3.12 Air Quality
APCD regulations require persons building, altering or replacing equipment which may emit air pollutants
to obtain a permit called an Authority to Construct. Further, APCD regulations require persons operating
equipment which may emit air pollutants to obtain a Permit to Operate. The APCD is responsible for the
review of applications, approval and issuance of these permits.
3.12.3 Clean Air Act Conformity
The 1990 amendments to Federal Clean Air Act Section 176 required the USEPA to promulgate rules to
ensure that federal actions conform to the appropriate SIP. These rules, known together as the General
Conformity Rule (40 C.F.R. 51.850-.860 and 40 C.F.R. 93.150-160), require any federal agency
responsible for an action in a nonattainment area to determine that the action is either exempt from the
General Conformity Rule's requirements or positively determine that the action conforms to the applicable
SIP. In addition to the roughly thirty presumptive exemptions established and available in the General
Conformity Rule, an agency may establish that emission rates would be less than specified emission rate
thresholds, known as de minimis limits. An action is exempt from a conformity determination if an
applicability analysis shows that the total direct and indirect emissions from the project will be below the
applicable de minimis thresholds (Table 3.12-2) and will not be regionally significant, which is defined as
R
representing ten percent or more of an area's emissions inventory or budget.
Table 3.12-2
R
De Minimis Emission Thresholds for General Conformity Applicability
R
Pollutant
ROC1
NOX1
San Diego Air Basin
CO
S OX
PM10
Federal Attainment status
Attainment
Nonattainment
Nonattainment
Attainment
Attainment
Serious
Serious
NA2
NA2
NA2
De minimis emissions (tons/year)
50
50
1
Attainment status is for ozone; de minimis limits apply to precursor pollutants Reactive Organic Compounds (ROC) and
2
De minimis thresholds do not apply to attainment pollutants.
Page 3.12-4
Regional Beach Sand Project EIR/EA
99-69\SANDAG EIREA 3.5 to 3.12.wpd 7/17/00
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