Agenda Date: September 20, 2010

Agenda Placement: Regular

Estimated Time: 10 min

Continued Item: Yes

Board Agenda Item

TO: Air Pollution Control District Board

FROM: Terry E. Dressler, Air Pollution Control Officer

CONTACT: Douglas Grapple, 961-8883 (grappled@sbcapcd.org)

SUBJECT: Negative Declaration in Lieu of Rules to Adopt Certain Federal Regulations on 

Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Board:

A. Hold a public hearing to receive testimony on the negative declaration in lieu of rules to 

adopt certain federal regulations on emission guidelines and compliance times for various 

existing sources and the CEQA findings for the negative declaration in lieu of rules.

B. Approve the Resolution which follows this Board Letter. Approval of the resolution will 

result in the following actions:

1. CEQA Findings: Adopt the CEQA findings (Attachment 1) pursuant to the California 

Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA guidelines.

2. Negative Declaration in Lieu of Rules and Negative Declaration Findings: Adopt the 

negative declaration in lieu of rules and the negative declaration findings (Attachment 2)

pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 40727 regarding necessity, authority, clarity, 

consistency, nonduplication, and reference. The negative declaration findings also 

acknowledge public comments on the negative declaration and adopts the responses to 

public comments as findings of the Board (See Attachment 3).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The federal Clean Air Act (CAA) requires a State Plan that establishes standards of performance for 

certain existing sources that would be subject to a New Source Performance Standard if such 

existing sources were new sources. Local air agencies adopt these types of performance standards 

as rules. However, if there are no existing sources in an air district that are subject to a specific 

performance standard, then there is no need to adopt a rule. The U.S.EPA allows an air agency to 
2

certify that there are no sources in its area subject to a specific performance standard to confirm that 

there is no need to adopt a rule for it. This Board action certifies and declares that there are no 

designated facilities located in Santa Barbara County for seven federal standards of performance.

DISCUSSION:

Objective:

The goal of this rulemaking action is to obtain Board approval of a “negative declaration in lieu of 

rules” and other associated findings through a public hearing process. Adoption of the negative 

declaration and the associated findings will allow the District to request that the U.S.EPA update the 

County portion of the California State Plan to make it current. 

Background:

Consistent with CAA section 111(d)(1), the U.S.EPA establishes standards of performance for 

certain existing sources that would be subject to a New Source Performance Standard if such 

sources were new sources. These standards of performance are referred to as “Emission

Guidelines” (Guidelines). The District has adopted by reference many of Title 40 Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR), Part 60, standards that apply to new sources through the adoption of Rule 901, 

New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). However, the Guidelines shown in Table 1 for 

existing sources cannot be adopted by reference since the referenced 40 CFR Part 60 subparts do 

not contain direct requirements on existing sources. 

Table 1. TITLE 40 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS, PART 60, 

SUBPARTS THAT INCLUDE EMISSIONS GUIDELINES AND 

COMPLIANCE TIMES FOR EXISTING SOURCES

CFR Subpart Subpart Title [Section the Subpart Commences with]

Subpart Cb Emissions Guidelines and Compliance Times for Large Municipal 

Waste Combustors That Are Constructed on or Before September 20, 

1994 [60.30b]

Subpart Cc Emissions Guidelines and Compliance Times for Municipal Solid 

Waste Landfills [60.30c] {District Rule 341 incorporates these 

requirements}

Subpart Cd Emissions Guidelines and Compliance Times for Sulfuric Acid 

Production Units [60.30d]1

 

1

Subpart Cd applies to existing sulfuric acid production units that commenced construction or modification before 

August 17, 1971. Further, Subpart H [40 CFR 60.80 et seq.] applies to any sulfuric acid production unit that 

commenced construction or modification after August 17, 1971.
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Table 1. (Cont.) 

CFR Subpart Subpart Title [Section the Subpart Commences with]

Subpart Ce Emissions Guidelines and Compliance Times for 

Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerators [60.30e]1

Subpart BBBB Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Small Municipal 

Waste Combustion Units Constructed on or Before August 30, 1999 

[60.1500]

Subpart DDDD Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Commercial and 

Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units Constructed on or Before 

November 30, 1999 [60.2500]

Subpart FFFF Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Other Solid Waste 

Incineration Units Constructed After December 9, 2004 [60.2980]

Subpart HHHH Emission Guidelines and Compliance Times for Coal-Fired Electric 

Steam Generating Units [60.4101]2

To ensure that the Guidelines are implemented, the U.S.EPA requires each state to prepare and 

submit a State Plan. Generally, the local agency will adopt a Guideline as a rule and submit the rule 

to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to fulfill this requirement. If the ARB finds the rule 

suitable, they will submit it to EPA, on the local agency’s behalf, with a request that it be 

considered for inclusion in the State Plan.

For the one Guideline that applies to sources in the Santa Barbara County area (40 CFR Part 60 

Subpart Cc), the District integrated the requirements into the Santa Barbara County portion of the 

California State Plan by adopting Rule 341, Municipal Solid Waste Landfills. The U.S.EPA 

approved the District’s Rule 341 into the California State Plan (reference 67 FR 54739, dated 

September 23, 1999). 

For the other seven 40 CFR Part 60 Subpart Guidelines shown in Table 1, there are no sources in 

Santa Barbara County that are subject to them. The District is making a “negative declaration in 

lieu of rules” on those Guidelines, which will be submitted to ARB for consideration of inclusion 

into the State Plan.3 

 

1

Subpart Ce applies to existing hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators for which construction or modification 

was commenced on or before June 20, 1996. Further, Subpart Ec [40CFR 60.50c] applies to any 

hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators for which construction is commenced after June 20, 1996.

2

Subpart HHHH establishes a model rule for the State mercury Budget Trading Program. There are no dates associated 

with the applicability of Subpart HHHH.

3

Provisions in 40 CFR Part 60, Subpart B, Adoption and Submittal of State Plans for Designated Facilities, section 

60.23(b), indicate that if there are no sources subject to a Guideline in a state, then the state will submit a letter of 

certification to that effect to the U.S.EPA within 9 months of the publication of the final Guideline in the Federal 

Register. The District is unable to confirm that such a letter of certification was submitted to the U.S.EPA in a timely 

manner for the seven Guidelines listed in the negative declaration (Attachment 2). Hence, the District intends to submit 

the negative declaration as an alternative to a letter of certification to confirm that there are no designated facilities in 

Santa Barbara County subject to the specified seven Guidelines.
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The District is performing this negative declaration in lieu of rules consistent with the U.S.EPA 

policy on negative declarations associated with the CAA sections 110(a)(2) and 110(l).1 Although 

those sections are relative to State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittals, section 111(d)(1) of the 

CAA indicates that the Administrator shall prescribe regulations which shall establish a procedure 

similar to that provided by section 110. It is the District’s understanding that negative declarations 

in lieu of rules relative to section 111(d)(1) are to undergo the same public noticing and a public 

hearing process that a rule adoption undertakes. 

Implications to the Regulated Community:

The District is unaware of any sources that are subject to the 40 CFR Part 60, Subparts Cb, Cd, Ce, 

BBBB, DDDD, FFFF, and HHHH. Thus, there are no known sources that are affected by those 

Guidelines or the “negative declaration in lieu of rules.”

Investigation Findings and Staff Recommendations:

The District has reviewed its permit files and the emission inventory and has determined that there 

are no designated facilities in the source categories shown in the Table 1 except for Subpart Cc

(which is covered by Rule 341). Staff recommends that the Board adopt the negative declaration in 

lieu of rules, the negative declaration findings, and the CEQA findings.

Implications to the Air Pollution Control District Workload and Budget:

The District expects there will be no workload or fiscal impacts to the Air Pollution Control District 

from the adoption of the negative declaration in lieu of rules and the filing of the negative 

declaration with the California Air Resources Board. The alternative course of adopting rules 

would incur significant expense.

Public Review:

On June 14, 2010, the District posted on its website a Project Description Summary of the negative 

declaration. Besides explaining the project and its effects, the summary mentioned the upcoming 

July 14, 2010 Community Advisory Council (CAC) meeting, and invited comments on the project 

to be submitted before the CAC meeting. The regulated industry and the public have also been 

provided an opportunity to submit written comments during the comment period (July 18 to August 

14, 2010) before the August 19, 2010 Board hearing.

 

1 The U.S.EPA policy on negative declarations indicates that a negative declaration must go through the same public 

review requirements as any other SIP submittal because, while the negative declaration itself is not specifically required 

by the CAA, it is replacing a required program element. Therefore, the negative declaration would be subject to the 

same administrative procedures as any other SIP submittal.
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California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA):

The District has reviewed the proposed negative declaration in lieu of rules and determined that the 

action has no potential for significant environmental effect pursuant to § 153061(b)(3) of the CEQA 

Guidelines. Accordingly, the District has prepared CEQA Findings (Attachment 1) and will file a 

Notice of Exemption with the County Clerk following approval by the Air Pollution Control 

District Board.

Concurrences:

County Counsel has reviewed this Board Letter and its attachments and approves them as to form.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: 

After adoption by the Board, please have the Board Chair sign the attached resolution and return a 

copy of the resolution along with a copy of the minute order to Douglas Grapple of the Air 

Pollution Control District.

Attachments

Resolution

Attachment 1 -CEQA Findings

Attachment 2 -Negative Declaration in Lieu of Rules to Adopt Certain Federal Emission 

Guidelines and Negative Declaration Findings

Attachment 3 -Public Comments and Responses to Public Comments