San Luis Obispo County APCD 211-1 8/10/93

RULE 211. EMISSION BANKING

 (Adopted 9/24/79; Revised 2/23/88, 11/5/91, and 8/10/93) 

A. APPLICABILITY 

This Rule provides for the banking of emission reductions of reactive organic gases 

(ROG), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10), carbon 

monoxide (CO) and sulfur oxides (SOx). Eligibility standards and administrative 

practices are included as a check against the Federal criteria that any emission reductions 

intended to be banked are real, quantifiable, permanent, enforceable, and surplus. 

B. REQUIREMENTS 

1. Emission reduction credits can be granted only through the emission banking 

process. 

2. Any person who has modified or taken out of service any permitted emission unit 

for the purpose of receiving emission reduction credits must surrender the existing 

permit to operate for that emission unit involved before a certificate of Emissions 

Reduction Credit (ERC) can be granted. 

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 201 (Exemptions) of these Rules, any 

modifications to the basic equipment or control equipment for an emission unit 

involved in a banking proposal shall be subject to the applicable requirements of 

Rule 202 (Permits) of these Rules. 

C. EMISSION REDUCTION DISCOUNTS AND LIMITATIONS 

1. Emission reductions which result from either a reduction in throughput or 

shutdown shall be discounted by the greater of the following: 

a. The amount of the emission reduction that could be controlled by the 

application of the Best Available Retrofit Control Technology (BARCT) 

applicable on the date the application to bank emission reduction credits is 

deemed complete. 

b. Twenty (20) percent. 

2. Emission reductions which result from the application of control equipment, the 

modification of an emission unit, or the replacement of an emission unit with a 

lower emitting emission unit shall be discounted by twenty (20) percent. 

3. Emission reductions from emission units subject to a control measure proposed 

for adoption or further study in the most recent update of the District's Clean Air 

Plan (CAP) shall be eligible for banking until the rule that is based on the 

applicable control measure is implemented. At the time the applicable rule is 
San Luis Obispo County APCD 211-2 8/10/93

implemented, the ERC and any offsets obtained by the use of the ERC shall be set 

to zero. The emission reduction credits shall not be reduced to zero if the 

reduction is in excess of amount required by the applicable control measure. In 

this event only the excess emission reduction may be permanently banked. 

4. Offsets obtained from the community bank are not eligible for banking. Any 

reductions in these emissions are credited back to the community bank. 

5. Emission reductions are not eligible for banking under the following conditions: 

a. the emissions were not offset with ERC's; and 

b. the emissions being reduced were from an increase in the potential to emit 

which occurred after November 5, 1991. 

D. APPLICATION FOR AND DETERMINATION OF EMISSION REDUCTION 

CREDITS 

1. Any person wishing to be credited with an emission reduction shall submit an 

application to the District. The application to bank emission reduction credits 

must be submitted to the District before the emission unit is modified to reduce 

emissions. However, if the emission reduction occurs as a result of a decrease in 

throughput or a shutdown of an emission unit, an application to bank emission 

reduction credits must be submitted within 90 days of the reduction or shutdown. 

If the emission reduction occurs as a result of permit activity requiring an 

application for an Authority to Construct, the Authority to Construct application 

may serve as the application to bank emission reduction credits if so requested by 

the applicant. 

2. The APCO shall deny any application to bank emission reduction credits if the 

applicant fails to provide sufficient information to calculate the emission 

reduction or to determine if the emission reduction is real, quantifiable, 

permanent, enforceable, and surplus. 

3. An application to bank emission reduction credits shall be treated and processed 

in the same manner as an Authority to Construct or Permit to Operate application. 

E. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS 

1. Action, conditional approval, denial and appeal of ERC applications shall be 

subject to the same provisions as Authorities to Construct and Permits to Operate 

in Rules 205, 206, 207 and 208. 

2. Withdrawal of a banking application by an applicant will result in cancellation of 

the application. Any re-submittal of an application will be evaluated using a new 

emissions calculation as on the date of re-submittal. 
San Luis Obispo County APCD 211-3 8/10/93

3. The APCO shall maintain a Banking Register, which shall consist of a record of 

all deposit applications, deposits, withdrawals, and transactions with regard to the 

ERC Bank. Subject to District Rule 112, all data in the Banking Register shall be 

available to the public upon request. 

F. EMISSION REGISTRATION 

1. Registration of Title 

When all the requirements of this rule have been satisfied and the emission 

reduction has actually occurred, the APCO shall issue a certificate to the applicant 

identifying the emission reduction credits and any emission reduction credits that 

could be subject to reductions pursuant to subsection C. In cases involving an 

appeal of the APCO's decision, issuance of the certificate shall be subject to the 

outcome of the appeal. 

2. Transfer by Registered Owner 

Transfer of all or any portion of an Emission Reduction Credit shall be in writing 

signed by the holder of the ERC in any form authorized by law. Upon filing such 

deed or other instrument in the District's office and payment of the fee required by 

Rule 306 , the transfer shall be complete and the title so transferred shall vest in 

the transferee. Copies of modified certificates shall be mailed to the parties 

involved in the transfer. If the transfer involved a change in an existing Permit to 

Operate the District shall send amended Permits to Operate to the appropriate 

permit holder. 

G. LIMITATIONS ON THE USAGE OF EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS 

An application to use Emission Reduction Credits as an offset shall demonstrate 

compliance with all applicable requirements of these Rules.