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2003 AIR QUALITY ATTAINMENT PLAN
CHAPTER I – PLAN OVERVIEW

I.1        INTRODUCTION

The Air Districts in the Northern Sacramento Valley Air Basin (NSVAB), depicted on the cover page, have committed to jointly prepare and adopt a uniform air quality attainment plan for the purpose of achieving and maintaining healthful air quality throughout the air basin.  This triennial update of the NSVAB Air Quality Attainment Plan will address the progress made in implementing the 2000 plan and propose modifications to the strategies necessary to attain the California ambient air quality standard for the 1-hour ozone standard at the earliest practicable date.  The 2003 Plan will identify those portions of the NSVAB designated as “nonattainment” for the State ambient air quality standards and will discuss the health effects related to the various air pollutants.  The plan will also identify the air pollution problems to be cooperatively addressed on as many fronts as possible in order to make the region a healthier place to live now and in the future.  Like the 1994, 1997 and 2000 Plans, the 2003 Plan will focus on the adoption and implementation of control measures for stationary sources, area wide sources, indirect sources, and address public education and information programs.  The 2003 Plan will also address the effect that pollutant transport has on the NSVAB’s ability to meet and attain the State standards. 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has outlined, in the approved 1994 State Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone, new control strategies that will be developed and implemented over the next decade in California.  This 2003 Plan contains the suggested control measures included in the 2000 Plan along with the Tier 1 Control Measures (Identification of Achievable Performance Standards and Emerging Technologies for Stationary Sources – March 1998; Identification of Performance Standards for Existing Stationary Sources – Updated May 16, 2002).  These control measures will reduce air pollution throughout California and ensure continued progress towards meeting or maintaining federal standards, as well as progress towards California’s more stringent health protective State standards.

With the SIP as the State’s established control strategy for the future, the ARB found that the NSVAB Districts would not be required to prepare a comprehensive Plan update for 2003.  Instead, districts were directed to focus on implementing their existing control strategies and SIP commitments.  The 2003 Plan update will incorporate three general principles that will guide air districts in their planning process:

(1)     Air quality modeling to identify the reductions needed and to design effective emission reduction strategies;

(2)     Comprehensive emission reduction programs that take advantage of current emission control technologies; and

(3)   Address the impacts of pollutant transport in the attainment demonstration

I.2        LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS

As specified in the California Clean Air Act of 1988 (CCAA), Chapters 1568-1588 it is the responsibility of each air pollution control district and air quality management district within the State to attain and maintain California’s ambient air quality standards.  The CCAA requires that an Attainment Plan be developed by all nonattainment districts for ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SOx), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) that are either receptors or contributors of transported air pollutants.  The purpose of this Plan is to comply with the requirements of the CCAA as implemented through the California Health and Safety Code (H&S Code).  Districts in the NSVAB are required to update the Plan every three years.  This revision of the Plan satisfies the requirement for the December 31, 2003 update.  The Plan is formatted to reflect the 1990 baseline emissions year with a planning horizon of 2010.  The H&S Code, Sections 40910 and 40913, require the districts to achieve State standards by the earliest practicable date to protect the public health, particularly that of children, the elderly, and people with respiratory illness.

The H&S Code, Section 41503(b), requires that control measures for the same emission sources be uniform throughout the air basin to the extent feasible.  To meet this requirement the NSVAB has coordinated the development of this Attainment Plan and has set up a specific rule adoption protocol.  The protocol was established by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Sacramento Basinwide Council and the Sacramento Valley Air Quality Engineering and Enforcement Professionals, which allow the districts in the basin to act and work as a united group with the CARB as well as industry in the rule adoption process.

Section 40912 of the H&S Code states that each district responsible for, or affected by, air pollutant transport shall provide for attainment and maintenance of the State and federal standards in both upwind and downwind districts.  This section also states that each downwind district’s plan shall contain sufficient measures to reduce emissions originating in the district to below the levels at which violations of state ambient air quality standards would occur in the absence of the transport contribution.

I.3        AREA DESCRIPTION

The area that this Plan specifically addresses is referred to as the Northern Sacramento Valley Air Basin (NSVAB), and includes the following counties located in the northern portion of the Sacramento Valley: Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Shasta, Sutter, Tehama, and Yuba (see cover page).  The NSVAB is bounded on the north and west by the Coastal Mountain Range and on the east by the southern portion of the Cascade Mountain Range and the northern portion of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  These mountain ranges reach heights in excess of 6000 feet with peaks rising much higher.  This provides a substantial physical barrier to locally created pollution as well as that transported northward on prevailing winds from the Sacramento Metropolitan area.

Although a significant area of the NSVAB is above 1000 feet sea level, the vast majority of its populace lives and works below that elevation.  The valley is often subjected to inversion layers that, coupled with geographic barriers and high summer temperatures, create a high potential for air pollution problems.

I.4        AREA DESIGNATIONS

Figure 1 shows the Northern Sacramento Valley Air Basin.  All Northern Sacramento Valley Air Districts have been designated as nonattainment areas for the state standards for PM10 (respirable particulate matter).  Moreover, all of Northern Sacramento Valley Air Districts, with the exception of Colusa and Glenn counties, have been designated as nonattainment areas for the state standard for ozone.  Colusa and Glenn counties have been designated as nonattainment transitional areas for ozone (California Air Resources Board - Area Designations and Maps - March 31, 2001).  In 1997 Butte and Glenn counties were designated as nonattainment transitional for the state ozone standard of 0.09 parts per million with one hour averaging time.  This classification has since been amended, with Butte county reverting back to nonattainment for ozone. The nonattainment transitional designation is made by operation of law if, during a single calendar year, the state standard is not exceeded more than three times at any monitoring location within the district.

Ozone violations are caused in part, within the NSVAB, by combustion sources and have occasionally been influenced by smoke impacts due to nearby wildfires.  The primary emission source is the internal combustion engine.  The ozone problem is further aggravated by transport from the Broader Sacramento Area (BSA), which is comprised of Sacramento County, and portions of El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, and Yolo Counties.  Ozone is formed by a photochemical reaction of nitrogen oxides and reactive organic gases.  These ozone precursors are emitted as part of the exhaust of internal combustion engines in the NSVAB and BSA and transported northward via prevailing winds.  Due to the regional nature of the ozone problem and the fact that the NSVAB counties share the same air basin with BSA, the Attainment Plan is prepared in conjunction with the Sacramento Valley Air Basin Control Council’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

I.5        OVERVIEW OF AIR POLLUTANT HEALTH EFFECTS

Air pollution affects the health of everyone to some degree.

Ozone

In the NSVAB, ozone is a seasonal problem, typically occurring during the months of May through October.  Sources for the pollutants, which react to form ozone, include motor vehicles, power plants, factories, chemical solvents, combustion products from various fuels, and consumer products.

Ozone acts as a strong irritant that attacks the body’s respiratory system.  Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing and coughing.  When ozone levels are high, people with lung disease (e.g., chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma) are particularly susceptible to adverse health impacts.

Nitrogen Oxides

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic reddish-brown gas, and nitric oxide (NO), a colorless gas, comprise NOx (oxides of nitrogen).  Because NOx is an ingredient in the formation of ozone, it is referred to as an ozone precursor.  NO2 is associated with adverse health effects, and is formed in the atmosphere when NO is oxidized to NO2.  Both NO2 and NO are produced by fuel combustion.

PM10

Particulate matter is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air.  Particulate matter may be produced by natural causes (e.g., pollen, ocean salt spray, and soil erosion) and by human activity (e.g., rock crushing, cement production, agricultural operations, fuel combustion products, wood burning, and motor vehicles).  California EPA and Federal EPA regulate “respirable” particulate at the 10-micron level (PM10) and “fine” particles at the 2.5-micron level (PM2.5).  Both coarse and fine particles are of health concern because they can penetrate into the sensitive regions of the respiratory tract.  Fine particles are linked to the most serious effects; they can cause persistent coughs, phlegm, wheezing, and other physical discomfort.

Exposure to particle pollution is linked to increased frequency and severity of asthma attacks and bronchitis, and even premature death in people with existing cardiac or respiratory disease.  When particle levels in the air increase, so do reports of adverse health outcomes.  Those most sensitive to particle pollution include people with existing respiratory and cardiac problems, children, and the elderly.  Prolonged and repeated exposure can also have adverse impacts.  Life expectancy is somewhat lower in areas with high particle levels.  All inhalable particles are harmful – both “coarse” particles in the 2.5 to 10 micron diameter size and “fine” particles, those smaller than 2.5 microns.

The NSVAB staffs have developed this Plan using data from each district’s stationary source emission inventory and the State’s ambient air quality monitoring database.  The data collected and compiled is deemed as best available, and is intended to meet the minimum requirements of Health and Safety Codes Section 90924(b).  NSVAB staff believes a more comprehensive network of ambient air quality monitors is needed in the air basin to more accurately reflect air quality and to assess the impact of pollutant transport on the NSVAB.

Figure 1