California Air Resources Board Approves San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s 2012 PM2.5 Plan

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The California Air Resources Board (ARB) approved the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s 2012 PM2.5 Plan at a public hearing on January 24, 2013. The plan, approved by the District Governing Board on December 20, 2012, is projected to bring the Valley into attainment of EPA’s 2006 PM2.5 standard by the 2019 deadline.

The plan and supporting documents are available here.

In adopting the attainment strategy, the Valley will attempt to meet the federal attainment goal of reducing NOx emissions, the predominant pollutant leading to the formation of PM2.5, by 55 percent over this period. In addition to reducing NOx, the District expects this strategy to also help reduce direct PM2.5 emissions. At this point, the District hopes to not only assist the Valley in attaining the standard as fast as possible, but also reduce the PM2.5 emissions that pose the greatest health impacts to Valley residents.

The plan approved by the ARB retains wide-ranging regulations that reduce emissions from various Valley industries including stationary source emissions from boilers and steam generators, as well as internal combustion engines, glass melting furnaces, turbines, and other sources. Additionally, the plan includes some new measures to further reduce emissions from residential and small business sources that focus on residential wood burning, employer commuting, commercial cooking, and other sources.

Article contributed by John Larrea, Government Affairs Director

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