Code Section

65850.2.  

(a) Each city and each county shall include, in its information list compiled pursuant to Section 65940 for development projects, or application form for projects that do not require a development permit other than a building permit, both of the following:

(1) The requirement that the owner or authorized agent shall indicate whether the owner or authorized agent will need to comply with the applicable requirements of Section 25505 and Article 2 (commencing with Section 25531) of Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code or the requirements for a permit for construction or modification from the air pollution control district or air quality management district exercising jurisdiction in the area governed by the city or county.

(2) The requirement that the owner or authorized agent certify whether or not the proposed project will have more than a threshold quantity of a regulated substance in a process or will contain a source or modified source of hazardous air emissions.

(b) A city or county shall not find the application complete pursuant to Section 65943 or approve a development project or a building permit for a project that does not require a development permit other than a building permit, in which a regulated substance will be present in a process in quantities greater than the applicable threshold quantity, unless the owner or authorized agent for the project first obtains, from the administering agency with jurisdiction over the facility, a notice of requirement to comply with, or determination of exemption from, the requirement to prepare and submit an RMP. Within five days of submitting the project application to the city or county, the applicant shall submit the information required pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) to the administering agency. This notice of requirement to comply with, or determination of exemption from, the requirement for an RMP shall be provided by the administering agency to the applicant, and the applicant shall provide the notice to the city or county within 25 days of the administering agency receiving adequate information from the applicant to make a determination as to the requirement for an RMP. The requirement to submit an RMP to the administering agency shall be met prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy or its substantial equivalent. The owner or authorized agent shall submit, to the city or county, certification from the air pollution control officer that the owner or authorized agent has provided the disclosures required pursuant to Section 42303 of the Health and Safety Code.

(c) A city or county shall not issue a final certificate of occupancy or its substantial equivalent unless there is verification from the administering agency, if required by law, that the owner or authorized agent has met, or is meeting, the applicable requirements of Section 25505 and Article 2 (commencing with Section 25531) of Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, and the requirements for a permit, if required by law, from the air pollution control district or air quality management district exercising jurisdiction in the area governed by the city or county or has provided proof from the appropriate district that the permit requirements do not apply to the owner or authorized agent.

(d) The city or county, after considering the recommendations of the administering agency or air pollution control district or air quality management district, shall decide whether, and under what conditions, to allow construction of the site.

(e) Nothing in this section limits any existing authority of a district to require compliance with its rules and regulations.

(f) Counties and cities may adopt a schedule of fees for applications for compliance with this section sufficient to recover their reasonable costs of carrying out this section. Those fees shall be used only for the implementation of this section.

(g) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meaning:

(1)  “Process,” “regulated substance,” “RMP,” and “threshold quantity” have the same meaning as set forth for those terms in Section 25532 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) “Hazardous air emissions” means emissions into the ambient air of air contaminants that have been identified as a toxic air contaminant by the State Air Resources Board or by the air pollution control officer for the jurisdiction in which the project is located. As determined by the air pollution control officer, “hazardous air emissions” also means emissions into the ambient air of any substance identified in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, of Section 44321 of the Health and Safety Code.

(3) “Administering agency” means a unified program agency, as defined in Section 25501 of the Health and Safety Code.

(h) Any misrepresentation of information required by this section shall be grounds for denial, suspension, or revocation of project approval or permit issuance. The owner or authorized agent required to comply with this section shall notify all future occupants of their potential duty to comply with the requirements of Section 25505 and Article 2 (commencing with Section 25531) of Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code.

(i) This section does not apply to applications solely for residential construction.