# ffi i?iffififfl-anasement District

EC:JW:JCC21865 Copley Drive, Diamoncl Bar,CA 91765-41.7A

(9O9) 396-2OO0' www.aqmd.gov



### BOARDMEETING

DATE: January

8, 2010 AGENDA NO. 28 PROPOSAL: Approve PM10 Attainment Redesignation Requests

and Adopt Maintenance

Plansfor South CoastAir Basin and Coachella Valley Portion of Salton Sea

Air Basin
PM10 concentrations

in the South CoastAir Basin and Coachella Valley portion of the Salton Sea Air Basin have met thePMl} 24- hour federal standard

for more than three consecutive years. This actionis to request

U.S. EPA to consider

AQMD's petitionto redesignate

both areas

attainment

for the federal 24-houraverage PM10 standard. As required for redesignation requests,

this action is also submitting PM10 MaintenancePlansfor the Basin and Coachella

Valley to ARB for inclusion in the SIP. 

### SYNOPSIS:

COMMITTEE: Mobile Source, Jloly 24,2009, Reviewed RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: 1. Adopt the attached

resolution: a. Certifying the CEQA Notice of Exemption; b. Approving the PM10 Redesignation Request for the South CoastAir Basin and Adopting the PM10 Maintenance Plan; c. Approving the PM10 Redesignation Request for the Coachella

Valley Portion of the Salton Sea

Air Basin and Adopting the PM10 Maintenance Plan; and 2. Direct staff to forward the PM10 Redesignation Requests

and Maintenance

Plansto CARB for approval and submission as part of the SIP.



### Barry R. Wallerstein,

D.Env. Executive

OfficerBackground

The South CoastAir Basin (Basin) and the Coachella Valley portion of the Salton Sea Air Basin (Coachella

Valley) are culrently designated as a serious

nonattainment

area for 24-holr average

PM10. Under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), an area can be redesignated

as attainmentif, amongother requirements, the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) determines that the national ambientair quality standards (NAAQS) have been attained. The NAAQS allows for one exceedance of the 24-how average PM10 standard

per year averaged

over a three consecutive calendar year period measured

at eachmonitoring site within an areabased on quality assured

Federal Reference

Method (FRM) air quality monitoringdata.
The Basinhas not violated the federal24-how PM10 standard (150 pg/m3)

at District FRM air quality monitoring sitesduring the period including 2004 through2007. The Coachella

Valley has not violated the federal 24-hotr PM10 standard at District FRM air quality monitoring sitesduring the period including 1998through2007. Analysis of the District monitoring dataindicates that neither the Basin nor Coachella Valley hasviolated the 24-hour PM10 standard in 2008. Figure 1 depictsthe recenttrend of Basin maximum Z4-houraverage concentrations, excluding exceptionalevents, for the period 2004 through 2008. Prior to 2006, elevated PM10 events

have been associated

with high wind driven dust storms,and wildfires were not flagged for exclusion from the NAAQS. Since 2006, dust storms, wildfires and fireworks impacted observations have beenflagged, documented and excluded

from NAAQS determination underU.S. EPA's Exceptional EventsPolicy.


### South GoastAir

Basin

300
150
{f? 

### f; roo gr 50

u

Figure 1 Basin Maximum24-Hoar

Average PM10Concentrations:

2004 through 2008



### -2-Figure 2 depictsthe recenttrend of CoachellaValley maximum Z4-hotx average

concentrations,

monitored at District FRM sitesexcluding exceptional events, for the period 1998

through 2008. Since 1998,

elevated PM10 events

associated

with high wind driven dust storms,

thunderstorm

micro-bursts and wildfires have beenflagged, documented

and excludedfrom NAAQS determinationunder U.S. EPA's Exceptional Events regulation (40 CFR 50.14) and preceding Natural Event Policy.



### Coachella

Valley 

## loo 150 ({t 

### E raa trt 50
0 1S$S lSSg 2000 20ff1 2002 2003 2004 20CI5 2006 2007 2008
Figure2 Coachella

Valley Maximum24-Hour Average PM10 Concentrations:

2004 through 2008

Per the criteria specified in the NAAQS, the Basin has beenin compliance with the24- hour PM10 standard

from 20006 (based

on *9982004-20096data) and has maintained compliancesince,and the Coachella Valley has beenin compliance with the standard from 2000 (based

on L998-2000

data) and has maintainedcompliancesince. More specifically, these

redesignation

requests are based

on the three-year

period of PM10 monitoring dataincluding 2005, 2006 and 2007

. Clean Air Act Criteria for Redesignation Section 107 (d)(3)(E) of the CAA requiresthe U.S. EPA administrator to make five findings prior to granting a request for redesignation:
1. The U.S. EPA has determined that the NAAQS have beenattained. 2. The applicableimplementationplan has beenfully approved by U.S. EPA undersection 110(k).



### -3-The U.S. EPA has determined that the improvement in air quality is due to permanent

and enforceable

reductionsin emissions. The Statehas met all applicablerequirements for the areaunder Section 110 andPart D. The U.S. EPA hasfully approved a maintenance

plan, including a contingencyplan, for the areaunder Section I751t.

Tribal PMI.O Monitoring While the District certified FRM PM10 data indicate no violations of the federal24-hour average standard,

one independent

Beta Attenuation Monitor (BAM) continuousmonitor operated by the Tor-rezMartinez Tribal Nation, locatedat their community centerin the southern portion of the Coachella Valley monitor, experienced violations during their initial operational

year 2007. The District contends that the datafrom the Torrez Martinez monitor should not be considered in the attainment

evaluationsincethe instrumentwas wrongly sited on a dirt parking lot void of vegetation that is subjectto reentrained

fugitive dust from vehiclestraveling over the parking lot. The location of the PM10 monitoring site is in direct conflict with federal PM10 siting criteria specified in the Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR Part 58, Appendix E (3Xa) specifically states that "Particulate matter sitesshould not be locatedin an unpavedareaunless there is vegetative

ground cover year round, so that the impact of wind blown dustswill be kept to a minimum."
U.S. EPA has stated

that Torres Martinez data has beensubmitted to its Air Quality System(AQS) and that the violations observed at the community centersite will prohibit their finding the Coachella Valley compliant with the NAAQS. The District has no jurisdiction in the tribal lands and did not participatein the monitoring or quality assurance

of the data. PM10 datafrom the monitoring site was only acquired for roughly two thirds of 2007. The BAM PM10 monitoring failed to meet completeness requirements

in the first and fourth quarters of the year. The monitor was taken off-line for maintenance

and repairsbeginning November of 2007 and continuedoffline through the end of the year. In addition, after review of the data,serious concerns

exist about the degree of quality assurance

applied and the absence of screening

for and flagging of exceptionalevents.
District staff has reviewed the monitor siting and contends that the datafrom the site should not be included in the regional attainment assessment. 

### 3.

4.

5.

-4-Public Process

As required by statelaw, a 45-daynotice is required before holding regional hearings on a Plan. A draft document was availablefor public review on October 30, 2010 in preparation

for five regional hearings on December 15 through 18, 2010. The hearings were held in Anaheim, Carson,Rialto, Riverside and Palm Desert. Mr. Stephen Pougnet, Mayor of Palm Springs and Chairman of the Coachella Valley Associationof Governments

(CVAG) read a letter of support strongly endorsing the request

for redesignation

of the Coachella

Valley as attainment

for the federaI24-hour PM10 standard. A copy of the letter is attached.
Staff routinely consulted the Southern

California Associationof Governments (SCAG), the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and U.S. EPA regardingthe development of the request

and draft plan. CARB and SCAG staff was very supportiveand helped developthe transportation conformity budgets. In addition staff met with U.S. EPA and Torrez Martinez tribal officials at their community centeron March 5,2009 to observe the monitoring site and discuss the sampling program. Proposal The Basin and Coachella Valley meet the criteria specifiedfor designation as attainment for the federal 24-hotn average PM10. District certified 24-hour average FRM PM10 data confirms that the NAAQS has been satisfied. U.S. EPA approved the Basin and Coachella

Valley PM10 SIPs citing that the improvement in air quality was due to permanent

and enforceable

reductionsin emissions. Analysis of the future baseline PM10 inventoriesfor the Basin and Coachella Valley demonstrate

that both areas

will continueto demonstrate attainment

of the standards,

despite growth. The SIP requirements

under Section 110 and Part D have been met. Finally, the redesignation requests contain maintenance

plans including commitments to continueto monitor PM10 and ensure

compliancewith BARCT District rules, and contingencyplans to assure continuedcompliancewith the 24-hour standard for eachair basin. Together, these elements

directly address

and satisfy the requirementof CAA Section 107for designation of both the Basin and Coachella Valley attainmentfor 24-hour average PM10.
Staff proposes

to submit the approvedRequests for Redesignation

of the Basin and the Coachella

Valley and the adopted MaintenancePlansto CARB for their concunenceand approval and subsequent submittal to U.S. EPA for inclusion in the California SIP.
Comments and Issues Per U.S. EPA's request, PM10 continuous

monitoringdata

havebeenincluded

as part of the request

for redesignation

for 2007 to demonstrate the District's capacityfor daily monitoring to confirm continuedcompliancewith the standard. As a component of the Request for Redesignation,

the District will commit to designate selected samplers

as FederalEquivalent Monitors (FEM) and the data will be forwarded to U.S. EPA's AQS.



### -5-As an outcomeof the review of the Draft Request for Redesignation

and Maintenance Plans, U.S. EPA on December 7,2009, requested

throughCARB, that the transportation conformity emissions

budgets for the Basin and Coachella Valley presented

in the maintenance

plans solely reflect baseline emissions. The comments also stated

that the updates to the PM10 attainment demonstrations

and modeling attainment inventories should be based

on baseline

PM10 emissions

inventoriesand for additional critical reporting yearsthat bracketthe beginning of the maintenance period and the expected horizonyear. Staff has incorporated

the requested

changes to the updated

attainment

demonstrations and attainment

inventories. The analyses as presented

in the Maintenance

Plansare based on the future baseline

emissions. The revised attainment demonstrations

based on the baseline

emissions

inventoriesindicatedthat PM10 concentrations in both the Basin and Coachella

valley will not exceed

the federal24-hour average standard. The PM10 transportation

conformity emissions

budgetfor the Draft Coachella Valley Maintenance Plan noticed on October 30,2009 reflected baseline emissions

and was not impacted by the modifications to the attainment demonstration

or baseline

inventory.
The PM10 transportation conformity emissions

budgetpresented

in the Draft Basin MaintenancePlan did however reflect future implementationof "new defined mobile source rrre&SUreS;"

in the 2007 AQMP/SIP. While the revised attainment demonstration using the baseline

emissions

demonstrates

future year compliance with the standard,

the removal of the "new defined mobile source measures"

from the proposed

Basin transportation

conformity emissions

budgetrequiresan additional 30 day noticing period before adoption. As a consequence, CARB has asked

the District to remove the proposed Basin transportation

conformity budgets

from the Maintenance

Plan. CARB will provide the transportation

conformity emissions

budget as a component of their notice of public hearings,

30 days prior to CARB Public Hearing (tentatively scheduled for the first quarter 2010).
U.S. EPA hasstated

that it will consider

the request

for Basin PM10 redesignation; however staff have also stated that they would likely deny the request for the Coachella Valley based

on the Torres Mafiinez data. CARB and U.S. EPA staff made attempts to remove the Torres Martinez Tribal Lands from the Coachella Valley portion of the Salton Sea Air Basin however; the analysis was unableto solely isolate tribal lands as a contiguousentity.
Maintenance

Plan Section 107(d)(3)(E)of the CAA specifies that for an area

to be redesignated

as attainment,

the EPA must approvea maintenance plan that meets

the requirements

of Section I75A. The purpose of the maintenance

plan is to provide for the maintenance of the PM10 NAAQS for at leastten yearsafter the redesignation (not ten yearsafter the redesignation

submittal). CAA Section 107 (d)(3)(D) allowsthe U.S. EPA Administrator



### -6-up to 18 monthsfrom receipt of a complete submittal to process a redesignation

request. The maintenance

plans require a maintenance demonstration,

commitment to a future monitoring network, verification of continuedattainment, a contingencyplan, and provisions for contingencyplan implementation. In accordance with U.S. EPA guidance, a revision to the PM10 Maintenance Plan for the subsequent en year maintenance planning period will submitted to U.S. EPA prior to the horizon date (to be determined upon U.S. EPA approval of the maintenance plan). Transportation Budgets As part of the maintenance plans, the District must establish transportation

budgets for on-road motor vehicles in the maintenance years. The transportation budgets are usedfor conformity determinations. The Coachella Valley maintenance

plan is proposing a tiered approach

whereby in the near-term(including 2010 through2}l9), the budgetwould be set at the 2010 on-road motor vehicle emissions level of 13 tons per day (TPD). The budget for 2020 through 2029 is proposed at 16 TPD. The 2030 budgetwhich serves as the budgetfor 2030 and all following yearsis proposedat20 TPD. Future year maximum 24-hotr average concentrations

are not predictedto exceed the federal standard for the proposed

transportation

conformity budget.
As previously discussed, the proposedBasin transportation conformity budgets

have been withdrawn from the Maintenance Plan. CARB will provide the transportation conformity emissions

budget as a component of their notice of public hearings, 30 days prior to CARB Public Hearing (tentatively scheduled for the first quarter2010).
Resource Impacts The PM10 Redesignation Requests

will have no additional impact on AQMD's resources. The PM10 MaintenancePlansare curently in practice by the AQMD. There may be benefitsto stationarysources in the Basin once redesignation occurs. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) The SCAQMD has reviewed the proposed project pursuant

to stateCEQA Guidelines $15002(k)(1). Because the PM10 AttainmentRedesignation Requests

are an administrativeprocess

and the PM10 MaintenancePlanswould impose no additional requirements

than currently adopted regulations,it can be seen with certaintythat there is no possibility that the proposed project in questionhasthe potential to have a significant adverse effect on the environmentbeyond what was evaluated in the 2007 AQMP Final EIR. Thus, the proposed project is exemptfrom CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines S15061(b)(3)

- Review for Exemption. A Notice of Exemption, in accordance

with CEQA Guidelines $15062,has been prepared and will be filed with the county clerks immediately following the adoption of the proposed project.



### -7-

### AQMP and Legal Mandates

The PM10 Redesignation Requests are consistent

with thefederal

CAA. The PM10 Maintenance

Plans are required as partof the SIP. Attachments A. CVAG Letterof Support B. Resolution C. PM10 Redesignation Requestand

Maintenance

Plan for the South

Coast Air Basin D. PM10 Redesignation Request andMaintenance

Plan for the Coachella

Valley Portion of the Salton

Sea Air Basin E. Noticeof Exemption F.

-8-