Land Use and Environmental Review
Frequently Asked Questions
This page answers some common questions asked by planners and consultants on assessment of air quality impacts of land use projects. If you have additional questions you would like to see posted here, please e-mail
Vijaya Jammalamadaka.
What land uses require APCD permits?
Any stationary sources (e.g., businesses, utilities, government agencies, and
universities) need an APCD permit before constructing, changing, replacing, or
operating any equipment or process that may cause air pollution. This includes
equipment designed to reduce air pollution. Permits are also required if an
existing business that causes air pollution transfers ownership, relocates, or
otherwise changes their operations. In these cases the APCD is a responsible
agency under CEQA and the APCD permit cannot be issued until the lead agency
(usually a City or the County) has approved the project.
Examples of land uses that need APCD permits are oil and gas facilities, gas
stations, dry cleaners, auto body shops, refinishing operations, printing
facilities, large wineries and operators of certain gas engines or
diesel-powered engines over 50 bhp. A more detailed list is provided in the
Engineering Division's description of The APCD Permit Process.
What standards are in non-attainment currently?
Santa Barbara County is in non-attainment for the state eight-hour ozone
standard, and also for the state standards for particulate matter less than 10
microns in diameter, or PM10. Not enough data is available yet to determine our
attainment status for the state and federal standards for particulate matter
less than 2.5 microns in diameter, or PM 2.5, although we will likely be in
attainment for the federal 2.5 standard. For more information, see
this page.
What are the APCD's thresholds of significance
for environmental review?
Thresholds of significance are intended to supplement provisions in the State
CEQA Guidelines for determining significant effects. Thresholds of significance
provide general guidance for determining significant impacts, but are not
ironclad definitions of significant impacts. Each project must be judged
individually for its potential for significant impacts based on specific
circumstances and evidence. When the APCD is lead agency under CEQA, the air
quality thresholds of significance are described in the
APCD Environmental Review Guidelines
adopted by the APCD Board of Directors in October 1995. Lead agencies may use
these or more stringent thresholds to determine the significance of air quality
impacts in their jurisdictions. The following are the APCD's thresholds of
significance:
A proposed project will not have a significant air quality effect on the
environment, if the project will:
- emit (from all project sources, both stationary and mobile) less than
the daily trigger for offsets or Air Quality Impact Analysis set in the APCD
New Source Review Rule, for any pollutant ( i.e., 240 pounds/day for
ROC or NOx; and 80 lbs/day for PM10. There is no daily operational threshold
for CO ; it is an attainment pollutant) ; and
- emit less than 25 pounds per day of NOx or ROC from motor vehicle trips
only; and
- not cause or contribute to a violation of any California or National
Ambient Air Quality Standard (except ozone); and
- not exceed the APCD health risk public notification thresholds adopted
by the APCD Board (10 excess cancer cases in a million for cancer risk and a
Hazard Index of more than one, or 1.0, for non-cancer risk ; and
- be consistent with the latest adopted federal and state air quality
plans for Santa Barbara County.
Cumulative impacts and consistency with the policies and measures in the Air
Quality Supplement of the County’s Comprehensive Plan (for projects located in
the unincorporated areas of the County), general plans, and the current air
quality plans, should be discussed for all projects (i.e., whether the project
exceeds the growth assumptions in the air quality plan). Quantitative thresholds
of significance are not currently in place for short-term (construction)
emissions.
What analysis/thresholds are appropriate for
short-term construction emissions for large-scale grading operations?
The APCD has no adopted short-term thresholds in place. For fugitive dust
associated with construction, the APCD's standard dust control measures must be
applied to all projects. The County's adopted thresholds state that all
construction equipment exhaust emissions of NOx and ROG are insignificant.
However, if the grading and construction emissions are associated with a
stationary source for which an APCD permit is required, then APCD Rules and
Regulations will apply.
The APCD uses 25 tons per year of ROC or NOx as a general rule of thumb for
determining significance of construction exhaust emissions. Also, because diesel
particulate matter is the number one airborne carcinogen in the State, if the
activity involves the use of diesel powered equipment within a quarter-mile of a
sensitive receptor such as a school, residence, daycare or eldercare facility,
the APCD may consider the impact significant.
How do the APCD's quantitative emission thresholds of
significance differ from other agencies' thresholds?
The APCD does not regulate land use projects. Air quality impacts for land
use projects should be evaluated using the thresholds of significance adopted or
used by the jurisdiction in which the project is located. Santa Barbara County’s
interim thresholds of significance, which were amended recently, may be found on
this website: (www.sbcountyplanning.org/PDF/ManualsReports/Manuals/Environmental_Thrshlds.pdf
).
Both the APCD and the County use the same thresholds for motor
vehicle-related, long-term emissions (25 pounds per day of ROC or NOx ). The
difference lies in the significance threshold for total project emissions
because the types of projects considered by the APCD as the lead agency differ
from the land use projects. The County Board of Supervisors also considers
construction equipment emissions to be insignificant (as adopted in the County
Environmental Thresholds and Guidelines Manual in April 1994) while the APCD
Board deferred the adoption construction thresholds.
How are a project's motor vehicle emissions estimated?
The APCD recommends the use of
Urbemis 2007, Version 9.2, a
computer program approved for use in California. The program uses trip
generation rates published in the
Institute of Transportation Engineers 7th edition manual for common land
uses; the Air
Resources Board EMFAC2007 emission factors for on-road emissions and OFFROAD
2007 for off road equipment emissions. Project-specific trip-generation
rates, if available, must be substituted. For more details see
APCD's Scope and Content of Air Quality Sections in
Environmental Documents.
What mitigation measures does the
APCD recommend when a project's motor vehicle related emissions exceed the
threshold of significance?
In general, the APCD emphasizes sustainable development projects that
incorporate land use designs and ways to get people out of their cars and
encourage them to carpool, walk, bicycle or use public transit. The URBEMIS
program includes a quantifiable mitigation component based on Sustainable
Development principles. In addition, the APCD may recommend project-specific
educational or public outreach measures to encourage people to use alternative
transportation modes. For more details see APCD's
Scope and Content of Air Quality Sections in Environmental Documents.
Information on sustainable land use principles may be found at a number of
web sites including:
See also Growth, Land Use and Air Pollution, and
Chapter 9 of the 2001 Clean Air Plan on this
website.
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