CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD 

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MODIFIED 

TRANSPORTATION CONFORMITY BUDGETS CONTAINED IN THE 2007 AIR 

QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ATTAINING THE FEDERAL 8-HOUR OZONE 

AND PM2.5 STANDARDS IN THE SOUTH COAST AIR BASIN 

The California Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) will conduct a public hearing to 

consider approval of modifications to the transportation conformity budgets contained 

the 2007 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) for attaining the federal 8-hour ozone 

and PM2.5 ambient air quality standards in the South Coast Air Basin, and the federal 

8-hour ozone standard in the Coachella Valley. The plans were approved by the Board 

on September 27, 2007; the conformity budgets were approved by the Board on 

November 15, 2007. If adopted, ARB will submit these modified elements to the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) for approval as a revision to the 

California State Implementation Plan (SIP). 

 

DATE: April 24, 2008

TIME: 9:00 a.m.

PLACE: Caltrans Building

111 Grand Avenue

Oakland, California 94612

This item will be considered at a one-day meeting of the Board, which will commence at 

9:00 a.m. April 24, 2008. Please consult the agenda for the meeting, which will be 

available at least 10 days before April 24, 2008, to determine the order in which the 

items will be considered. 

For individuals with sensory disabilities, this document is available in Braille, large 

print, audiocassette or computer disk. Please contact ARB's Disability Coordinator by 

voice at (916) 323-4916, or through the California Relay Services at 711, to place your 

request for disability services. If you are a person with limited English and would like to 

request interpreter services, please contact ARB's Bilingual Manager at 

(916) 323-7053. 

On September 27, 2007, the ARB approved plans for attaining the federal fine 

particulate matter (PM2.5) and 8-hour ozone standards in the South Coast Air Basin. 

These attainment demonstration plans rely on emission reductions from new control 

measured identified and committed to in the 2007 AQMP adopted by the South Coast 

Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and in the ARB’s 2007 State Strategy. On 

November 15, 2007, ARB adopted transportation conformity budgets for the 

South Coast Air Basin. The conformity budgets adopted in November 2007 are 
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consistent with the PM2.5 and 8-hour ozone attainment demonstration plans for the 

South Coast Air Basin as approved by the Board on September 27, 2007. The adopted 

conformity budgets reflect anticipated on-road vehicle emission reductions from new 

control measures identified in ARB’s State Strategy. Both the attainment demonstration 

plans and the conformity budgets have been submitted to the U.S. EPA as proposed 

revisions to the SIP. 

U.S. EPA staff has expressed concerns about these budgets related to issues they 

have raised about the State Strategy used in the attainment demonstration plans. 

U.S. EPA staff indicated that these concerns could prevent the agency from approving 

or finding adequate conformity budgets based on the State Strategy. 

ARB staff is now recommending that the Board adopt two sets of conformity budgets for 

the South Coast Air Basin at the April 24, 2008 hearing. The first set reflects the 2007 

SIP submittal for the South Coast Air Basin, including the locally adopted 2007 AQMP 

and the 2007 State Strategy adopted by ARB. The second set of budgets reflects 

control measures adopted as of October, 2006 – the rules that formed the baseline 

emission inventory used in the development of the 2007 SIP. Both the SIP-based and 

baseline budgets provide sufficient reductions to meet the Clean Air Act’s reasonable 

further progress test. Staff recommends that the Board submit both sets of budgets to 

U.S. EPA with a request that U.S. EPA approve the baseline budgets only if it cannot 

approve or find adequate in their entirety the budgets based on the 2007 SIP. Because 

the baseline budgets do not reflect new measures committed to in the 2007 SIP and 

are therefore less constraining than SIP-based budgets, staff recommends the Board 

commit that, if U.S. EPA approves the baseline budgets, ARB staff will work with staff of 

the AQMD, the Southern California Association of Governments, U.S. EPA, and the 

Federal Highway Administration to resolve budget adequacy issues, and that the State 

will submit updated transportation conformity budgets within the next 12 months. 

The newspaper notices for this item indicated that proposed revisions to transportation 

conformity budgets for the Coachella Valley would also be considered at this hearing. 

The Board adopted transportation conformity budgets for the Coachella Valley on 

November 15, 2007 as part of the Early Progress Plan for the Coachella Valley. ARB 

staff has determined that it will not be necessary to revise these budgets. 

ARB staff will present oral statements at the meeting. Copies of the proposed 

conformity budgets may be obtained from the Board's Public Information Office, 

1001 “I” Street, 1st Floor, Environmental Services Center, Sacramento, CA 95814, 

(916) 322-2990, by April 14, 2008. The proposed conformity budgets may also be 

obtained from ARB’s internet site at http://www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/sip.htm. 

Interested members of the public may also present comments orally or in writing at the 

meeting, and in writing or by e-mail before the meeting. To be considered by the 

Board, written comments submissions not physically submitted at the meeting must be 
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received no later than 12:00 noon, April 23, 2008, and addressed to the following: 

Postal mail: Clerk of the Board, Air Resources Board 

1001 I Street 

Sacramento, California 95814 

Electronic submittal: http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php 

Facsimile submittal: (916) 322-3928

Please note that under the California Public Records Act (Government Code 

section 6250 et seq.), your written and oral comments, attachments, and associated 

contact information (e.g., your address, phone, email, etc.) become part of the public 

record and can be released to the public upon request. Additionally, this information 

may become available via Google, Yahoo, and any other search engines. 

The Board requests, but does not require, 30 copies of any written submission. Also, 

ARB requests that written and email statements be filed at least ten days prior to the 

meeting so that ARB staff and Board members have time to fully consider each 

comment. Further inquiries regarding this matter should be directed to Dennis Wade, 

Air Pollution Specialist, at (916) 327-2963. 

CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD 

James N. Goldstene 

Executive Officer 

Date: 
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Documents\final Draft Hearing Notice.doc