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AB-2550 State Air Resources Board: San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District: nonattainment.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 08/29/2022 09:00 PM
AB2550:v93#DOCUMENT

Enrolled  August 29, 2022
Passed  IN  Senate  August 25, 2022
Passed  IN  Assembly  August 25, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  August 16, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  June 21, 2022
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 28, 2022
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 19, 2022
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 24, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2550

Introduced by Assembly Member Arambula
(Coauthors: Senators Eggman and Stern)

February 17, 2022

An act to add Section 41501 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2550, Arambula. State Air Resources Board: San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District: nonattainment.
Existing law generally designates local air districts with primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than vehicular sources. Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to coordinate air pollution control activities throughout the state and to ensure that the entire state is, or will be, in compliance with state standards, to review a district’s attainment plan, and any revised plan, to determine whether the plan will achieve and maintain the state’s ambient air quality standards by the earliest practicable date, to review the rules, regulations, and programs submitted by an air district to determine whether they are sufficiently effective to achieve and maintain the state ambient air quality standards, and to review the enforcement practices of a district to determine whether reasonable action is being taken to enforce the district’s programs, rules, and regulations. Existing law authorizes the state board, if, after a public hearing, it finds that a program or the rules and regulations of an air district will not likely achieve and maintain the state’s ambient air quality standards, to establish a program, or portion thereof, or rules and regulations it deems necessary to enable the air district to achieve and maintain ambient air quality standards.
This bill would require the state board, if the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District does not receive a determination of attainment from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for a national ambient air quality standard established by the agency pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act by the applicable attainment date for that standard, to undertake certain activities, including coordinating with the district and community-based organizations in the district and conducting outreach to under-resourced communities in the district to identify gaps in the state implementation plan and the district’s attainment plan, rules, regulations, programs, and enforcement practices that impact the district’s ability to attain and maintain that ambient air quality standard.
This bill would require the state board to conduct at least one public hearing in the district regarding the district’s attainment plan, and would require the state board to solicit public comment on specified topics, including the state board’s review of the district’s attainment plan, rules, regulations, programs, and enforcement practices, data regarding stationary sources in the district, including monitoring and enforcement of those sources, and the state board’s plan to coordinate with the district to provide additional monitoring and enforcement capacity for stationary sources in the district. The bill would require the state board, after the final public hearing, to draft, and post on its internet website, a report that includes an outline of the program, or portion thereof, or rules or regulations that the state board deems necessary for the district to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard and a summary of, and response to, all public comments received by the state board. The bill would require the state board, after finalizing the report and based on the findings in the report, to develop the program, or portion thereof, or rules or regulations that the state board deems necessary for the district to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The United States Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for establishing national ambient air quality standards for a number of pollutants, including ozone and particulate matter below 10 microns (PM10) and below 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in size.
(b) Poor air quality is intimately linked with negative health impacts, including respiratory illness and premature deaths, with recent studies estimating air pollution as the cause of over 100,000 premature deaths in the United States in 2011.
(c) The distribution of premature deaths is not equal. Low-socioeconomic status communities are at higher risk than higher-income communities. Additionally, Hispanic, Asian, and Black individuals experience higher risk of premature death than White individuals.
(d) Specific to PM2.5, research has found that for elders enrolled in Medicare, it is estimated that reaching the World Health Organization’s standards, which are only slightly more stringent than the most recent national standards, would prevent nearly 140,000 early deaths of elderly individuals over the next decade. For the San Joaquin Valley, data suggests that PM2.5 exposure is responsible for 1,200 cases of premature death in the valley each year.
(e) However, the eight counties forming the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District continue to be in nonattainment of annual national PM2.5 air standards set in 1997, let alone more stringent national standards passed in 2006 and 2012.
(f) The United States Environmental Protection Agency also establishes timelines for attainment of national ambient air quality standards, and the San Joaquin Valley has consistently exceeded deadlines since the initial deadline for 1997 standards.
(g) In November 2021, a lawsuit was filed against the United States Environmental Protection Agency claiming prolonged inaction by the agency to address continued nonattainment of national ambient air quality standards in the San Joaquin Valley.
(h) If the United States Environmental Protection Agency imposes sanctions on the state as a result of litigation regarding nonattainment areas in the state, the agency may prohibit approval of state highway construction projects not directly linked to improving public safety or emissions reductions.
(i) Beyond the clear negative impacts to public health, continued nonattainment poses a risk to construction and economic growth in the San Joaquin Valley. To reduce the risk of premature deaths for hundreds of thousands of state residents and to remove the risk of federal sanctions, the state needs to enact legislation to ensure consistent progress and rapid attainment of national ambient air quality standards in the state.

SEC. 2.

 Section 41501 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

41501.
 (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Agency” means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) “District” means the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
(b) If the district does not receive a determination of attainment from the agency for a national ambient air quality standard established by the agency pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401 et seq.) by the applicable attainment date for that standard, the state board shall do all of the following:
(1) Coordinate with the district and community-based organizations in the district, and conduct outreach to under-resourced communities, as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 71130 of the Public Resources Code, in the district to identify gaps in the state implementation plan and the district’s attainment plan, rules, regulations, programs, and enforcement practices that impact the district’s ability to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard.
(2) Coordinate with the district to provide additional monitoring and enforcement capacity for stationary sources in the district, including, but not limited to, independently inspecting, or accompanying the district on inspections of, the largest stationary sources in the district.
(3) Conduct at least one public hearing in the district regarding the district’s attainment plan submitted pursuant to Section 40911, and solicit public comment on all of the following:
(A) The state board’s review of the district’s attainment plan, rules, regulations, programs, and enforcement practices.
(B) Gaps in the state implementation plan and the district’s attainment plan, rules, regulations, programs, and enforcement practices, either independently identified by the state board or identified pursuant to paragraph (1) that impact the district’s ability to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard.
(C) Data regarding stationary sources in the district, including monitoring and enforcement of those sources, and the state board’s plan to coordinate with the district to provide additional monitoring and enforcement capacity pursuant to paragraph (2).
(D) Any other data, analysis, evaluation, or information relevant to the district’s ability to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard, including, but not limited to, the impact of nonattainment on public health in the district and in the state.
(4) (A) After the final public hearing conducted pursuant to paragraph (3), draft, and post on its internet website, a report that includes both of the following:
(i) An outline of the program, or portion thereof, or rules or regulations that the state board deems necessary for the district to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard.
(ii) A summary of, and the state board’s response to, all public comments received pursuant to paragraph (3).
(B) The state board shall provide a copy of the final report to the district and to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature.
(C) After finalizing the report and based on the findings in the report, the state board shall develop the program, or portion thereof, or rules or regulations that the state board deems necessary for the district to attain and maintain that national ambient air quality standard.

SEC. 3.

 The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the need to protect public health in the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, including reducing the risk of premature deaths, due to air pollution in the district and the risk of federal sanctions from the United States Environmental Protection Agency regarding the district’s failure to consistently meet established timelines for attainment of national ambient air quality standards.