Updates to Transportation Conformity Budgets for the San Joaquin 

Valley 2012 PM2.5 Plan

October 20, 2014

Date to be considered: November 20, 2014
This document has been reviewed by the staff of the California Air Resources Board 

and approved for publication. Approval does not signify that the contents necessarily 

reflect the views and policies of the Air Resources Board, nor does the mention of trade 

names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

Electronic copies of this document are available for download from the Air Resources 

Board’s Internet site at: www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/sjvpm25/24hrsjvpm25.htm. In 

addition, written copies may be obtained from the Public Information Office, Air 

Resources Board, 1001 I Street, 1st Floor, Visitors and Environmental Services Center, 

Sacramento, California 95814, (916) 322-2990.

For individuals with sensory disabilities, this document is available in Braille, large print, 

audiocassette, or computer disk. Please contact ARB’s Disability Coordinator at 

(916) 323-4916 by voice or through the California Relay Services at 711, to place your 

request for disability services. If you are a person with limited English and would like to 

request interpreter services, please contact ARB’s Bilingual Manager at (916) 323-7053.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED REVISIONS

The federal Clean Air Act (the Act) establishes planning requirements for those areas 

that routinely exceed the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These 

nonattainment areas must develop and implement a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

that demonstrates how they will attain the standards by specified dates. The San 

Joaquin Valley Air Basin was designated nonattainment for the 35 μg/m3 24-hour PM2.5 

standard in 2009. 

In December 2012, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (District) 

adopted a State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 35 μg/m3 24-hour PM2.5 standard 

(2012 PM2.5 Plan). The 2012 PM2.5 Plan was developed to meet requirements of the 

Act including requirements to demonstrate reasonable further progress (RFP) toward 

attainment of the standard. The 2012 PM 2.5 Plan also contains transportation 

conformity budgets as required by the Act. In January 2013, the Board approved the 

2012 PM2.5 Plan. 

The transportation conformity budgets in the 2012 PM2.5 Plan included the benefits of 

incentive programs and the District employee trip reduction rule. Those same benefits 

were not included in the plan’s RFP demonstration because the region was able to 

show RFP without them. U.S. EPA has requested that the State remove the benefits of 

incentive programs and the employee trip reduction rule from the transportation 

conformity budgets so that they are consistent with the plan’s RFP demonstration. 

Appendix A to this report contains two tables. The first is an update to Table C-4 in the 

2012 PM2.5 Plan that reflects the updated conformity budgets in 2014 and 2017 for 

each of the San Joaquin Valley counties. The second table provides details for how the 

budgets were calculated. 

PROPOSED ACTION

Staff recommends that the Board approve the updates to the transportation conformity 

budgets for the San Joaquin Valley as contained in the revised Table C-4. If approved, 

the updated transportation conformity budgets will be submitted to U.S. EPA as a 

revision to the California SIP for U.S. EPA to use in its review of the 2012 PM2.5 Plan.
APPENDIX A