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CEQA and Land Use Mitigation
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Sacramento is classified as a serious ozone non-attainment area for the federal 8-hour ozone standard and is also nonattainment for the State's particulate matter standards (PM10 and PM2.5). See the attainment status page for additional information. Reactive organic gases (ROG) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are ozone precursors and are emitted from motor vehicles, including off-road equipment. Mitigation efforts to reduce emissions from construction projects and the build-out of land development projects are essential in order for the Sacramento region to attain the ozone and particulate matter standards. Visit www.sparetheair.com for more detailed information on health effects and general air quality information.
Determine if a project will have significant air quality impacts by consulting the CEQA Guide to Air Quality Assessment (July 2004) (PDF 1.1 Mb). The CEQA guide provides the following tools:
Early identification of air quality impacts and mitigation measures will allow design changes that benefit air quality at the lowest possible cost.
The CEQA FAQ v2 rev. Feb 2008 (PDF) provides answers to frequently asked questions about CEQA and air quality analysis. Questions regarding specific projects can be directed to the following staff.
Staff contact information can be found on the AQMD’s staff directory.
Mass Emission Threshold
Emission Concentration Threshold In addition to the Mass Emission Threshold, the California Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) are applied as significance criteria to all phases of a project. Substantial Contribution Threshold If a project emits pollutants at a level equal to or greater than 5% of the CAAQS, it is considered to contribute substantially to an existing or projected CAAQS violation.
Projects that exceed the short-term construction threshold of 85 pounds per day of NOx must mitigate the air quality impact. Standard Construction Mitigation Language (Dec. 2005) is recommended for these projects. When the standard mitigation does not reduce the impact to below the threshold a mitigation fee is recommended. In addition to the URBEMIS model, the newly revised Roadway Construction Emissions Model (version 6.2, May 2008, in Excel - 3 Mb) is available to assess the emissions of linear construction projects. Questions should be addressed to Peter Christensen (pchristensen@airquality.org or (916) 874-4886). The following tools and procedure assist in determining if the heavy-duty off-road mobile equipment fleet meets the standard mitigation:
Jurisdictions may consult the construction mitigation protocol fact sheet (April 2007) (PDF) and contractors and developers may consult the tips fact sheet (Aug. 2006) (PDF) on the construction mitigation requirements and process.
Projects that exceed the long-term operation threshold of 65 pounds per day of NOx or ROG must mitigate the air quality impact using all feasible mitigation. The AQMD recommends the project proponent develop an Air Quality Mitigation Plan describing how the project will reduce emissions by 15% (standard goal). The AQMD’s Guidance for Land Use Emission Reductions v 2.4 (Aug. 2007) (PDF) provides a description of the most current feasible mitigation measures. Air Quality Mitigation Plans must be endorsed by AQMD staff. Questions about the Guidance should be directed to J.J. Hurley (jhurley@airquality.org or (916) 874-2694). Jurisdictions may consult the operational mitigation protocol fact sheet v 3.1 (June 2006) (PDF) and developers may consult the tips fact sheet (Aug. 2006) (PDF) on the air quality mitigation plan requirements and process.
The current mitigation fee rate is $14,300 per ton of emissions. The mitigation fee calculator (Feb. 2007) (XLS) should be used to determine the fee for construction projects when off-site mitigation is needed. The calculator includes an administrative fee. Note: If you are using URBEMIS 2007 for your analysis, the revised mitigation fee calculator (Mar. 2008) (XLS) should be used to determine the fee. Emission reduction projects funded with mitigation fees are described in these fact sheets (Oct. 2006) (PDF).
The Recommended Protocol For Evaluating The Location Of Sensitive Land Uses Adjacent To Major Roadways provides guidance to local land use planners on how to assess potential cancer risk of sensitive receptors exposed to diesel particulate matter from major roadways. The Protocol was endorsed by the AQMD Board of Directors on January 25, 2007 with a minor amendment to the first paragraph on page 15. Downloadable documents:
To receive hard copies of these documents call (916) 874-4876. Contact Rachel DuBose with any questions about the Protocol at (916) 874-4876 or rdubose@airquality.org.
URBEMIS is the most common model used to calculate project emissions. Visit www.URBEMIS.com for more information or to download the model. The AQMD held an URBEMIS 2007 v.9.2.4 workshop on March 26, 2008. The following materials are available for download:
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© Copyright 2003 - 2008 SMAQMD, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Monday, 12-May-2008 11:53:19 EDT
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