UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document

For

EPA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

For the

California State Implementation Plan

Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District

Rule 43 3

– Control of Particulate Emissions at Owens Lake

Christine Vineyard

August 2016- 2

- RULE IDENTIFICATION

Agency Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District ( GBU A P CD)

SIP

- approved

Rule None

Subject of this

TSD Rule 433

– Control of Particulate Emissions at Owens Lake Adopted

– April 13, 2016

Submitted

– June 9, 2016

Completeness Finding July 6 , 2016

BACKGROUND

The GBUAPCD describes the geographic area controlled by Rule 433 as follows: “ The Owens Valley Planning Area (OVPA) is located in Inyo County in eastern

- central California. It is situated at the south end of the deep, long, narrow Owens Valley with the Sierra Nevada mountain range to the west (max. elevation 14,505 feet), the White

Inyo Mountains to the east (max. elevation 14,246 feet), and the Coso Range to the south (max. elevation 8,160 feet). A major feature in the OVPA is the predominantly dry, alkaline Owens Lake bed located approximately eight miles south of the community of

Lone Pine on U.S. Highway 395, 60 miles north of the city of Ridgecrest, and 35 miles west of Death Valley. The communities of Olancha and Keeler are located on the southwestern and eastern shores of the lake bed, respectively. The bed of Owens Lake

is defined as the area below 3,600 feet above mean sea level. It extends about

seventeen miles north and south and ten miles east and west and covers an area of approximately 110 square miles (70,000 acres). The majority of the lake bed (over 89%) is state land under the jurisd iction of the California State Lands Commission (CSLC). The remaining portions of the lake bed are owned by the City of Los Angeles, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and other public and private entities. ” 1

The OVPA is a serious nonattainment a rea for the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for par ticulate matter less than 10 mi crons in diameter (PM 10 ). 40

CFR 81. 305. The alkaline Owens Lake bed described above is the predominate source

of PM 10 emissions causing the OVPA to be classifi ed as a serious nonattainment area. Air quality monitoring by the GBUAPCD has shown that the bed of Owens Lake is the major source of PM 10 emissions contributing to air quality violations in the OVPA. The

GBUAPCD has also determined that: “ The Owens Lake bed is considered an

1 2016 O VPA State Implementation Plan , Appendix V

- 1

- BACM Assessment , April 2016, p.1

.- 3

- anthropogenic (human caused) source of PM 10 because the City of Los Angeles’ Aqueduct diverts water sources that historically supplied the lake

. ” 2

Rule 433 requires the City of Los Angeles, through the Los Angeles Dep ar tment of Water and Power (collectively “City”) , to implement the control measures on the Owens Lake bed to mitigate the PM 10 nonattainment resulting from the historic diversion of

water sources, as discussed in more detail below. The OVPA PM 10 nonattainment problem is unique and the development of Rule 433 is based on a long history of

interaction and cooperation between GBUAPCD and the City.

T he control measures established in Rule 433 represent a significant step toward bringing the area in to attainment. G B UAPCD has also adopted and submitted to EPA a comprehensive State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision to bring the OVPA into

attainment in 2017 and demonstration that Rule 433 is the Best Available Control Measure (BACM) . Although Rule 433 plays a central role in the 2016 PM 10 attainment SIP, we are evaluating the SIP separately from this action on Rule 433 and will complete our assessment of whether Rule 433 is BACM in that separate rulemaking

.

RULE SUMMARY

As noted above, GBUAPCD Rule 433 establishes requirements at Owens Lake to significantly reduce emissions of PM 10 from a substantial portion of the dry Owens Lake

bed

. GBUAPCD describes the purpose of Rule 433 as intended to provide “ a regulatory

mechanism under the federal Clea n Air Act to attain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and to implement the S tipulated J udgment between GBUAPCD and the City of Los Angeles (City) dated December 30, 2014

. ” 3 Rule 433 defines a list of

“ BACM PM 10 Control Measures”, such as shallow flooding, gravel blankets and
managed vegetation, and establishes the temporal and geographic requirements for
implementing these control measure s at Owens La ke . The goal of Rule 433 is to reduc e

PM 10 emissions from the dry lake bed to attain the 24

- hour PM 10 NAAQS in 2017. Specific rule requirements are summarized below.

A. Definitio n s

Definitions are included of critical terms

.

B. Requirements

2 2016 OVPA SIP , Appendix V

- 1

- BACM Assessment, April 2016, p.1.

3 2016 OVPA S IP , April 2016 p. 89, Exhibit 10

- 1. The Stipulated Judgment was e ntered by the Superior

Court of the State of C alifornia, County of Sacramento ( City of Los Angeles, et al. v California Air

Resources Board , Sacramento County Superior Court, Case No. 34

- 2013

- 80001451

- CU

- WM

- GDS)

, December 30, 2014

.- 4

- 1. For the geographic area defined as the 2003 Dust Control Area (DCA)

, the City
must operate any mix of the measures defined as BACM to control PM 10 emissions by at least a 99% control efficiency ( CE )

. 2. F or the 2006 DCA

, except for defined exceptions for Eligible Cultural Resource

Areas

, the City must operate B ACM to meet sp ecified PM 10 C E target s and BACM managed vegetation requirements must be met by December 31, 2017

. 3. For the geographic area defined as the Phase 8 Area

, the City must implement

the Gravel Blanket BACM

. 4. With limited specified exception s f or Eligible Cultural Resource Areas within the

Phase 9/10 Project Area

, the City must implement any mix of the measures

defined as BACM by December 31, 2017

. 5. As an alternative to BACM shallow flooding

, the City may implement any of the following control measures , which are described below under “Attachment A

– Performance Requirements for BACM” :

a. T illage with BACM backup ; b. Brine shallow flooding; or

c. Dynamic water management.

C. Contingency Measures

1. At least once each year, the District shall determine whether additional are as of the lake bed require BACM to attain/ maintain the PM 10 NAAQS.

2. If attainment or reasonable further progress (RFP) milestones are not

demonstrated by December 31, 2017, GBUAPCD shall order the City to apply

additional BACM

. 3. If monitoring and/or modeling demonstrate control measures are needed in an Eligible Cultural Resource A rea to attain or maintain the NAAQS

, GBUAPCD shall order the City to apply additional BACM.

4. Control measures defined as BACM are required on 48.62 square miles of the

lake bed. GBUAPCD m ay order the City to implement up to 53 .4 square miles of

BACM on the lake bed below the s horeline and above the high water level

. 5. T he City generally must implement m easures with 99% CE within three years after any such order.

Attachment A

– Performance Requirements for BACM

T he control measures defined in Rule 433 as “ BACM ” are summarized below.

1. BACM Shallow Flooding requires the application of water to the surface of the

lake bed in amounts and by means sufficient to achieve specified performance standards. E.g., for Shallow Flooding areas

, except those within the 2006 DCA

, a t least 75% of each square mile must continuously be covered by stand ing

water or surfac e

- saturated soil evenly distributed between October 16 each year

and May 15 the next year. In order to conserve water, s pecific areas that have a history of low emissivity may be allowed to delay the start date and have an

earlier end date (Dynamic Water Management or “DWM) for the flooding period.- 5

- If a DWM area becomes susceptible to wind erosion outside the modified dust control period, flooding will be required.

2. BACM Managed Vegetation requires planti ng surfaces with vegetation to meet

99% CE by maintaining 37% overall veg etation cover

. 3. BACM Gravel Blanket requires that t he entire area implementing this BACM must

be covered with either: (a) a layer of gravel at least four inches thick ; or (b) a layer of gravel at least two inches thick underlain with a permanent permeable geotextile fabric , sufficient to achieve 100 percent CE

. The gravel must be screened to a size greater than one half inch diameter.

4. Tillage with BAC M (Shallow Flood) Backup (TWB ) requires roughening of the soil

surface and installing necessary shallow flood infrastructure so the area can be

flooded if the defined erosion threshold is exceeded.

5. Brine BACM requires the application of brine and the creation of wet and/or non

emissive surfac es sufficient to achieve 99 percent CE . If the area exceeds the defined erosion threshold, BACM Shallow Flooding must be implemented.

6. Minimum Dust Control Efficiency (MCDE) BACM applies in certain defined areas

within the 2006 DCA and is designed to ac hieve specified dust CE that can be less than 99 percent

, but is designed to prevent exceedances of the NAAQS. The required CE for these areas is based on air quality modeling. MDCE BACM includes shallow flooding, vegetation cover, and sand fences.

Emission Reductions : The O VPA ’s SIP forecasts PM 10 emissions from the dry lake bed will be 355 tons per year upon implementation of the controls required under Rule 433. Taken together, the lakebed controls implemented since 2003 , which continue to

be enforceable through Rule 433, will have reduced PM 10 emissions by over 69 ,000 tons per year as compared to peak emissions in 2005, when the lake bed emitted
69,778 tons. 4

EPA RULE EVALUATION

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. The rule contain s definitions, control requirements , work practice standards, monitoring, test methods and other provisions that are sufficiently clear and enforceable.

2. SIP Relaxation

- CAA § 110(l) prohibits EPA f rom approving any SIP revision that would interfere with any applicable require ment concerning attainment and RFP or any other applicable requirement of the CAA. In addition, CAA § 193 prohibits the modification of any SIP

- approved control requirement in ef fect before
November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area. New Rule 433 does not interfere

with the on

- going process for ensuring that requirements for RFP and attainment

of the NAAQS are met. Section 193 of the CAA does not apply to our proposed

4 2016 OVPA SIP, Table 4

- 3.- 6

- action because this is a new rule to the SIP and does not modify any SIP

approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a

nonattainment area.

3. Rule Stringenc y

– EPA designated the O VPA as “serious” nonattainment for the

24

- hour averag e P M 10 NAAQS. 5 The CAA directs such areas to implement all

P M 10 BACM. In our guidance for serious P M 10 SIPs , EPA defined BACM to be, among other things, the maximum degree of emission reduction achievable from a source or source category which is determined on a case

- by

- case basis

, considering energy, economics and environmental impacts. 6 EPA intends to

evaluate BACM for Rule 433 in the near future in context of action on the overall

2016 P M 10 SIP submitted with the rule.

Although we are deferring a determination at this time regarding whether Rule

433 satisfies all of th e requirements for BACM, we note that GBUAPCD searched for requirements for analogous lake bed and dune sources in other PM 10 nonattainment areas including Imperial County, San Joaquin, Maricopa, South Coast and Clark County. However, they were unable to identify any analogous

active controls for these kinds of sources in other areas. The primary source of

windblown dust in the O VPA is from the dry lake bed and the area immediately surrounding the bed of Owens Lake. The OVPA contains the largest source of dust pollution in the United States due to the winds and dust storms that occur throughout the year. Since the OVPA is the only PM 10 nonattainment area of its kind in the United States, the controls currently implemented on the lake bed are unique and satisfy stringency requi rements for purposes of proposing approval

into the SIP. 7

EPA ACTION

The submitted GBUAPCD Rule 433 strengthens the SIP by requiring the City to implement dust control measures at Owens Lake. The rule is consistent with relevant

CAA requirements regarding enforceability and SIP revisions. Therefore, the EPA is proposing full approval of Rule 4 33.

5 OVPA nonattainment serious status (40 CFR §81.305).

6 State Implementation Plans for Serious PM 10 Nonattainment Areas and Attainment Waivers for PM 10 Nonattainment Areas Generally; Addendum to the General Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 59 FR 41998, August 16, 1994.

7 2016 OVPA SIP , Appendix V

- 1

- BACM Assessment, April 2016, p.14.