Page Contents Other Links
	Why is Mitigation Required?		AQMD Land Use Project Comment Letters
	CEQA Guide to Air Quality Assessment		Addressing Climate Change in CEQA (1 Mb PDF)
	CEQA Thresholds of Significance		CAPCOA: CEQA and Climate Change (1.8 Mb PDF)
	Construction Emissions Mitigation
	Operational Emissions Mitigation
	Mitigation Fees
	Sensitive Land Uses Adjacent To Major Roadways
	URBEMIS and Training
	Frequently Asked Questions

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:

• Methodologies for the review of air quality impacts from development projects
• Screening approaches and methods for calculating emissions
• Mitigation measures
• Local meteorological data files (ASC) for the BEEST/ISCT3 model referenced

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.

The AQMD Board adopted the following three types of significance thresholds on March 28, 2002. Public Notice regarding the effective date of revised significance threshold. (PDF)

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:

• Use the Model Equipment List (Jan. 2006) (XLS) to gather fleet information.
• Use the Construction Mitigation Calculator (March 2007) (XLS 3.7 Mb) to determine if the fleet meets the emission reductions. Note: Due to the size of the construction calculator there is a macro button on the input screen that creates a results file that should be saved and forwarded to the AQMD staff. The calculator run itself should not be e-mailed to the AQMD staff.
• Submit the equipment list and calculator results file to Karen Huss (khuss@airquality.org or (916) 874-4881) or Charlene McGhee (cmcghee@airquality.org or (916) 874-4883).
• Obtain an endorsement letter from AQMD staff prior to starting construction.

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:

• Recommended Protocol v 1 (Jan. 2007) (PDF)
• Protocol Appendix updated September 2007 (PDF )
• Highways with 100,000 AADT in Sacramento County (Oct. 2005) (PDF). ( Please note that there are two roadways with ADT greater than 100,000 today that are not shown on the map: Watt between US50 and Fair Oaks, and Sunrise between Folsom and Fair Oaks.
• Diagonal Roadway Receptor Tool (Sept. 2007) (XLS) (This tool utilizes roadway coordinates, which can be found using a mapping program, to produce SMAQMD’s recommended receptor x-y coordinates for input into the CAL3QHCR dispersion model.)

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:

• Powerpoint Presentation (PDF)
• Step by Step Project Scenario – Morning Session (PDF)
• Updated FAQ (not yet available, check back soon)