UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document 

for

EPA’s Proposed Rulemaking

for the

California State Implementation Plan

South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule 223

Emission Reduction Permits for Large Confined Animal Facilities

Prepared by: Nancy Levin

March 24, 2015
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RULE IDENTIFICATION: 

Agency: South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD)

SIP Approved Rule: None

Subject of this TSD: Rule 223 – Emission Reduction Permits for Large Confined Animal 

Facilities

Adopted – June 2, 2006

Submitted – March 17, 2009

BACKGROUND – This rule was adopted to comply with Senate Bill (SB) 700 (September 22, 

2003) as codified in the California Health & State Code Section 40724. SB 700 eliminated the 

exemption for agriculture from the permit system for local air pollution control districts. Among 

other things, it required local air districts to adopt, implement and submit for inclusion into the 

SIP a rule or regulation requiring the owners or operators of large confined animal facilities

(LCAFs) to obtain a permit and to reduce air emissions from the facility “to the extent feasible,” 

and required the state to develop a definition for LCAFs.

RULE SUMMARY –The rule requirements apply to large operations above size thresholds 

described in section (b)(21). Dairies with at least 1,000 milking cows and poultry facilities with 

at least 650,000 birds qualify as LCAFs. According to the 2006 Final Staff Report the 

SCAQMD has under its jurisdiction an estimated 55 dairies of 1,000 or more milking cows and

4 egg ranches of 650,000 or more chickens. The rule requires these operations to apply for 

and obtain an SCAQMD permit including a mitigation plan with measures listed in Appendix A: 

Large CAF Mitigation Measures. Rule 223 sections (d) through (j) describe additional 

requirements concerning permitting, public review and recordkeeping. 

Appendix A contains two tables: Table 1 – Dairy LCAF Mitigation Measure Requirements and 

Table 2 – Poultry Operations LCAF Mitigation Measure Requirements. Dairy provisions require 

that owner/operators implement at least five of 11 feed and silage mitigation measures, one of 

three milk parlor measures, two of nine freestall barn measures, six of 12 corral measures, two 

of seven solid manure or separated solids handling measures, one of eight liquid manure 

handling measures, and two of four land application measures. A Poultry CAF owner/operator 

must implement at least four of 14 poultry house mitigation measures, five of seven feed 

operation mitigation measures; one of seven solid manure or separated solids handling 

measures, and one of eight liquid manure handling measures. For both dairy and poultry 

operations, an owner/operator can substitute a mitigation measure in one section of a table 

with another from a different section in the table if it can be demonstrated to the SCAQMD, 

CARB and EPA that the substitution would result in equal or greater emission reductions. The 

owner/operator can temporarily suspend a mitigation measure to protect animal health, but 

must implement a new mitigation measure in lieu of the suspended measure within 30 days.

EVALUATION CRITERIA – Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see CAA section 

110(a)(2)), must not interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment and 

reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA section 110(l)), and must not 

modify certain SIP control requirements in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or 
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greater emissions reductions (see CAA section 193). The following criteria were used to 

evaluate the submitted rule: 

1. Enforceability - The Bluebook (Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, 

Deficiencies, and Deviations, EPA, May 25, 1988) and the Little Bluebook (Guidance 

Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, EPA Region 9, 

August 21, 2001) were used to help evaluate compliance with the CAA §110(a)(2)(A) 

requirement for enforceability. 

2. Non-interference - CAA §110(l) prohibits EPA from approving any SIP revision that 

would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable 

further progress (RFP) or any other applicable requirement of the CAA. In addition, CAA 

§193 prohibits the modification of any SIP-approved control requirement in effect before 

November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area.

EPA EVALUATION – A summary of our evaluation of the criteria follows.

1. The rule requirements and applicability are clear. The recordkeeping and other 

provisions sufficiently ensure that affected sources and regulators can evaluate and 

determine compliance with Rule 223 consistently. 

2. We propose to determine that our approval of the submittal would comply with CAA 

§§110(l) and 193 because (1) the proposed SIP revision would not interfere with the ongoing process for ensuring that requirements for RFP and attainment of the NAAQS are 

met, and (2) the submitted new rule does not replace existing SIP-approved control 

requirements.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT RULE REVISION – The following 

revisions are not currently the basis for rule disapproval, but are recommended for the next 

time the rule is amended.

SCAQMD Rule 223 (adopted June 20, 2006) and an earlier version of the San Joaquin Valley 

Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) 4570 (adopted June 15, 2006), were 

substantively similar. However, SJVAPCD subsequently revised the Rule 4570 (adopted 

October 21, 2010) to update it with the latest research findings, and to refine or eliminate 

certain mitigation measures based on their effectiveness, applicability, and whether or not they 

were already standard industry practice. For example, the SJVAPCD adjusted the timeframe 

for feeding total mixed rations in the dairy feed menu from 48 hours to 2 hours to reflect more 

recent information showing feed emissions occur within the first 12-24 hours after the feed is 

put into the feed lane (see SJVAUPCD Final Staff Report, Section VIII. Proposed Amendments 

to Rule 4570, October 21, 2010, p. 20). The SJVAPCD retired the option to remove caked 

animal waste every 14 days since they believed that caked manure, which is dry, had minimal 

emission potential (see SJVAPCD Final Staff Report, p. 61). In addition, the SJVAPCD

removed ‘installing floats or other devices in water troughs to prevent spills’ from dairy and 

feedlot menus because they concluded that the measure was standard industry practice (see 

SJVAPCD Final Staff Report, pp. 29 and 43). In addition, SJVAPCD lowered the applicability 

threshold for dairies from 1,000 to 500 milk cows, and from 650,000 to 400,000 for chickens 
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and ducks, and made certain feed and housing menu items mandatory for all dairies. For 

additional details, please see the SJVAUPCD Final Staff Report, and the Technical Support 

Document for EPA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, EPA’s Analysis of San Joaquin Valley 

Unified Air Pollution Control District’s Rule 4570, Confined Animal Facilities, August 2011.

Therefore, the next time that Rule 223 is revised, we recommend that SCAQMD review and 

update the rule as follows to further reduce emissions:

1. Consider making certain mitigation measures with the greatest emission reduction 

potential mandatory where feasible.

2. Incorporate findings from the most recently available science (e.g., silage).1

3. Eliminate mitigation measures that are not effective at reducing VOC or ammonia

emissions; are not applicable; or are standard industry practice.

4. Lower the applicability threshold for dairies and poultry operations.

Also, please clarify the reference in Appendix A, Tables 1 and 2, Note 2 to “tables 2 through 6,” 

as there are only two tables in Appendix A.

Generally, SIP rules are must implement RACM in moderate nonattainment areas. A RACM 

evaluation is generally performed in context of a broader plan. A RACM demonstration for 

PM2.5 under CAA Part D, subpart 4 includes analysis of PM2.5 precursors, including VOC and 

ammonia.2

EPA ACTION – The submitted Rule 223 strengthens the SIP. Therefore, EPA staff 

recommends full approval of Rule 223 pursuant to CAA §110(k)(3) and §301(a). 

REFERENCES:

1. “Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,” (a.k.a., 

Bluebook) EPA OAQPS, May 25, 1988.

2. “Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies,” (a.k.a., 

Little Bluebook), EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 

(http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/sips/littlebluebook2001.pdf).

3. SCAQMD Rule 223 Emission Reduction Permits for Large for Confined Animal 

Facilities, Adopted June 2, 2006; Submitted to EPA on March 17, 2009.

4. SCAQMD Rule 223 Emission Reduction Permits for Large for Confined Animal 

Facilities, Final Staff Report, April 2006. 

5. SJVAPCD Rule 4570 Confined Animal Facilities, Adopted June 15, 2006; Readopted 

June 18, 2009; Amended October 21, 2010; Submitted to EPA on April 5, 2011, 77 FR 

2228, January 17, 2012.

 

1 We understand from discussions with the District that many of the CAFs in the SCAQMD use dry feed rather than silage. 

However, for those that may use silage, we recommend updating the rule with more stringent silage controls such as found in

SJVAPCD Rule 4570 Tables 4.1 (B); 4.2 (B) and 4.3(B).

2 The EPA has historically implemented the PM2.5 standards solely under the provisions of subpart 1. On January 4, 2013, 

the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision in a challenge to our 2007 PM2.5 Implementation Rule. See NRDC v. 

EPA, 706 F.3d 428 (D.C. Cir. 2013). In NRDC, the court held that the EPA had erred in implementing the 1997 PM2.5 

standard pursuant only to the general implementation requirements of subpart 1, rather than also to the implementation 

requirements specific to particulate matter in subpart 4, part D of title I of the CAA (“subpart 4”).
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6. SJVAPCD Final Staff Report, Revised Proposed Amendments to Rule 4570 (Confined 

Animal Facilities), October 10, 2010.

7. Technical Support Document for EPA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Revisions to 

the California State Implementation Plan, as submitted by the California Air Resources 

Board for the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, EPA’s Analysis of 

San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District’s Rule 4570, Confined Animal 

Facilities, August 2011.