Judith G. Case 

Supervisor, Fresno County 

Ronn Dominici 

Supervisor, Madera County 

Henry Jay Forman, Ph.D. 

Appointed by Governor 

Randy Miller 

Mayor, City of Taft 

William O'Brien 

Supervisor, Stanislaus County 

Leroy Ornellas 

Supervisor, San Joaquin County 

Chris Vierra 

Mayor, City of Ceres 

Hub Walsh 

Supervisor, Merced County 

Raymond A. Watson 

Supervisor, Kern County 

Vacant 

Small City Representative, Kings County 

Vacant 

Large City Representative, Tulare County 

Vacant 

Appointed by Governor 

Seyed Sadredin 

Executive Director 

Air Pollution Control Officer 

Northern Region Office 

4800 Enterprise Way 

Modesto, CA 95356-8718 

12091 557-6400 • FAX (209) 557-6475 

Central Region Office 

1990 East Gettysburg Avenue 

Fresno, CA 93726-0244 

(559) 230-6000 • FAX (5591230-6061 

Southern Region Office 

34946 Flyover Court 

Bakers field, CA 93308-9725 

(6611392-5500 • FAX 16611 392-5585 

San Joaquin Valley 

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT HEALTHY AIR LIVINGA 

GOVERNING BOARD 

J.Steven Worthley, Chair 

Supervisor, Tulare County 

Ann Johnston, Vice Chair 

Mayor, City of Stockton 

Tony Barba 

Supervisor, Kings County 

DATE: August 18, 2011 

TO: SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

FROM: Seyed Sadredin, Executive Director/APCO 

Project Coordinator: Errol Villegas 

RE: ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC 

MATERIAL COMPOSTING OPERATIONS) 

RECOMMENDATION: 

1. Approve and authorize the Chair to sign the Negative Declaration 

prepared for proposed new Rule 4566 (Organic Material 

Composting Operations) finding that there is no substantial 

evidence that adoption of Rule 4566 will have significant adverse 

effect on the environment. 

2. Adopt revised proposed new Rule 4566 (Organic Material 

Composting Operations). 

3. Authorize the Chair to sign the attached Resolution. 

BACKGROUND: 

On April 30, 2007, your Board adopted the 2007 Ozone Plan (Ozone 

Plan) for the federal 8-hour ozone standard, as set by the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1997. To date, the District 

has achieved and surpassed several milestones and commitments 

from the Ozone Plan as part of its continued efforts to protect public 

health and help improve air quality for San Joaquin Valley residents. 

One of the commitments in the Ozone Plan is the adoption of a 

regulatory control measure for the reduction of Volatile Organic 

Compound (VOC) emissions from the composting of green waste. 

Pursuant to the schedule in the Ozone Plan, District staff commenced 

the development of Rule 4566 in 2007 by working with affected 

stakeholders and conducting research on organic material composting 

operations and potential emission control techniques. In 2008, your 

wlmv.valleyair.org 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

Board extended the rule adoption schedule to December 2010 to address stakeholders' 

concerns regarding the effectiveness of the potential emission control techniques and to 

allow for further evaluation and research in recognition of the environmental benefits 

associated with the composting industry. District staff continued to work closely with 

affected stakeholders and agencies throughout the rule development process to 

determine feasible mitigation measures that would help achieve emissions reductions. 

Through the cooperation of the San Joaquin Valleywide Air Pollution Study Agency, 

affected stakeholders, and other government agencies, a field study was successfully 

completed in 2010 that yielded new scientific information on the effectiveness of several 

promising emission reduction strategies. The new information has assisted the District 

in continuing its effort to develop an effective regulation for composting based on best 

available science. 

In December 2010 and June 2011, District staff provided updates to your Board on the 

status of the project with plans to bring forth a proposed rule for Governing Board 

consideration in 2011. At that time, a number of questions still remained regarding the 

feasibility and cost of actually implementing various potential emission reduction 

strategies. District staff has made additional efforts, through continuous discussions 

with stakeholders and site visits, to discuss concerns, examine possible impacts, and to 

solicit information regarding the feasibility and cost of potential emission reduction 

strategies that will protect both the public's health and the economic viability of affected 

composting operations. District staff carefully reviewed the issues raised and made 

further adjustments to rule language. 

Through these efforts, Revised Proposed New Rule 4566 consists of feasible, costeffective measures that would help achieve significant emissions reductions and satisfy, 

if not go beyond, RACT requirements for this source category. The District is committed 

in the Ozone Plan to reduce at least 16% of VOC emissions from the baseline 

emissions for this source category. There are currently 16 Valley cornposting facilities 

that would be subject to the rule and District staff estimates that the proposed rule 

would achieve about a 30% reduction in VOC emissions by the time the rule is fully 

implemented. 

DISCUSSION: 

Revised Proposed New Rule 4566 would apply to composting operations in the San 

Joaquin Valley, specifically the process of composting and/or stockpiling of organic 

material not subject to existing Rule 4565 (Biosolids, Animal Manure, and Poultry Litter 

Operations). Composting organic material provides benefits by reducing odors, 

eliminating pathogens, and reducing the bulk of organic material, but is also responsible 

for the release of VOC emissions during the process. The District is cognizant of the 

environmental benefits of the composting industry as it produces a material with various 

beneficial uses, while also helps local government agencies meet state solid waste 

2 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

diversion goals to preserve landfill capacity by reducing the amount of organic material 

sent to landfills for disposal. Throughout the development of the rule, District staff has 

sought to balance the need to obtain emission reductions against the negative impacts 

that excessive compliance costs could have on this beneficial industry. 

Although VOC emissions contribute to ozone, VOC reductions are generally less 

important to the Valley's long-term attainment goals as compared to reductions in NOx. 

However, since the District proposed to develop a rule as part of the 2007 Ozone Plan 

commitment, the rule seeks to obtain as much VOC reductions as expeditiously 

practical, technologically feasible, and as economically reasonable as determined by 

your Board. Revised Proposed New Rule 4566 is not expected to have a significant 

impact on the economic viability of affected composting operations. 

Summary of Revised Proposed New Rule 4566 

Consistent with the 2007 Ozone Plan commitments, Revised Proposed New Rule 4566 

would establish VOC limits, including operational and administrative requirements, for 

organic material composting operations. However, with the collaborative efforts of the 

affected stakeholders and by utilizing the best scientific information available, the 

proposed rule satisfies the District's commitments for emissions reductions while 

attempting to minimize the fiscal impacts to this beneficial industry. 

Exemptions 

The following facilities and operations would be exempt from the proposed rule: 

• Stockpile and composting operations that are subject to Rule 4565 (Biosolids, 

Animal Manure, and Poultry Litter Operations). 

• Operations that stockpile organic material and are not required to obtain a 

composting permit from the District or a Compostable Materials Handling Facility 

Permit in accordance with Title 14. 

• Composting of organic material that is generated and used onsite, which includes 

agricultural composting, community composting, household composting, nursery 

composting and recreational facilities composting. 

• Stockpiling of wood material, finished compost, overs, and organic material that 

is not used on site for cornposting, provided that the material is not mixed with 

other organic material and the operator maintains records. 

• Facilities and operations that handle organic material as part of their operations 

and are already subject to similar requirements from other District rules. 

These exempt facilities/operations are small-scale composting operations, operations 

that compost material that is generated and used onsite, or (as expressed by numerous 

stakeholders) are operations that handle organic material as part of their operations and 

are already subject to similar requirements from other District rules. 

3 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

Composting Requirements 

Revised Proposed New Rule 4566 would establish VOC emission reduction 

requirements on the basis of actual throughputs, rather than the maximum allowable 

capacity limits, for the composting operations, which is representative of the current 

baseline emissions for this source category. 

Based on the results of the field study discussed above, District staff identified two 

effective potential VOC emissions control strategies for composting: utilization of a 

watering system and the application of a finished compost cover. To address 

stakeholder concerns regarding the cost impacts of implementing control techniques, 

proposed rule requirements are focused on the significantly higher emitting active phase 

of the composting process. 

The proposed requirements are as follows: 

• Composting operations with an organic material receiving volume of less than 

200,000 wet tons per year (tpy) of organic material would be subject to the 

watering system requirements during the active phase. Operators would use a 

watering system to apply water to the windrow before/during turning or use an 

alternative mitigation measure that demonstrate at least a 19% reduction, by 

weight, in VOC emissions. 

• Composting operations with an organic material receiving volume of greater than 

or equal to 200,000 tpy and less than 750,000 tpy would be subject to both the 

watering system and the finished compost cover requirements for each windrow 

during the active phase of composting. Operators would be required to cover the 

windrow after formation and after the first three turns or use an alternative 

mitigation measure that demonstrate at least a 60% reduction, by weight, in VOC 

emissions. 

• Composting operations with total throughput of 750,000 tpy or more would be 

subject to mitigation measures that demonstrate at least 80% reduction, by 

weight, in VOC emissions for organic material. 

District staff has revised the language for the finished compost cover requirements from 

the July 19, 2011 version of the proposed rule for clarification purposes and addressed 

EPA comments in the rule. The concepts and requirements have not changed due to 

the revisions. 

In lieu of measuring actual moisture content with an expensive apparatus, based on 

recommendations of the composting stakeholders, the District has included provisions 

that will allow a facility to conduct a very simple, yet effective (industry standard) 

"ball/squeeze test" to demonstrate that they are properly implementing the watering 

system requirements. 

4 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

Stockpiling Requirements 

The proposed rule further reduces VOC emissions from composting operations by 

limiting the number of days that the organic material could be stockpiled. To simplify 

the District's requirements and minimize rule impacts, the District has aligned Rule 4566 

requirements with the State of California Title 14 requirements. The stockpiling 

requirements are as follows: 

• Composting operations with less than 100,000 tpy of organic material would be 

subject to a 10-day stockpile requirement. 

• Composting operations with 100,000 tpy or more of the material would be subject 

to a three-day stockpile requirement. 

Compliance Schedule 

To minimize rule impacts, the District is proposing an extended compliance schedule for 

those facilities that would be subject to the finished compost cover or engineered control 

requirements. Allowing the facility additional years for compliance allows operators 

operational flexibility in implementing fee increases incrementally (if necessary), or 

allows additional time for determining an alternative compliance option. The following 

table shows the compliance schedule for composting operations that would be subject 

to this rule. 

Table 1 — Summary of Compliance Schedule 

Compliance Schedule Operators Subject to the following Requirements 

One year after rule adoption date • Stockpile requirements 

• Watering system requirements or equivalent 

alternative mitigation measure 

Five years after rule adoption date • Finished compost cover or equivalent alternative 

mitigation measure 

• Mitigation measure that demonstrate at least 80% 

reduction, by weight, in VOC emissions 

Emission Reduction Analysis 

District staff estimates that Revised Proposed New Rule 4566 will result in 

approximately 4.2 tons per day (tpd) of VOC emission reductions by the time the rule is 

fully implemented in 2017, which is equivalent to a 30% VOC reduction from the 2010 

baseline inventory. Starting in 2012, District staff estimates a reduction of 

approximately 3.5 tpd of VOC emissions or an equivalent reduction of 25% from the 

baseline emissions. The emissions reduction that would be achieved by 2012 include 

all facilities that would be required to implement the watering system and the facility that 

is already in compliance with both the watering system and finished compost cover 

requirements. Please refer to Appendix B of the Final Draft Staff Report for the 

emissions reduction analysis. 

5 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

Cost Effectiveness Analysis 

Pursuant to California Health and Safety Code (CH&SC) Section 40920.6(a), the 

District is required to analyze the cost effectiveness of new rules or amendments 

that implement best available retrofit control technology (BARCT) or all feasible 

measures. For composting operations with less than 200,000 tpy of organic 

material, the cost effectiveness would be $390 per ton of VOC reduced. The cost 

effectiveness for composting operations with 200,000 tpy or more and less than 

750,000 tpy of organic material ranges from about $2,393 to $2,525 per ton VOC 

reduced. The range in costs for this category is based on different operational 

methods and equipment at the facilities. There currently no facilities that process 

more than 750,000 tons per year of organic material; therefore, no additional 

emissions reduction is expected from this category. The cost effectiveness 

analysis is attached as Appendix C of the Final Draft Staff Report. 

Socioeconomic Impact Analysis 

Pursuant to CH&SC Section 40728.5, the District is required to analyze the 

socioeconomic impacts of any proposed rule that significantly affects air quality or 

that strengthens an emission limitation. The socioeconomic report is attached as 

Appendix D of the Final Draft Staff Report. 

The socioeconomic analysis includes the added costs of implementing the 

watering system requirements for composting operations with less than 200,000 

tpy of organic material and costs of implementing both the watering system and 

finished compost cover requirements composting operations with 200,000 tpy or 

more and less than 750,000 tpy of organic material. The costs for facilities subject 

to the watering system requirements are equivalent to 9.8 percent of estimated net 

income for these facilities, slightly below the 10 percent threshold of significance 

for socioeconomic impacts. 

Two facilities in the District are of sufficient size to invoke both the watering system 

and finished compost cover requirements, but one already complies with the 

proposed requirements at a very similar cost of compliance. For the other facility 

(Recology), which processes large quantities of material from the San Francisco 

Bay Area, the implementation costs are more than ten percent of estimated annual 

net income. However, the proposed rule allows for an extended 5 year period prior 

to requiring the facility to implement the finished compost cover requirements. 

Although current market conditions would not permit a large price increase; the 

District believes through a 5-year period, the increase may be achievable. In 

addition, the rule allows for an alternative compliance option in lieu of implementing 

the finished compost cover, so as technology and research advances within the 

next 5 years, a less expensive option may become feasible for the facility to 

implement. 

6 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

Rule Consistency Analysis 

Pursuant to CH&SC Section 40727.2, District staff has prepared a rule consistency 

analysis that compares the elements of Proposed New Rule 4566 with the 

corresponding elements of other District rules, federal regulations and guidelines 

that apply to the same type of equipment or source category. 

Based on the analysis of local, District, state, and federal rules that apply to the sources 

that would be affected by Rule 4566 (Organic Material Composting Operations), District 

staff has concluded that no provisions of Rule 4566 conflict with requirements of local, 

District, state, or federal rules, regulations, or policies for these facilities. Please refer to 

Appendix E of the Final Draft Staff Report for the analysis. 

Environmental Impacts 

Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), staff investigated the 

possible environmental impacts of Proposed New Rule 4566, and finds that there is no 

substantial evidence that the project may have a significant effect on the environment. 

Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines §15063 (a), District staff prepared an Initial Study and 

Negative Declaration for the project. The District has issued and made available an 

initial study and draft negative declaration for public review and comment. Upon 

approval of the proposed new rule by your Board, District staff will file a Notice of 

Determination with each County Clerk within the boundaries of the District, CEQA 

Guidelines §15075(d). District staff did not receive any significant comments during the 

public commenting period. Please refer to Appendix F of the Final Draft Staff Report for 

further discussion of this analysis. 

Rule Development Process 

District staff began the rule development process with extensive research in 2007, 

which was followed by a public scoping meeting on January 10, 2008. Based on the 

research conducted and information obtained with the best available data, the District 

created a draft version of Rule 4566 that proposed to adopt a menu based approach 

and require the implementation of various management practices (such as monitoring 

carbon to nitrogen ratios, moisture content, and oxygen concentration), including 

installation of engineered control systems. To obtain comments on the draft rule, the 

District held a public workshop in April 2008 and convened several site visits and 

technical workgroup meetings during 2008 and 2009 to work with various stakeholders 

to address costs, technical feasibility, economic impacts, and other limitations or 

benefits to this regulatory approach. 

Although the meetings and visits in 2008 were intended to culminate in the Governing 

Board adoption of Rule 4566 in the first quarter of 2009, information that came to light 

during those meetings showed that more time would be needed to increase the 

7 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

scientific justification behind proposed rule requirements which would allow the District 

to develop an effective composting rule. District staff had determined that emissions 

from this source category were much lower than previously estimated in the 2007 

Ozone Plan. There was also insufficient information available, at that time, on the 

effectiveness of reducing VOCs from potential mitigation measures. For these reasons, 

District staff determined that additional time was needed to study the effectiveness of 

various emissions control methods. District staff therefore requested an extension to 

the rule development schedule in 2008 from the first quarter of 2009 to the fourth 

quarter of 2010. 

In 2009, multiple agencies contributed $200,000 for the composting field study, which 

was conducted at Tulare County Composting by the San Diego State University 

Research Foundation. The District engaged in extensive stakeholder involvement and 

numerous technical workgroup meetings to help define the parameters of the field 

study. Participants of these meetings included composting operators, ARB, California 

Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), agricultural groups, 

environmental advocates, other air districts, and city and county agencies. The results 

of this study were successfully completed in 2010 and formed the basis for the 

Proposed New Rule 4566. 

In September 2010, the District held a workshop to present and discuss the proposed 

rule concepts. Based on the results of the study, the District drafted rule requirements 

that would require facilities with annual throughputs of more than 10,000 tons year and 

less than 25,000 tons per year to implement the watering system requirements, 

whereas, composting facilities with throughputs greater than 25,000 tons per year would 

have been required to implement the finished compost cover. Based on the industry 

reaction to the proposed rule requirements, District staff worked closely with the 

affected stakeholders to refine the rule requirements, as well as address the cost 

impacts to affected facilities and feasibility concerns for the watering system and 

finished compost cover requirements. The District convened additional technical 

working group meetings to discuss potential applicability thresholds greater than the 

10,000 ton per year limit and refine other proposed rule requirements. 

Approaching the extension deadline with a number of questions still remaining 

regarding the feasibility and cost of actually implementing these various potential 

emission reduction strategies; in December 2010, District staff provided an update to 

the District's Governing Board on the status of this project with plans to bring forth a 

proposed rule for Governing Board consideration in 2011. District staff continued to 

work closely with stakeholders to address these remaining issues. District staff 

conducted weekly discussions with affected operators and composting representatives 

to obtain cost estimates and devise solutions to overcome feasibility questions. Staff 

and management have conducted additional site visits throughout the Valley to discuss 

stakeholder concerns in person and to better understand the implications of proposed 

rule requirements to the operations. Based on the collaboration with the interested 

8 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

stakeholders, the District was able to refine the rule requirements and minimize the 

overall impacts associated with the proposed rule. 

Using the costs and information received from stakeholders, District staff refined the 

draft rule concepts to include detailed information on the watering system requirements 

for composting operations with less than 200,000 tons per year of organic material and 

finished compost cover requirements for composting operations with 200,000 tons per 

year or more of organic material. To further solicit input from affected stakeholders, the 

District held a technical working group meeting in March 2010 to present the revised 

rule concepts to the workgroup. The rule concepts would allow operators the ability to 

comply with the requirements with minimal impact to the composting operations. 

District staff also addressed operators concerns with rain events and water run off 

issues with implementing the watering system. After the meeting, District staff 

continued to work with the operators to address the costs of implementing the mitigation 

measures, update the facility throughput information, and gather information on the 

feasibility of implementing the finished compost cover. 

District staff conducted a public workshop in June 2011 to present, discuss, and receive 

comments on the draft rule, staff report, and a socioeconomic analysis report. During 

the commenting period, District staff worked with the affected stakeholders to resolve 

any remaining concerns, specifically on industry's costs of implementing the watering 

system and the feasibility of implementing the finished compost cover requirement for 

one facility. District staff has incorporated the additional information received from 

stakeholders into the staff report and proposed rule, as appropriate. 

While the feasibility of implementing the selected mitigation measures was no longer a 

primary concern, the cost of implementing the finished compost cover was still a 

concern for one facility (Recology). Staff has continued to work closely with Recology 

staff to understand and refine their cost estimates to develop the best information 

possible to evaluate potential rule requirements. 

Based on discussion and information received from the Valley stakeholders, District 

staff has found that the finished compost cover application would be too costly for most 

facilities and that one large composting facility is already implementing the finished 

compost cover requirement as part of its operation. For the one facility that would be 

impacted by the finished compost cover requirements, based on its throughput capacity, 

the additional cost on a per ton basis is close to the cost of what the other facility is 

absorbing as part of its operation. 

To address the remaining operator's concern with implementing the finished compost 

cover requirements, the proposed rule would extend the schedule for the finished 

compost cover to five years. District staff recognizes the potential implications that the 

proposed requirements may have on Recology's facility and will continue to work with 

the operator to evaluate ways to comply with the proposed requirements. The operator 

9 
SJVUAPCD Governing Board 

ADOPT REVISED PROPOSED NEW RULE 4566 (ORGANIC MATERIAL COMPOSTING 

OPERATIONS) 

August 18, 2011 

would be given five years to determine and develop effective control strategies specific 

to the facility's operation. The additional time would also allow for any incremental 

absorption of costs or increase in tipping fees/sales. 

District staff has published the notice of public hearing for the Proposed New Rule 4566 

in general circulation newspapers in each of the eight San Joaquin Valley counties. The 

proposed new rule and staff report with appendices were made available for public 

review on July 19, 2011. The publication provided affected sources and interested 

parties the opportunity to review and comment on the proposal prior to the public 

hearing on August 18, 2011. A summary of the significant comments received and 

District responses are presented in Appendix A of the Final Draft Staff Report. 

FISCAL IMPACTS: 

District staff expects no fiscal impact to the District to result from this action. 

Attachments: 

Resolution for Proposed New Rule 4566 (5 pages) 

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Initial Study and Final Negative Declaration for 

Proposed New Rule 4566 (31 pages) 

Proposed New Rule 4566 (16 pages) 

Final Draft Staff Report with Appendices for Proposed New Rule 4566 (148 pages) 

10