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AB-2546 Air Toxics “Hot Spots” Information and Assessment Act of 1987.(2007-2008)

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Amended  IN  Assembly  May 23, 2008
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 09, 2008

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2546

Introduced  by  Assembly Member De La Torre

February 22, 2008

An act to amend Sections 44303, 44322, 44390, and 44391 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2546, as amended, De La Torre. Air Toxics “Hot Spots” Information and Assessment Act. Act of 1987.
Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and nonvehicular sources. Existing law generally designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility for the control of vehicular air pollution, and air pollution control districts and air quality management districts with the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources, including stationary sources. The Air Toxics “Hot Spots” Information and Assessment Act of 1987 requires the state board to compile a list of substances that present a chronic or acute threat to public health when present in the ambient air, subjects certain facilities to the act, according to a schedule, and requires the operator of a subject facility to prepare and submit to an air district a proposed comprehensive emissions inventory plan, for approval by the district. The act defines “facility” to mean every structure, appurtenance, installation, and improvement on land which is associated with a source of air releases or potential air releases of a hazardous material. The act defines “air release” or “release” to mean any activity that may cause the issuance of air contaminants, including the actual or potential spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing of a substance into the ambient air and that results from the routine operation of a facility or that is predictable, including, but not limited to, continuous and intermittent releases and predictable process upsets or leaks.
This bill would revise the definition of “air release” or “release” to include mobile source emissions at a facility railyard. The bill would make other conforming and clarifying changes to the act.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 44303 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

44303.
 “Air release” or “release” means any activity that may cause the issuance of air contaminants, including the actual or potential spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing of a substance into the ambient air and that results from the routine operation of a facility or that is predictable, including, but not limited to, continuous and intermittent releases, predictable process upsets or leaks, and emissions at a facility railyard from mobile sources that visit, or are used at, a facility railyard.

SEC. 2.

 Section 44322 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

44322.
 This part applies to facilities specified in subdivision (a) of Section 44320 in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) For those facilities that release, or have the potential to release, 25 tons per year or greater of total organic gases, particulates, or oxides of nitrogen or sulfur, this part becomes effective on July 1, 1988.
(b) For those facilities that release, or have the potential to release, more than 10 but less than 25 tons per year of total organic gases, particulates, or oxides of nitrogen or sulfur, this part becomes effective July 1, 1989.
(c) For those facilities that release, or have the potential to release, less than 10 tons per year of total organic gases, particulates, or oxides of nitrogen or sulfur, the state board shall, on or before July 1, 1990, prepare and submit a report to the Legislature identifying the classes of those facilities to be included in this part and specifying a timetable for their inclusion.
(d) For those facilities that become subject to this part as a result of the amendments made to this part by the statutes of 2007, this part becomes effective January 1, 2009.

SEC. 3.

 Section 44390 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

44390.
 For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a)  “Airborne toxic risk reduction measure” or “ATRRM” means any measure to reduce emissions or risk, including those in-plant changes in production processes or feedstocks that reduce or eliminate toxic air emissions subject to this part. ATRRM’s may include any of the following:
(1) Feedstock modification.
(2) Product reformulations.
(3) Production system modifications.
(4) System enclosure, emissions control, capture, or conversion.
(5) Operational standards and practices modification.
(b) Airborne toxic risk reduction measures do not include measures that will increase risk from exposure to the chemical in another media or that increase the risk to workers or consumers.
(c) “Airborne toxic risk reduction audit and plan” or “audit and plan” means the audit and plan specified in Section 44392.

SEC. 4.

 Section 44391 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

44391.
 (a) If a health risk assessment approved pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 44360) indicates, in the judgment of the district, that there is a significant risk associated with the emissions from a facility, the facility operator shall conduct an airborne toxic risk reduction audit and develop a plan to implement airborne toxic risk reduction measures that will result in the reduction of emissions from the facility to a level below the significant risk level within five years of the date the plan is submitted to the district. The facility operator shall implement measures set forth in the plan in accordance with this chapter.
(b) The period to implement the plan required by subdivision (a) may be shortened by the district if it finds that it is technically feasible and economically practicable to implement the plan to reduce emissions below the significant risk level more quickly or if it finds that the emissions from the facility pose an unreasonable health risk.
(c) A district may lengthen the period to implement the plan required by subdivision (a) by up to an additional five years if it finds that a period longer than five years will not result in an unreasonable risk to public health and that requiring implementation of the plan within five years places an unreasonable economic burden on the facility operator or is not technically feasible.
(d) (1)  The state board and districts shall provide assistance to smaller businesses that have inadequate technical and financial resources for obtaining information, assessing risk reduction methods, and developing and applying risk reduction techniques.
(2) Risk reduction audits and plans for any industry subject to this chapter which is comprised mainly of small businesses using substantially similar technology may be completed by a self-conducted audit and checklist developed by the state board. The state board, in coordination with the districts, shall provide a copy of the audit and checklist to small businesses within those industries to assist them to meet the requirements of this chapter.
(e) The audit and plan shall contain all the information required by Section 44392.
(f) The plan shall be submitted to the district, within six months of a district’s determination of significant risk, for review of completeness. The district’s review of completeness shall include a substantive analysis of the emission reduction measures included in the plan, and the ability of those measures to achieve emission reduction goals as quickly as feasible as provided in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(g) The district shall find the audit and plan to be satisfactory within three months if it meets the requirements of this chapter, including, but not limited to, subdivision (f). If the district determines that the audit and plan does not meet those requirements, the district shall remand the audit and plan to the facility specifying the deficiencies identified by the district. A facility operator shall submit a revised audit and plan addressing the deficiencies identified by the district within 90 days of receipt of a deficiency notice.
(h) Progress on the emission reductions achieved by the plan shall be reported to the district in emissions inventory updates. Emissions inventory updates shall be prepared as required by the audit and plan found to be satisfactory by the district pursuant to subdivision (g).
(i) If new information becomes available after the initial risk reduction audit and plan, on air toxics risks posed by a facility, or emission reduction technologies that may be used by a facility that would significantly impact risks to exposed persons, the district may require the plan to be updated and resubmitted to the district.
(j) This section does not authorize the emission of a toxic air contaminant in violation of an airborne toxic control measure adopted pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 39650) or in violation of Section 41700.
(k) This section does not require the implementation of measures which the district and the state determine state board determines would be preempted by federal law from requiring, but the operator may voluntarily choose to implement these measures. If preempted measures are necessary to timely attain the applicable significance level, they shall nevertheless be described in the plan.