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ENCLOSURE 4 

STATE OF CALIFORNIA 

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION TO SUPPORT RECOMMENDED 

NONATTAINMENT AREA FOR THE 2008 FEDERAL LEAD STANDARD 

Los Angeles County - South Coast Air Basin

The presumptive boundary for a lead nonattainment area is the boundary of the 

county in which the violating monitor(s) is located. However, the Air Resources 

Board (ARB) recommends the Los Angeles County lead nonattainment area not 

be defined as the entire County, but be limited to the portion of the County within 

the South Coast Air Basin (South Coast). As described below, this 

recommendation is based on the characteristics of lead emissions, 

concentrations measured at other monitors in the surrounding area, and existing 

jurisdictional boundaries and emissions control rules. 

The South Coast portion of Los Angeles County is home to several lead-related 

industrial sources. These facilities are Exide Technologies in the City of 

Commerce, Quemetco, Inc. in the City of Industry, Trojan Battery Company in 

Santa Fe Springs, and Exide Technologies in Vernon. The four facilities are 

located within a 20 mile radius in the southern portion of the County. In 1992, the 

South Coast Air Quality Management District (District) adopted Rule 1420: 

Emissions Standard for Lead. The purpose of Rule 1420 is to reduce lead 

emissions from non-vehicular sources. It applies to all facilities that use or 

process materials containing lead, including primary or secondary lead smelters, 

foundries, and lead-acid battery manufacturers or recyclers, as well as facilities 

that produce lead-oxide, brass, and bronze. Under Rule 1420, facilities shall not 

discharge lead emissions into the atmosphere which cause ambient 

concentrations beyond the property line to exceed 1.5 micrograms per cubic 

meter (μg/m3), averaged over 30 days. This concentration reflects the current 

California ambient air quality standard for lead, and it is generally comparable 

with the level of the previous federal standard (1.5 μg/m3 averaged over a 

calendar quarter). 

 

The District operates a network of source-oriented monitors around four separate 

facilities. In addition, Rule 1420 requires facilities with specific lead processing 

amounts or emissions to conduct monitoring at their fenceline. The District’s 

source-oriented monitors are located at or beyond the fence-line of the facility, 

and the District indicates they comply with U.S. EPA siting and operating criteria 

for a microscale monitoring site. While lead samples are generally collected on a 

1-in-6 day schedule, samples may be collected more frequently at sites with high 

concentrations. Table 1 provides a summary of design values for the District’s 

source-oriented monitors. Design values exceed the federal standard near two 

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Quenell Inc.

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may not

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facilities: Trojan Battery Company and Exide Technologies in Vernon. The value 

for the Exide monitoring site is by far the highest. 

TABLE 1 

LEAD DESIGN VALUES FOR SOURCE-ORIENTED MONITORS 

Facility Name City Monitor 3-Month 

Period 

Lead 

Design 

Value* 

Exide 

Technologies

City of 

Commerce 

LA Paper Box, 

61st Street Jan-Mar 2006 0.14 μg/m3

*

Quemetco, Inc. City of Industry Closet World, 

500 S. 7th Street Jan-Mar 2006 0.09 μg/m3

Trojan Battery 

Co. 

Santa Fe 

Springs 

Uddeholm,9331 Santa Fe 

Springs Road May-Jul 2007 0.18 μg/m3

Exide 

Technologies Vernon Rehrig-Pacific Street Jan-Mar 2008 2.49 μg/m3

* 

* Data available for LA Paper Box monitor from January 2006 through May 2006 only. Data available for Closet World 

monitor from January through December 2006 and October through December 2008. Data available for Rehrig-Pacific 

Street monitor from mid-November 2007 through mid-July 2009. 

Exide Technologies is a lead-acid battery recycling facility. The most reliable 

estimate puts lead emissions from this facility at about 2 tons per year. The 

District currently maintains a network of three source-oriented lead monitors 

around Exide. All three are located beyond the fence-line, in publically 

accessible areas. In addition, the monitors are located near points of modeled 

maximum concentration. Based on violations of the 1.5 μg/m3 lead standard, as 

specified in their Rule 1420, the District issued violation notices to Exide for 

exceeding the limit during five consecutive months (December 2007 through 

April 2008). Concentrations during this time period also exceeded the 2008 

federal standard. Since this time, District monitors show concentrations that are 

much lower, although they still exceed the revised lead standard of 0.15 μg/m3 

calculated as a rolling three-month average. 

Fugitive lead particles are relatively large, and tend to settle out quickly after they 

are emitted. As a result, the highest concentrations occur in the immediate vicinity 

of an emission source. The U.S. EPA final lead rule states that data from nonsource-oriented monitors can be helpful in determining the appropriate 

nonattainment area boundary. In addition to the source-oriented monitors 

summarized above, the District maintains a network of six non-source-oriented 

lead monitors in Los Angeles County, two in Riverside County, and two in 

San Bernardino County. Although data are not currently available for 2008, data 

from these non-source monitors are available for 2005 through 2007. Table 2 

provides a summary of design values for the non-source-oriented sites. The 

design values range from 0.01 μg/m3 to 0.03 μg/m3, demonstrating the significant 

difference in concentrations measured by the non-source-oriented monitors versus 

the source-oriented monitors. This provides additional support for limiting the 

Deleted: Daelco Div,¶

Quenell Inc.

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geographic extent of the recommended nonattainment area. 

TABLE 2 

LEAD DESIGN VALUES AT SOUTH COAST 

NON-SOURCE-ORIENTED MONITORS 

Site Name County 2005-2007 

Design Value 

Long Beach-East Pacific Coast Highway Los Angeles 0.02 μg/m3

Los Angeles-North Main Street Los Angeles 0.03 μg/m3

Los Angeles-Westchester Parkway Los Angeles 0.01 μg/m3 * 

Lynwood Los Angeles 0.03 μg/m3

North Long Beach Los Angeles 0.01 μg/m3

Pico Rivera ** Los Angeles 0.03 μg/m3 * 

Riverside-Magnolia Riverside 0.01 μg/m3

Riverside-Rubidoux Riverside 0.02 μg/m3

San Bernardino-4th Street San Bernardino 0.02 μg/m3 * 

Upland San Bernardino 0.02 μg/m3 * 

* Data are not complete for some months during the three-year period. 

** Reflects data from two sites: Pico Rivera (Jan 2005-Apr 2005) and Pico Rivera-4144 

San Gabriel (Sep 2005-Dec 2007).

In summary, ARB staff recommends the South Coast portion of Los Angeles 

County be designated as nonattainment for the 2008 federal lead standard based 

on data from the Exide Rehrig-Pacific Street monitor. Although concentrations 

have dropped over the last year, they still exceed the 2008 federal lead standard. 

Design values for all non-source-oriented monitors in Los Angeles County, as 

well as in the rest of the Air Basin, show compliance with the revised standard. 

The District’s Rule 1420 provides a mechanism for reducing emissions from 

lead-related industrial sources. Although the concentration limit currently 

specified in the Rule reflects the California lead standard, the District is planning 

to revise Rule 1420 to be more consistent with the level of the 2008 federal lead 

standard (0.15 μg/m3). In addition, the District plans to propose Rule 1420.1 

which will apply to large lead-acid battery recycling facilities. The recommended 

nonattainment area falls under the jurisdiction of the South Coast Air Quality 

Management District, the agency responsible for administrating and enforcing 

Rule 1420. 

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