Proposed Amendments to the Area Designations Public Consultation Meeting August 13, 2002 Steve Gouze (916)

2 Outline n Designation Criteria and Terminology n Proposed Area Redesignations n Questions & Answers

3 Designation Criteria n Affected Pollutants n Data to Use n Data Availability n Size of Designated Areas n Review of Designations n Highly Irregular or Infrequent Events n Designation Categories

4 Affected Pollutants n Nine Pollutants*: OzoneParticulate Matter OzoneParticulate Matter Carbon MonoxideSulfates Carbon MonoxideSulfates Nitrogen DioxideLead Nitrogen DioxideLead Sulfur DioxideHydrogen Sulfide Sulfur DioxideHydrogen Sulfide Visibility Reducing Particles Visibility Reducing Particles * CCR, Title 17, Section 70200

5 Data to Use n “Data for Record” – Meet siting & QA procedures – Monitoring by ARB, Districts, and Others n Use most recent 3-year period: Provides stability

6 Data Appropriateness n At Least 75% of the data are available for the high concentration period – For each pollutant – High concentration period varies from site to site

7 Size of Designated Areas n Air Basin: Ozone, NO 2, PM 10, Sulfates, & Visibility Reducing Particles n County: CO, SO 2, Lead, & H 2 S n Smaller areas if justified

8 Review of Designations n Area designations: Annually, based on 3 recent years of data Annually, based on 3 recent years of data n Designation criteria: Periodic reviews Periodic reviews

9 Exceedance vs. Violation n Exceedance: Concentration higher than the level of State standard n Violation: An exceedance Not excluded as affected by a “Highly Irregular or Infrequent Event” n NOT all exceedances are violations

10 Highly Irregular or Infrequent Events n Beyond reasonable regulatory control n Exceedances get excluded n All exceedances remain in data base n 3 Types of events

11 Highly Irregular or Infrequent Events : n Extreme Concentration Event n Exceptional Event n Unusual Concentration Event

12 Extreme Concentration Event n May or may not have an identifiable cause n Based on a statistical calculation n Expected Peak Day Conc. (EPDC): Concentration expected to recur less frequently than once per year

13 Exceptional Event n Must have identifiable cause n Based on U.S. EPA Guidelines n Examples: – forest fires – unusually high winds

14 Unusual Concentration Event n Anomalous exceedance n Attainment or Unclassified areas only n Requires specific findings

15 Designation Categories n Nonattainment n Nonattainment-Transitional –Ozone –Other Pollutants n Attainment n Unclassified

16 Nonattainment – 1 or more Violations at any site in the last 3 years

17 Nonattainment-Transitional n Ozone: – 3 or fewer Exceedances at each site during the last year – By “Operation of Law” – Designated Area = District – Data Representative & Complete for high site(s)

18 Nonattainment-Transitional n For Pollutants Other Than Ozone: – 2 or fewer Violations at each site during the last year

19 Attainment n Attainment: –No Violations in the last 3 years – High Site(s) Data Complete & Representative

20 Unclassified n Insufficient data

Proposed 2002 Area Designations See Separate Handout

Questions --- General Discussion