francisco, CA 94105

Re: San Joaquin Valley I-hour Ozone Plan

Dear Mr. Blumenfeld:

As you know, on January 20, 2012, the Ninth Circuit Co~~rt in Sierra 

### Club 

### v. U.S. EPA found EPA's 2010 approval of the District's 2004 Extreme OzoneAttainment Demonstration Plan to be arbitrary and capricious due to the length of time that had expired since the plan was first received by the EPA in November of 2004.

Indeed, much has changed since 2004. While the 2004 Plan included a "black box" (long-term measures allowed under CAA 182(e)(5))of 5 tons per day (tpd) of NOx and 5 tpd of VOC, the District submitted its quantification of sufficient black box measures in August 2008. ARB has released newerversions of EMFAC, and ARB and the District together have made numerous improvementsto the emissions inventory and other technical analyses through boththe 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 planning processes. EPA found that the Valley failed to attain the I-hour ozone standard in 2010, but inthis failure to attain, noted that the District had already implemented its contingency measures and adopted its Clean Air Act section 185fees.

Despite this failure to attain, the Valley has experienced significant improvement in its 1- hour ozone levels, exceeding just 3 days in 201 1 compared to the historic high of 56 exceedance days in 1996. On these few remaining exceedances days, peak I-hour ozone concentrations are also lowerthan in previous years, and the exceedences last for fewer hours than in previous years. Beginning in 2011, the District introduced its summertime Air Alert program to directly avert violations of the federal I-hourozone standard by advising residents and businessesto reduce vehicle use. In fact, 201 1 was the first time there were no exceedances of the I -hour standard recorded in the month of August. Furthermore, control measures adopted under the more challenging and more health-protective 8-hour ozone standard will reduce the Valley's ozone precursor emissions even more over the next several years.Jared Blumenfeld, €PA July 10, 2012 Page 2 of2
Significant time and resources will bewasted if the District waits for EPA to withdraw its previous SIP approval and take final action to disapprove the now-outdated plan. Under this scenario, EPA will then need to provide an additional 18 months to submit a new plan in mid to late 2014. The time and resources would be better spent ifwe focus on putting together an effective and approvable I-hourozone plan to attain the standard as expeditiously as possible. Towards that end, it is our intention to withdraw the District's 2004 Extreme Ozone Attainment Demonstration Planwith a commitment to submit a

new a new I-hourozone plan to EPA by June 30,2013; a year sooner than would otherwise be required

.
With this 2013 P!an, the District and ARB will take advantage of improvementsto the emissions inventory and air quality modeling tools that have been madethrough the District's 2007 Ozone Plan (for 8-hour ozone),the 2008 PM2.5 Plan, the currently-inprogress 2012 PM2.5 Plan, and related scientific research in progress under the Central California Ozone Study (CCOS). The 2013 Planwill also evaluate the strong control measures recently adopted and implemented underthe 2007 and 2008 Plansto assess the benefits for I-hourozone over the coming years, as this control program isfully implemented. The District will also consider any additional control measures that might be needed to attain the I-hour ozone standard as expeditiously as practicable. The District will hold at least one public workshop on the 2013 Ozone Plan and present the plan to its Governing Board for adoption at a public hearing. The District will then transmit the plan through ARB to EPA.

The District looks forward to collaborating with EPA Region IX, and all stakeholders throughout the I-hour ozone planning process to ensure the 201 3 plan is both effective and approvable.

Executive DirectorlAPCO

CC: Deborah Jordan, EPA Kerry Drake, EPA James Goldstene, CARB Lynn Terry, CARB