### PECHANGA INDIAN RESERVATION Ternecula Band of Luiserio Mission Indians

Post Office Box 1477 Temecula, CA 92593 Telephone (951 ) 676-2768 Fax (951 ) 695- 1778



### June 23,2009

Deborah Jordan Director, Air Division U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency, Region IX 75 Hawthorne Street Sm

### Francisco, 

### CA 94105-39(!1. Tribal Chairman: Mark Macarro
Council Members: Mark Calac Corrine Garbani Marc Luker Andrew Masiel, Sr. Russell "Butch" Murphy Kenneth Perez
Tribal Treasurer Christina "Tina" McMenamin Tribal Secretary: Darlene Miranda



### Re: Request to Create a SeparateWonattainmentArea for the Pechanga Indian Reservation or, Alternatively,Move the Northern Boundary of the San Diego Nonattainmeilt Area to Include the Reservation of the PechangaBand of Luiseno Indians

Dear Ms. Jordan: This letter, submitted on behalf of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians ("Pechanga" or "Tribe"), requests that the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA or Agency) create a separate nonattainmentarea for the Pechanga Reservation or, alternatively,move the northern boundary of the San Diego NonattainmentArea in the San Diego Air Basin (SDAB) northward to include the Pechanga Reservation.
The State of California's recent petition to EPA to "bump up" the ozone classificationfor the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) from "severe-1

### 7" to "extreme" will result in a 10tpy major source threshold for ozone precursor (i.e.,NOx and ROC) emissions, comparedto the current 25 tpy threshold. This change will:

(s 

### thwart or 

### sigrlil~ciat!yiripair the 

### Tribe's plan tc devzlop a 

### tribal air perniit program 

### for minor sowces by increasing the numbs:r of faci1i1.i~~ 

### potentially subjectto Nonattaiment New Source Review (NNSR);

e 

### increase the use and cost of Pechanga Environmental Department resources; severely compromisethe Tribe's capacityto engage in economic developmentin the absence of a program for obtaining emission reduction credits for onReservation facilities subjectto NNSR requirements under the lower major source threshold, which places on-Reservation facilities at a distinct disadvantage relativeto similar facilities operating outsidethe Reservation; and

e 

### reduce the threshold for the applicability of General Conformity requirements similarly from 25 tpy to 10tpy.

### The Tribe's request that EPA create a separate nonattainment area for the Pechanga Reservation would address these tribal concerns, and is a logical and technically sound initiative that addresses the nine factors suggested in EPA guidance for establishingor changingnonattainment areaboundaries (see Attachment A). Moreover, although the accompanying rationale for a separate nonattainment area for the Pechanga Reservation is compelling, the accompanying discussion of the nine factors also would support a determinationby EPA to move the northern boundary of the San Diego Nonattainment Area to include the PechangaReservation. Accordingly, the Tribe respectfully requests that EPA fully consider and support the Tribe's request andjustification for creation of a separatenonattainment area for the Pechanga Reservation. However, should EPA determine that creation of such an attainment area is not approvable, the Tribe requests that EPA adjust the boundary of the San Diego Nonattainment Area to include the Pechanga Reservation. In either event, we expect that EPA will closely consult with the Tribebefore reaching a final decision.
We look forward to your response and working with EPA on these important issues. Coordinationof your agency's consultation with the Tribe should be arranged through Ms. Syndi Smallwood, Director of the PechangaEnvironmental Department. Questions or issues of a legal nature shouldbe directed to Jim Cohen, Deputy General Counsel. Questions or issues of a technical nature should be directed to Gary Rubenstein at Sierra Research.

Sincerely,

Mark Macarro, Tribal Chairman

cc: ColleenMcKaughan, EPA Region 9 

### Gary Rubenstein, Sierra Research

PECHANGA INDIAN RESERVATION Temecula Band ofLuiseno Indians

### Attachment A

Draft for Agency Review and Comment Request to Create a Pechanga NonattainmentArea or Move the Northern Boundary of the San Diego Nonattainment Area to Include the Pechanga Indian Reservation



### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On October 14,2008, a land transfer from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by Act of Congress modified the boundaries ofthe Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians (Tribe) to increase the previous reservation area of 5,500 acres by more than 1.7 square miles (1,088 acres) including 119acres in San Diego County, which county is geographically identical to the San Diego Air Basin (SDAB) and the San Diego Nonattainrnent Area. The SDAB, which includes this 1 19-acre area, has a less restrictive "basic or Subpart 1" ozone (8-hour) nonattainment designation compared to the "severe17" designation for the South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) or South CoastNonattainment Area, in which the remainder of the reservation exists.
Because of the uniformity oftopography and low level of air pollutant emitting activities throughout the reservation, the entire reservation should be designated as the Pechanga Nonattainment Area, or, in the alternative, included within an expanded San Diego Nonattainment Area. The SoCABhas had a more restrictive "severe-17" ozone nonattainment designation than is appropriate for the Pechanga Reservation. The June 1, 2007 Air Quality Management Plan ofthe South Coast Air Quality Management District requested that the SoCAB ozone nonattainment designation be "bumped up" from "severe-17" to "extreme," which would give the reservation an even more inappropriate designation. Leaving the majority ofthe Pechanga Indian Reservation in the South Coast Nonattainment Area will impose additional, unanticipated delays in developing Pechanga's air program, including the Tribe's plan to implement a tribal air permit program for minor sources. First, by reducing the major source "potential to emit" threshold for ozone precursor (i.e., NOx and ROC) emissions in the SoCAB from 25 tpy for the severe-17 nonattainment designation to 10 tpy for the extreme nonattainment designation under the 8-hour average ozone standard, the reclassification will increase the number of facilities potentially subject to Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) requirements, thus increasing the use and cost of Pechanga staffresources. Second, the number of future facilities subject to Title V would be significantly increased because the threshold of 25 tpy is being reduced to 10tpy. Finally, ifthe threshold for the applicability of General Conformity requirements is reduced from 25 tpy to 10 tpy, many more projects will be required to demonstrate that their emissions of criteria pollutants will not impede progress toward attainment with NAAQS. 1For both existing and future facilities subject to NNSR on tribal lands, there is currently
no system in place through which such facilities can obtain emission reduction credits. Unless EPA allows such sources to use emission reduction credits from the adjacent air basins, either through its own program or through a tribal permitting program, Native American-owned facilities will be placed at a disadvantage relative to similar facilities operating outside of Indian country.
Based on the nine factors in EPA guidance and common sense, the Pechanga Indian Reservation logically and technically should be its own nonattainment area, or, in the alternative, part of the San Diego Nonattainment Area. The factors pertaining to causes of nonattainment, low population density and lack of urbanization, low level of local traffic, slow growth rate, and level of emission source control show that the reservation holds far more in common with the San Diego Nonattainment Area than with the South Coast Nonattainment Area, while the factors dealing with air quality, lack of local emission sources, meteorology, and geography show that the Pechanga Reservation can just as logically be its own nonattainment area or a part of either the San Diego or South Coast Nonattainment Areas. The factor of jurisdictional boundaries suggests that the reservation should logically be its own nonattainment area.



### INTRODUCTION

On October 14,2008,a land transfer from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by Act of Congressmodified the boundaries of the Pechanga Band ofLuiseno Indians (Tribe) to increase the previous reservation area of 5,500 acres1by more than 1.7 square miles (1,088 acres) including 119acres in San Diego County, which county is geographically identical to the San Diego Air Basin (SDAB) and the San Diego Nonattainment Area. The SDAB, which includes this 1 19-acre area, has a less restrictive "basic or Subpart 1" ozone (8-hour) attainment designation2 than the "severe-17" designation for the South Coast Air 

## as in^ (SoCAB), in which the remainder of the total reservation4exists.
Because ofthe uniformity oftopography and low level of air pollutant emitting activities throughout the reservation, the entire reservation should be its own Pechanga Nonattainment Area, or, in the alternative, contained within an expanded San Diego Nonattainment Area. The SoCAB has had a more restrictive "severe-17" ozone attainment designation than is appropriate for the Pechanga Reservation. The June 1, 2007 Air Quality Management Plan ofthe South Coast Air Quality Management District


## ' Pechanga Band ofLuiseno Indians, http://www.pechanea-nsn.gov/page?pageld=6, accessed December 30,2008.

USEPA. Classijications of8-Hour OzoneNonattainmentAreas, Green Book, http:llwww.epa.govloarloa~psl~reenbk/gnc.html#Note, updated as ofMarch 12,2009, accessed May 1, 2009.

Ibid. Based on (5,500+1,088-119)/(5,500+1,088). 2requested that the SoCAB ozone nonattainment designation be "bumped up" from "severe-17" to "extreme," which would give the reservation an even more inappropriate designation. Keeping the Pechanga Indian Reservation in a nonattainment area with such a restrictive major source threshold means that the Tribe cannot implement a meaningful Minor Source permitting program because the regulation would be applicable only to a small set ofpotential future emitting sources, whose emissions would be lower than 10tpy of both NOx and ROC. Several additional years will be needed for the Tribe to develop a Major Source permitting program and gain approval for such a program from EPA.
The purpose ofthis document is to present the logical and technically-based rationale to create a Pechanga Nonattainment Area, or, in the alternative, move the northern boundary ofthe San Diego Nonattainment Area northward to include the entire Pechanga Reservation, rather than having it bisect the reservation as it does now. It will be shown that the reservation has substantial differences from the South Coast Air Basin, and properly belongs in its own nonattainment area, or at least in the San Diego Nonattainment Area. It makes no sense for the reservation to remain inside the SoCAB nonattainment area, which is the principal source ofthe emissionsthat cause the monitored violations of the ozone NAAQS on Tribal lands. EPA has authority under Clean Air Act Section 110(k)(6)to create a new nonattainment area, or make a correction to the San Diego Nonattainment Area boundary to include the remainder ofthe Pechanga Indian Reservation.



### RATIONALE
The following discussion is organized according to the nine factors published in USEPA guidance.6
Factor 1: "Air quality data"
The air quality on the Pechanga Reservation is generally good (i.e., highest 8-hour
avera e ozone concentration of 0.057 ppm during the period July 1 -December 3 1, 

# 9 2008) 

### ,much like the remainder ofthe SDABto the south, except where air quality is degraded for locales near the coastal cities. In contrast, air quality throughout the SoCAB to the north and west is degraded not only by the regional mix of pollutants, but also by dense industrial and population centers. SoCAB emissions are high enough to also

The South Coast Air Quality Management District described the request in the June 1,2007Boardapproved 2007 Air Quality Management Plan, and initiated the request September 27,2007.

USEPA.Area Designations for the 2008 Revised Ozone NationalAmbient Air QualityStandards, memorandum from Robert J. Meyers, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, to Regional Administrators, December 8, 2008.

The Pechanga monitoring station has only been operating since May 28,2008.degrade the air quality of coastal portions of the SDABby "overwhelming" transport of regional air pollutants (e.g., ozone).' Ozone, generated by atmospheric reactions of its precursor emissions ofNOx and ROC over periods of hours, is by its nature a regional pollutant. High levels that exceed the 8- hour ozone NAAQS are widespread throughout the SoCAB, and because ofthe combination of local emissions and transport, are also widespread throughout the coastal portions of the SDAB.
As can be seen in Figure 1,the average annual number of exceedances of the current 8- hour ozone NAAQS from monitoring stations near the Pechanga Reservation is highest at Lake Elsinore, much higher than the exceedancesat the other four monitoring stations (see Figure 

### 2 for the locations of the monitoring stations). Figure 

### 3 shows that the temporal trends of the number of ozone exceedances as measured at the Anaheim and Mission Viejo monitoring stations in the SoCAB are relatively synchronous with those at the Escondido and El Cajon monitoring station in the SDAB. Figure 4 shows that the average annual maximum 8-hour ozone concentration is relatively uniform between four of the monitoring stations, but a substantially higher concentration occurs at Lake Elsinore. Figure 

### 5 shows the relatively uniform and synchronous temporal changes between the stations from year to year. Figure 6 shows the uniformity ofthe annual 4h highest 8-hour ozone concentrationsbetween four of the stations, much as Figure 4 showed for the average annual maximum 8-hour ozone concentrations. Figure 7 does not show the same consistent synchronous temporal changes from year to year in the annual 

### 4th highest 8-hour ozone concentrations that were seen in Figure 

### 5 for the average annual maximum 8-hour concentration.

Air Resources Board.Assessment of the Impacts of Transported Pollutants on Ozone Concentrations in California,March 2001,http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/transO 1/isor.pd f. 4

### Figure 1. 

### Average Annual Number of Excedances of the 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS (0.075 ppm) from 1998-2008



# . Anaheim % MissionViejo I Lake Elsinore Escondido El Cajon

South Coast NonattainmentArea 

# + San Diego NonattainmentArea 

### +----------------------------- 

# .................... 

# +

Full site nameofEl Cajon, Exondido,Anaheim, MissionViejoand LakeElsinoreareEl CajowRedwocdAvenue, Escondido-EValleyParkway, Anaheim-Pampas Lane, MissionViep26081Via Peraand LakeElsinore-W Flintstreet, respectiwly. Notes:The vertical line acrossthetopof each barrepresentronestandarddeuationaround the arithmetic mean.

### Figure

### 3. Average Annual Number of Exceedances of the 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS(0.075 

### ppm) Normalized to Lake Elsinore

+El Cajon 

### + Escondido

+Anaheim

e'r

* ... Mission Viejo 

### --,*.,

. Lake Elsinore

### Figure5. Annual Maximum 8-hour Average Ozone Concentration Normalized to Lake Elsinore

1.20

+El Cajon

-D- Escondido

+Anaheim

- w Mission Viejo 0.40 0 u +Lake Elsinore 

# ..- 0

### Figure6. Average Annual 4th

### Highest 8-hour Ozone Concentration Averages from 1998-2008

Anaheim m MissionViejo E Lake Elsinore * Escondido 

# . El Cajon 

# r 1 South Coast NonattainmentArea

- T

Full site name of El Cajon. Escondido,Anaheim, Mission Viejo and Lake Elsinoreare El CajorrRedwod Avenue, Escondido-EValleyParkway, Anaheim-PampasLane, Mission Viejo26081Via Pera and Lake Elsinore-W Flintstreet, respectively. Notes:lheverticalline acrossthetopofeachbarrepresenkonestandarddeuationaround the arithmetic mean.Table 1 lists the maximum ozone concentrations measured at the three monitoring stations stretching northwest from the Pechanga Reservation into SoCAB (i.e., Lake Elsinore, Mission Viejo, and Anaheim), and at two monitoring stations stretching southeast from the reservation into the SDAB.

As can be seen in Table 2, the two-station average peak ozone concentration measured at the SDABmonitoring stations is less than the three-station average peak measured at the SoCAB monitoring stations. Table 1 Maximum Ozone Concentrations

### " 2008 (ppmv)

Because air quality monitoring on the Pechanga Reservation did not begin before 3rd quarter 2008, the second half of 2008 isused to compare 8-hour maximum ozone concentrations as shown in Table 3. Table 2 Basin Comparison ofMaximum Ozone Concentrations

### " 2008 (ppmv) 

### "Data Source:California Air Quality Data, CaliforniaAir ResourcesBoard website, http /IVWIV orb cu gov udum cnc-hrn db2ww1vadumlop-lbd2w s~url. b~RB SiteNo. 30178 "ARB SiteNo. 30002 d~RB SiteNo. 33158 'ARB SiteNo. 80115

f~~~ SiteNo. 80131 L. Elsinore Monitoring

Station

0.139 0.1 19 Pollutant

03

Pollutant

03 Anaheim Monitoring

Station

0.105 0.086 Averaging Time 1

-hour 8-hour Mission Viejo Monitoring

Stationc

0.1 18 0.104 Escondido Monitoring

Station

0.1 16 0.099



### "Data Source:California Air Quality Data, California Air ResourcesBoard website, hllp II~II'II! arb cu .gov adum cgr-brn dh?~'lt~~t adumtop-ib d21vslurt. b~RB SiteNo. 30178. ARB SiteNo. 30002.
d~~~ SiteNo. 33158. Averaging Time 1 -hour 8-hour El Cajon Monitoring

Station

0.107 0.093

SoCAB Monitoring Station Average 0.121 0.103 SDAB Monitoring Station Average 0.1 12 0.096Quality Assurance Consulting. Third and Fourth Quarter 2008 Ambient Air Monitoring Data Reports, Pechanga Ambient Air Monitoring Station, November 4, 2008 and February 13,2009,respectively.

Although comparable data is available only for a half year, the low magnitude of the maximum 1 

### - and 8-hour ozone concentrations measured on the reservation suggests that the Pechanga Reservation should be its own nonattainment area.

Factor 

### 2: "Emissions data (location of sources and contribution to ozone concentrations)"
Due to the sparse population of the Pechanga Reservation, the limited emissions from the few sources on the Reservation are close to only a few nearby receptors. This same sparse distribution of emission sources and nearby receptors characterizes the other Indian reservations and communities located throughout most ofthe SDAB. Far different is the close proximity of the dense residential areas of the Riverside County portion of the SoCAB to transportation, commercial, and industrial emission sources clustered in urban centers such as the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Table 4 presents a comparison of emissions from the Pechanga Reservation, the SDAB, and the Riverside County portion ofthe SoCAB, separated into stationary, area, and mobile source categories. The emissions in both the SDAB and Riverside County portion of the SoCAB are well in excess ofthe emissions on Tribal lands and, as a result, these data suggestthat the Pechanga Reservation canjust as logically be its own nonattainment area, or, in the alternative, a part of either adjoining nonattainment area.The ozone precursor emission density on the Pechanga reservation is about 1/50that in the SDAB or in the Riverside County portion ofthe SoCAB, as shown in Table 5.
The emissions from the Pechanga ~eservation~ are from similar sources and in similarly small amounts as from other Indian reservations and communities located throughout the SDAB, far smaller in quantity and less industriaVcommercia1in nature than emissions from the large urban centers in the SoCAB, including the Los Angeles Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA).

These emission data suggest that the Pechanga Reservation canjust as logically be its own nonattainment area as be a part of either the San Diego or South Coast Nonattainment Area.

For example, 2007 NOx emissionswere approximately4.2tons per year. 14