GOVERNING BOARD

Tom Wheeler, Chair

Supervisor, Madera County

Oliver L. Baines III, Vice Chair

Councilmember, City of Fresno

Sally J. Bomprezzi

Councilmember, City of Madera

Dennis Brazil

Mayor, City of Gustine

John Capitman, Ph.D.

Appointed by Governor

David Couch

Supervisor, Kern County 

Bob Elliott

Supervisor, San Joaquin County

Virginia R. Gurrola

Councilmember, City of Porterville

Harold Hanson

Councilmember, City of Bakersfield

Buddy Mendes

Supervisor, Fresno County 

William O’Brien

Supervisor, Stanislaus County

Craig Pedersen

Supervisor, Kings County

Alexander C. Sherriffs, M.D.

Appointed by Governor

Hub Walsh 

Supervisor, Merced County

J. Steven Worthley

Supervisor, Tulare County

Seyed Sadredin

Executive Director

Air Pollution Control Officer

Northern Region Office

4800 Enterprise Way 

Modesto, CA 95356-8718

(209) 557-6400 • FAX (209) 557-6475

Central Region Office

1990 East Gettysburg Avenue

Fresno, CA 93726-0244

(559) 230-6000 • FAX (559) 230-6061

Southern Region Office

34946 Flyover Court

Bakersfield, CA 93308-9725

(661) 392-5500 • FAX (661) 392-5585

www.valleyair.org

DATE: June 18, 2015

TO: SJVUAPCD Governing Board

FROM: Seyed Sadredin, Executive Director/APCO

Project Coordinator: Sheraz Gill

RE: ITEM NUMBER 7: APPROVE NEXT STEPS FOR 

ADDRESSING EMISSIONS FROM UNDER-FIRED 

COMMERCIAL CHARBROILERS AT VALLEY 

RESTAURANTS

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Approve the proposed Restaurant Charbroiler Technology 

Partnership program to fund particulate emission control technology 

demonstration projects for under-fired charbroilers at Valley 

restaurants.

2. Appropriate $1.5 million for the Restaurant Charbroiler Technology 

Partnership program.

3. Authorize Executive Director/APCO, on behalf of your board, to 

execute contracts with the Board Chair’s signature for projects 

selected under the Restaurant Charbroiler Technology Partnership 

program.

BACKGROUND:

Due to the Valley’s geography, topography, and meteorology, the 

challenges that we face in meeting the federal health-based ambient 

air quality standards are unmatched by any other region in the nation. 

In response to these federal mandates and to improve quality of life for 

Valley residents, the District has developed and implemented multiple 

generations of rules on various sources of air pollution. Since 1992, 

the District has adopted over 500 rules, requiring the installation and 

operation of the most effective air pollution control technologies and 

processes. Valley businesses are currently subject to the most

stringent air quality regulations in the nation. 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board

ITEM NUMBER 7: APPROVE NEXT STEPS FOR ADDRESSING EMISSIONS FROM UNDER-FIRED 

COMMERCIAL CHARBROILERS AT VALLEY RESTAURANTS

June 18, 2015

Despite significant progress in improving the Valley’s air quality, more reductions in 

emissions are needed to attain the ever toughening federal standards. Under the 

District’s 2012 PM2.5 Plan, 283.5 tons per day of reductions in PM2.5, NOx and SOx 

are needed. The attainment plan contains a number of groundbreaking regulatory and 

incentive-based measures to achieve these reductions. Consistent with the “leave no 

stone unturned” strategy, the District has also been pursuing a measure aimed at 

reducing emissions from under-fired commercial charbroilers with the goal of reducing 

emissions by 0.4 tons of PM2.5 per day. 

Despite extensive efforts by California air districts, other states, and federal EPA, 

working control technologies for reducing particulate emissions from under-fired 

charbroilers have remained elusive. The purpose of this item is to authorize investment 

and research to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of potential control technologies 

in real life use in San Joaquin Valley restaurants. If these efforts are successful in 

identifying cost-effective technologies that can accommodate real life operating 

conditions, the District can then adopt a rule that would require utilization of such 

controls.

DISCUSSION:

Beginning in 2002, the District required installation and operation of particulate matter 

control devices on chain-driven commercial charbroilers. The unavailability of a feasible 

and cost-effective control technology has been the barrier to the District’s attempt to 

impose similar requirements for under-fired charbroiling operations. Other air districts in 

California have encountered similar difficulties in identifying and requiring compliant 

control technologies for under-fired charbroilers.

Bay Area Air Quality Management District

In December 2007, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted 

Regulation 6, Rule 2 (Commercial Cooking Equipment) to regulate both chain-driven 

and under-fired charbroilers. Newly installed under-fired charbroilers with more than 10 

square feet of cooking area are required to limit emissions to 1 lb of PM10 per 1,000 lbs 

of cooked beef (greater than 90% reduction in emissions). Effective January 2013, the 

same emissions requirements also apply to pre-existing units. Under this rule, 

restaurants subject to the emission control requirements are required to install emission 

control technologies that are certified to meet the expected emissions reductions and 

obtain registrations. Although this rule was adopted in 2007 and has had requirements 

in effect since 2010, a significant portion of under-fired charbroilers in the Bay Area are 

below the applicability thresholds based on the grill size or are below the throughput 

limits, and are thus exempt from rule requirements. Additionally, since adoption of the 

rule, the BAAQMD has not been able to certify any compliant control devices and 

subsequently has not registered any new or existing restaurants under their rule. 

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SJVUAPCD Governing Board

ITEM NUMBER 7: APPROVE NEXT STEPS FOR ADDRESSING EMISSIONS FROM UNDER-FIRED 

COMMERCIAL CHARBROILERS AT VALLEY RESTAURANTS

June 18, 2015

South Coast Air Quality Management District

In November 1997 South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) adopted 

Rule 1138, which achieved 0.5 tons per day of PM10 emissions from chain-driven 

charbroilers. In 1999 they amended their attainment plan to include a commitment to 

further reduce 0.9 tons per day of VOC and 7.0 tons per day of PM10 

emissions. However, in August 2000, SCAQMD staff reported that cost-effective 

controls for under-fired charbroilers were limited and recommended substituting the 

remaining 0.9 tons per day of VOC emissions reductions assigned to this category with 

reductions from another control measure. Their 2003 air quality management plan 

(AQMP) included reducing PM10 from under-fired charbroilers by 1 ton per day by 

2010. However, a report to the SCAQMD Board in 2004 demonstrated that controls 

from under-fired charbroilers were infeasible and again substituted emissions reductions 

from other adopted rules. To help advance the demonstration of these technologies, 

South Coast recommended funding for demonstration projects and their Board 

approved $200,000 to fund six to eight new or retrofit demonstration sites on large 

restaurants. However, no applications were received for that program. In 2008-2009, 

AQMD staff reinitiated rule development for restaurants with under-fired charbroilers 

and held a series of working group meetings and a public workshop. Due to lack of 

demonstrable cost-effective and affordable control technologies SCAQMD staff 

determined rule adoption at that time was not feasible. Based on the research work 

discussed above, South Coast has tentative plans to adopt potential amendments to 

their charbroiling rule (Rule 1138) to establish control requirements for under-fired 

charbroiling restaurants by the end of 2016.

District’s Ongoing Evaluation of Under-Fired Charbroiler Control Technologies

As part of the September 2009 Rule 4692 amendments, the District conducted research 

and outreach to Valley restaurants to determine whether the rule applicability could be 

expanded to include under-fired charbroilers and determined that there was a lack of 

credible and verifiable information necessary to evaluate the costs and reliability in the 

field of these technologies. Based on that determination, your Board directed staff to 

initiate the Charbroiler Incentive Program (ChIP) to advance development of under-fired 

charbroiler emissions control technologies, and authorized $500,000 of funding for the 

program. The Charbroiler Incentive program was open for 18 months, however, the 

program did not receive any applications. 

Since 2009, the District has partnered with the South Coast Air Quality Management 

District (AQMD), Bay Area Air Quality Management District (AQMD), and EPA to further 

the research and evaluation of emission control technologies for under-fired 

charbroilers. Through this effort, under-fired charbroiler technology assessments have 

been conducted at UC-Riverside College of Engineering’s Center for Environmental 

Research & Technology (CE-CERT). The District provided in-kind technical support 

and the research was funded with over $500,000 in contributions provided by South 

Coast AQMD, Bay Area AQMD, and EPA. The initial task under this effort was to 

review commercially available, prototype, and experimental charbroiler control 

technologies. The evaluation identified three technologies to be tested by CE-CERT in 

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SJVUAPCD Governing Board

ITEM NUMBER 7: APPROVE NEXT STEPS FOR ADDRESSING EMISSIONS FROM UNDER-FIRED 

COMMERCIAL CHARBROILERS AT VALLEY RESTAURANTS

June 18, 2015

the final phase of the study. The three technologies chosen represented a crosssection of control options, including a rooftop ventilation system design, a dedicated 

hood design, and a process design. Additional testing has been performed on several 

other systems and is ongoing as more technologies have been identified to be 

potentially feasible solutions. 

While the testing methods used in this CE-CERT testing process have been rigorously 

evaluated and determined to be highly accurate, the entire process is performed in CECERT’s charbroiler test kitchen. The preparation and execution of the cooking process 

is highly controlled and precisely repeated for every test run for each control system so 

that the results are comparable for each device. Although the controlled nature of this 

test kitchen is able to effectively quantify the control efficiency of each control system, it 

does not allow for an appropriate assessment of the feasibility of installation or ongoing 

operation and maintenance.

Proposed Restaurant Charbroiler Technology Partnership

The District committed in the 2012 PM2.5 Plan to achieving 0.4 tons per day of directlyemitted PM2.5 emissions through the extension of Rule 4692 requirements to underfired charbroilers. In recognition of the many questions and concerns remaining with 

respect to feasibility and cost, the District established a target date of 2016 for adoption 

of these new requirements, with an anticipated compliance date of 2017 for restaurants 

subject to the new emission control requirements.

Although under-fired charbroiler technology advancements have been made, including 

successful testing of technologies in the CE-CERT test kitchen, these technologies are 

still un-tested in real-life applications and need further evaluation and demonstration at 

Valley restaurants. With the importance of achieving direct PM2.5 emissions reductions 

from under-fired charbroilers and in order to consider the potential requirements to 

install control systems during the upcoming amendments to Rule 4692, the District must 

have a comprehensive understanding of the under-fired charbroiler restaurant industry

and the specifics of each technology. Technological feasibility issues and logistical 

issues such as the need to modify hoods and exhaust systems and reinforce roof 

supports in addition to the purchase, installation, maintenance, and labor costs must all 

be evaluated. 

The proposed Restaurant Charbroiler Technology Partnership (RCTP) will connect 

under-fired charbroiler control system manufacturers with restaurants who are 

interested in installing these control systems. Since these restaurants will be early 

adopters of under-fired charbroiler technology and will be providing a platform to 

demonstrate the effectiveness of the control systems, the District is proposing to fund 

these demonstration projects including the full cost of purchase, installation, operation, 

maintenance of control equipment, and other costs such as modifications to the existing 

system configurations and structural reinforcements. 

According to estimates submitted by manufacturers for RCTP, the initial capital costs of 

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SJVUAPCD Governing Board

ITEM NUMBER 7: APPROVE NEXT STEPS FOR ADDRESSING EMISSIONS FROM UNDER-FIRED 

COMMERCIAL CHARBROILERS AT VALLEY RESTAURANTS

June 18, 2015

feasible control technologies could range from $40,000 to over $100,000, with monthly 

operation and maintenance costs ranging from a few thousand dollars to tens of 

thousands of dollars per year. It is possible that different facility types or facilities with 

different average throughputs will require different control technologies. As such, the 

District believes it is critical to develop and demonstrate as many different technologies 

as possible.

Restaurants eligible for funding under the proposed program will be required to follow

the below guidelines:

• Technology manufacturer must partner with a Valley restaurant and enter a 

three-party agreement with the District. 

• Technology should be operated and maintained for at least two years. 

• The participants will be required to continually evaluate the control system and 

submit reports to the District, including information necessary to evaluate the 

technological feasibility and cost of installing and operating the control system. 

• Funding should not be used for indirect costs, including travel costs, 

administrative costs, or report generation.

• Funding should not be used for staff time not related to installation, 

maintenance, or operation of the control equipment.

• Participants will be required to meet minimum performance criteria outlined in 

the Statement of Work, specific to each project.

• Participants will be required to make fiscally reasonable efforts to continue 

operating the control equipment even after demonstration project completion.

The demonstration projects will provide important data integral to the success of 

potential rule amendments to Rule 4692. Data resulting from these projects will include 

real-world costs for the installation, operation, and maintenance of the units as well as 

provide a demonstration of the overall effectiveness of various available technologies, 

thus providing more options for restaurants to choose from in order to comply with

potential rule requirements. 

If the Restaurant Charbroiler Technology Partnership is approved by your Board, the 

District will expand its outreach efforts with Valley restaurants and restaurant

representatives to build partnerships and encourage participation in the program. 

Through the proposed $1.5 million in funding, the District anticipates funding up to 10 

projects at Valley restaurants. 

Over the past year, the District has been working closely with technology manufacturers 

and Valley restaurants to identify several potential projects. One potential project is 

estimated to achieve emissions reductions with a cost effectiveness of approximately 

$8,200 per ton of particulate emissions reduced. As a result of this early outreach 

effort, the District could offer funding and begin demonstration projects with Valley 

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SJVUAPCD Governing Board

ITEM NUMBER 7: APPROVE NEXT STEPS FOR ADDRESSING EMISSIONS FROM UNDER-FIRED 

COMMERCIAL CHARBROILERS AT VALLEY RESTAURANTS

June 18, 2015

restaurant partners in the next few months. 

FISCAL IMPACT:

Sufficient appropriations are included in the 2015-16 Budget to fund the proposed

program under the Technology Advancement Program.

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