State of California 

AIR RESOURCES BOARD 

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY PM2.5 STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 

Resolution 13-2 

January 24, 2013 

Agenda Item No.: 13-1-1 

WHEREAS, the Legislature in Health and Safety Code section 39602 has designated 

the State Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) as the air pollution control agency for all 

purposes set forth in federal law; 

WHEREAS, ARB is responsible for preparing the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for 

attaining and maintaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) as 

required by the federal Clean Air Act (the Act) (42 U.S.C. section 7401 et seq.), and to 

this end is directed by Health and Safety Code section 39602 to coordinate the activities 

of all local and regional air pollution .control and air quality management districts 

(districts) necessary to comply with the Act; 

WHEREAS, section 41650 of the Health and Safety Code requires ARB to approve the 

nonattainment plan adopted by a district as part of the SIP unless the Board finds, after 

a public hearing, that the plan does not meet the requirements of the Act; 

WHEREAS, ARB has responsibility for ensuring that the districts meet their 

responsibilities under the Act pursuant to sections 39002, 39500, 39602, and 41650 of 

the Health and Safety Code; 

WHEREAS, ARB is authorized by section 39600 of the Health and Safety Code to do 

such acts as may be necessary for the proper execution of its powers and duties; 

WHEREAS, sections 39515 and 39516 of the Health and Safety Code provide that any 

duty may be delegated to the Board's Executive Officer as the Board deems 

appropriate; 

WHEREAS, the districts have primary responsibility for controlling air pollution from 

nonvehicular sources and for adopting control measures, rules, and regulations to attain 

the NAAQS within their boundaries pursuant to sections 39002, 40000, 40001, 40701, 

40702, and 41650 of the Health and Safety Code; 

WHEREAS, the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin includes Fresno, Kings, Madera, Merced, 

San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and western Kern Counties; 
Resolution 13-2 2 

WHEREAS, in July 1997, the United States Environmental Protection Agency 

(U.S. EPA) promulgated 24-hour and annual NAAQS for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 

of 65 ug/m3 and 15 ug/m3, respectively; 

WHEREAS, in April 2005, U.S. EPA designated the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin as 

nonattainment for both the 65 ug/m3 and 15 ug/m3 PM2.5 NAAQS; 

WHEREAS, in 2008, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (District) and 

ARB adopted a PM2.5 SIP (2008 PM2.5 Plan) to address the 65 ug/m3 24-hour PM2.5 

NAAQS and transmitted it to U.S. EPA; 

WHEREAS, on November 9, 2011, U.S. EPA approved all elements of the 2008 PM2.5 

Plan except for the contingency measures; 

WHEREAS, the Act requires U.S. EPA to review existing NAAQS every five years and 

promulgate new standards as may be appropriate; 

WHEREAS, in December 2006, U.S. EPA lowered the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS from 

65 ug/m3 to 35 ug/m3; 

WHEREAS, effective December 14, 2009, U.S. EPA designated the San Joaquin Valley 

Air Basin as non attainment for the 35 ug/m3 PM2. 5 NAAQS; 

WHEREAS, in March 2007, U.S. EPA finalized the PM2.5 implementation rule (Rule) 

which established the framework and requirements that states must meet in developing 

PM2.5 SIPs; 

WHEREAS, on March 12, 2012, U.S. EPA issued a memorandum that provided further 

guidance on developing SIPs specific to the 24-hour 35 ug/m3 PM2.5 NAAQS and set 

an initial attainment date of December 14, 2014, with a provision for an attainment date 

extension for up to five years; 

WHEREAS, the Rule requires that PM2.5 SIPs include air quality and emissions data, a 

control strategy, a modeled attainment demonstration, rate of progress (RFP) 

milestones, transportation conformity emission budgets, reasonably available control 

measure/ reasonably available technology (RACM/RACT) demonstration, and 

contingency measures; 

WHEREAS, the District prepared the San Joaquin Valley 2012 PM2.5 Plan (2012 

PM2.5 Plan) to fulfill the planning requirements of the Act and Rule for the 24-hour 

35 ug/m3 PM2.5 NAAQS; 

WHEREAS, ARB staff performed PM2.5 air quality modeling plus supplemental 

analyses of PM2.5 air quality monitoring data and trends, PM2.5 speciation data, and 

emission inventory trends, consistent with U.S. EPA modeling guidance; 
Resolution 13-2 3 

WHEREAS, the 2012 PM2.5 Plan air quality modeling is based on the latest scientific 

information developed from over 15 years of comprehensive air quality studies in the 

San Joaquin Valley; 

WHEREAS, the Rule requires that PM2.5 plans identify and evaluate sources of directly 

emitted PM2.5 and the PM2.5 attainment plan precursors nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 

sulfur oxides (SOx); 

WHEREAS, the Rule requires that to identify ammonia or volatile organic compounds 

(VOCs) as attainment plan precursors in a PM2.5 plan, the state must provide a 

technical demonstration showing that the precursor significantly contributes to PM2.5 

concentrations; 

WHEREAS, ARB staff performed modeling and technical analyses to determine 

whether VOCs or ammonia should be considered a significant precursor for purposes of 

attaining the 24-hour PM2.5 standard; 

WHEREAS, the modeling and technical analyses quantified the magnitude of the PM2.5 

concentration change and the effectiveness on a per ton basis of reductions in each 

precursor; 

WHEREAS, the modeling and technical analyses showed that reductions in VOCs 

resulted in a very small increase in PM2.5 concentrations, therefore VOCs are not a 

PM2.5 attainment plan precursor; 

WHEREAS, the modeling and technical analyses found that reductions in ammonia 

produced a much smaller decrease in PM2.5 concentrations than reductions in directly 

emitted PM2.5 and NOx. These analyses further found that reductions in directly 

emitted PM2.5 are forty times more effective, and reductions in NOx are ten times more 

effective than reductions in ammonia on a per ton basis, therefore ammonia is not a 

PM2.5 plan precursor; 

WHEREAS, the attainment analysis for the 2012 PM2.5 Plan demonstrates that a 

30 percent reduction in NOx emissions from the projected 2007 emission levels, beyond 

the new reductions resulting from adopted regulations would be needed to attain the 

24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS by the December 14, 2014, deadline; 

WHEREAS, the District was unable to identify additional new reductions sufficient for the 

San Joaquin Valley to attain the PM2.5 NAAQS by December 14, 2014; 

WHEREAS, in accordance with section 172(b)(2) of the Act, the 2012 PM2.5 Plan 

identifies December 14, 2019, as the most expeditious attainment date; 

WHEREAS, the attainment analysis demonstrates that the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS will 

be met throughout the San Joaquin Valley by the 2019 proposed attainment date; 
Resolution 13-2 4 

WHEREAS, ARB's adopted mobile source regulations reduce NOx emissions by 

235 tons per day in the San Joaquin Valley between 2007 and 2019; 

WHEREAS, the PM2.5 attainment demonstration relies on adopted regulations and new 

District commitments to adopt five control measures, including two that reduce the 

impacts of direct PM2.5 targeting residential wood burning and commercial charbroiling; 

WHEREAS, the District plan also identifies seven further study measures including 

evaluating ammonia at confined animal facilities; 

WHEREAS, consistent with section 172(c) of the Act, the 2012 PM2.5 Plan 

demonstrates the implementation of reasonably available control technologies (RACT) 

and reasonably available control measures (RACM) for direct PM2.5 and the area's 

relevant precursors; 

WHERAS, consistent with section 172(c)(2) of the Act, the 2012 PM2.5 Plan 

demonstrates reasonable further progress (RFP) requirement targets for attainment 

demonstrations; 

WHEREAS, consistent with section 172(c)(9) of the Act, the 2012 PM2.5 Plan includes 

contingency measures that provide extra emissions reductions that go into effect 

without further regulatory action if the area fails to make RFP or attainment oh time; 

WHEREAS, consistent with section 172(c)(3) of the Act, the 2012 PM2.5 Plan includes 

a comprehensive, accurate, current inventory of emi~sions data for directly emitted 

PM2.5 and its precursors: oxides of nitrogen (NOx), reactive organic gases (ROG), 

sulfur oxides (SOx), and ammonia (NH3) all sources of the relevant pollutants in the 

area; 

WHEREAS, consistent with section 176 of the Act, the District developed transportation 

conformity emission budgets in consultation with the District, transportation agencies, 

and U.S. EPA that conform to the RFP and attainment emission levels; 

WHEREAS, federal law set forth in section 11 0(1) of the Act and Title 40, Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR), section 51.102, requires that one or more public hearings, 

preceded by at least 30 days of notice and opportunity for public review, must be 

conducted before adopting and submitting any SIP revision to U.S. EPA; 

WHEREAS, as required by federal law, the District made the 2012 PM2.5 Plan available 

for public review at least 30 days before the District heejring; 

WHEREAS, following a public hearing on December 20, 2012, the Governing Board of 

the District voted to approve the 2012 PM2.5 Plan, and to request a 5-year extension of 

the PM2.5 attainment date to December 14, 2019; 
Resolution 13-2 5 

WHEREAS, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that no project 

which may have significant adverse environmental impacts be adopted as originally 

proposed if feasible alternatives or mitigation measures are available to reduce or 

eliminate such impacts; 

WHEREAS, to meet the requirements of CEQA, the District prepared an Initial Study 

and a Draft Negative Declaration for the 2012 PM2.5 Plan, which was circulated for 

public review and comment from November 9, 2012, to December 8, 2012, and was 

adopted at the public hearing on December 20, 2012; 

WHEREAS, on December 26, 2012, the District transmitted the 2012PM2.5 Plan to 

ARB as a SIP revision, along with proof of public notice publication and environmental 

documents in accordance with State and federal law. 

WHEREAS, the Board finds that: 

1. The 2012 PM2.5 Plan meets all applicable Clean Air Act planning requirements, 

and includes the required air quality and emissions data, modeled attainment 

demonstration, RFP demonstration, transportation conformity emission budgets, 

RACM/RACT demonstration, and the required contingency measures; 

2. Adopted regulations, combined with new District control measures identified in 

the adopted 2012 PM2.5 Plan, will provide the emission reductions needed for 

meeting the PM2.5 NAAQS by the December 14, 2019 attainment date; 

3. Adopted State mobile source control regulations will provide the majority of the 

required contingency reductions, supplemented with additional District measures. 

These regulations will achieve additional emission reductions beyond those 

relied on in the RFP and attainment demonstrations; 

. 4. Direct PM2.5 and NOx emissions in the San Joaquin Valley are projected to 

decline through 2019 and continue declining thereafter due to adopted State, 

federal, and local controls; 

5. The level of reductions needed to attain the PM2.5 24-hour NAAQS in the San 

Joaquin Valley makes it necessary to request an attainment deadline of 

December 14, 2019, as allowed by the Act; and 

6. ARB has reviewed and considered the Initial Study and Negative Declaration 

prepared for the 2012 PM2.5 Plan and finds it complies with the requirements of 

CEQA. 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board hereby adopts the 

2012 PM2.5 Plan as a revision to the California SIP. 
Resolution 13-2 6 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board hereby directs the Executive Officer to 

forward the 2012 PM2.5 Plan as adopted by the District to U.S. EPA for inclusion in the· 

SIP to be effective, for purposes of federal law, upon approval by U.S. EPA. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board directs the Executive Officer to work with 

the District and U.S. EPA and take appropriate action to resolve any completeness or 

approvability issues that may arise regarding the SIP submission. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board authorizes the Executive Officer to include 

in the SIP submittal any technical corrections, clarifications, or additions that may be 

necessary to secure U.S. EPA approval. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board hereby certifies pursuant to 

40 CFR section 51.102 that the District's 2012 PM2.5 Plan was adopted after notice and 

public hearing as required by 40 CFR section 51.102. 

I hereby certify that the above is a true and correct 

copy of Resolution 13-2, as adopted by the 

Air Resources Board. 

Tracy Jensen, ~~~of the Board