2004 Clean Air Plan Executive Summary
INTRODUCTION
Air quality in Santa Barbara County continues to improve and 2004 was one of
the cleanest years on record. In fact, our air quality has improved to the point
that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has declared us
an attainment area for the federal 1-hour ozone standard. Meeting this milestone
is clear evidence that Santa Barbara County residents are breathing cleaner air.
However, we do not yet comply with the state 1-hour ozone standard which is more
protective of public health. Therefore, this 2004 Clean Air Plan (2004 Plan)
will focus solely on the state 1-hour ozone standard and the associated planning
requirements mandated by the 1988 California Clean Air Act.
Continuing our progress toward clean air is a challenge that demands
participation by the entire community. A Clean Air Plan represents the blueprint
for air quality improvement in Santa Barbara County; the goals are to explain
the complex interactions between emissions and air quality, and to design the
best possible emission control strategy in a cost-effective manner. This 2004
Plan represents a partnership among the Air Pollution Control District (APCD),
the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), the California Air
Resources Board (ARB), the USEPA, local businesses, and the community at large
to reduce pollution from all sources: cars, trucks, industry, consumer products,
and many more.
We have made remarkable progress in cleaning our air; the number of
unhealthful air quality days in Santa Barbara County has been reduced by more
than 95 percent from 1988 to 2004 despite substantial increases in population
and vehicle miles traveled. The community should be proud of these
accomplishments in reducing air pollution. This 2004 Plan reflects a commitment
to continue this progress and bring clean air to all of the residents of Santa
Barbara County.
WHY IS THIS 2004 PLAN BEING PREPARED?
This 2004 Plan is being prepared to address California Clean Air Act mandates
under Health and Safety Code sections 40924 and 40925 that require that every
three years areas update their clean air plans to attain the state 1-hour ozone
standard. More specifically, this 2004 Plan provides a three-year update to the
APCD’s 2001 Clean Air Plan. Previous plans developed to comply with the state
ozone standard include the1991 Air Quality Attainment Plan, the 1994 Clean Air
Plan, and the 1998 Clean Air Plan.
WHAT IS NEW IN THIS 2004 PLAN REVISION?
Each clean air plan revision represents a snapshot in time, based on the most
current information available. This 2004 Plan is similar to the 2001 Clean Air
Plan but includes significant new information. Some key new elements are:
- Updated local air quality information (through 2004)
- An updated emission inventory (year 2000)
- An updated emission estimate of marine shipping emissions (year 2000)
- Updated future year emission estimates through 2020 • Identification of
every feasible emission control measure as part of the overall emission
control strategy
HOW WAS THIS 2004 PLAN REVISION PREPARED?
APCD prepared this 2004 Plan in partnership with SBCAG, ARB, and USEPA. SBCAG
provided future growth projections, developed the transportation control
measures, and estimated the on-road mobile source emissions. ARB provided
information on statewide mobile sources and consumer product control measures.
USEPA provided information on the status of the control efforts for federally
regulated sources.
To help provide important local policy and technical input on APCD clean air
plans and rules, the APCD Board of Directors established the Community Advisory
Council. Starting in January of 2004, the CAC considered various components of
this 2004 Plan at their monthly meetings. The input provided by the Community
Advisory Council was, on many occasions, directly incorporated into this 2004
Plan. APCD staff also conducted public workshops to obtain direct public input
on the 2004 Plan.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF OZONE?
Ozone can damage the respiratory system, causing inflammation, irritation,
and symptoms such as coughing and wheezing, and worsening of asthma symptoms.
High levels of ozone are especially harmful for children, people who exercise
outdoors, older people, and people with asthma or other respiratory problems.
Ozone can harm the development of children’s lungs, and recent studies suggest
ozone plays a role in causing early childhood asthma. Ozone air pollution also
hurts the economy by increasing hospital visits and medical expenses, and loss
of work time due to illness, and by damaging crops, buildings, paint, and
rubber.
IS AIR QUALITY IMPROVING?
Figure EX-1 presents the number of state ozone exceedances in Santa Barbara
County during the period of 1988 to 2004. The most striking feature of Figure
EX-1 is the dramatic decrease in the number of state ozone exceedances since
1988, when the when the state standard was exceeded on 42 days. In contrast, the
state ozone standard was exceeded on only 2 days during 2004. A clear declining
trend in the number of state ozone exceedances is evident from 1988 through
1999. Since 1999 however, with a relatively low number of exceedances
experienced in the county, the trend is less discernable.
Figure EX-1
Number of Days Exceeding the State 1-Hour Ozone Standard
Santa Barbara
County 1988-2004*
*2004 Data are preliminary
HOW IS ATTAINMENT OF THE STATE 1-HOUR OZONE
STANDARD DETERMINED?
Attainment of the state 1-hour ozone standard is determined using a
statistical model developed by the ARB that excludes extreme concentration
events, which are not expected to occur more frequently than once per year. This
statistical concentration is commonly referred to as the Expected Peak Day
Concentration (EPDC). An area is considered to be in attainment of the state
1-hour ozone standard if all monitoring stations have ozone concentrations less
than 0.09 ppm, after excluding those days with concentrations identified as
extreme events.
DOES THIS 2004 PLAN ADDRESS ANY FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS?
This 2004 Plan does not address any specific federal planning requirements,
as Santa Barbara County was designated as an attainment area for the federal
1-hour ozone standard in 2003. All of Santa Barbara County’s federal
requirements are documented in the 2001 Clean Air Plan. The USPEA has also
designated the county as an attainment area for the federal 8-hour ozone
standard, although we only meet the attainment test by a very slim margin. A
Clean Air Plan to implement the new federal 8-hour standard is due by June 15,
2007, under USEPA’s Final Implementation Rule (69 FR 23951).
WHAT ARE THE KEY STATE REQUIREMENTS THAT THIS 2004 PLAN
ADDRESSES?
The key requirements of the California Clean Air Act addressed in this 2004
Plan are the Triennial Progress Report (H&SC Section 40924(b)) and the Triennial
Plan Revision (H&SC Section 40925(a)). Additionally, this 2004 Plan must provide
an annual five percent emission reduction of ozone precursors, or, if this
cannot be done, include every feasible measure as part of the emission control
strategy. Finally, state law requires this 2004 Plan to provide for attainment
of the state ambient air quality standards at the earliest practicable date
(H&SC Section 40910).
HOW HAS THE EMISSION INVENTORY CHANGED?
An updated emission inventory was developed for 2000 for both onshore and
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) sources for this 2004 Plan. This inventory serves
as our base year emission inventory, and is used to forecast emissions for 2005,
2010, 2015, and 2020. The 2000 emission inventory was developed in accordance
with ARB and USEPA policies and procedures. The emissions inventory follows the
organizational structure developed by ARB, and assigns all air pollution sources
into one of four categories: stationary sources, area-wide sources, mobile
sources, and natural sources. The biggest change to the emission inventory since
the 2001 Plan is to marine shipping emissions which are significantly higher
than previously estimated.
WHERE DOES OUR HUMAN-GENERATED AIR POLLUTION COME
FROM?
Figure EX-2 shows Santa Barbara County’s Planning emission inventory for
2000. This figure presents the estimated emissions of reactive organic compounds
and oxides of nitrogen (precursors that combine to form ozone), generated
locally by human activities. This does not include emissions on the Outer
Continental Shelf, or those from natural sources (seeps and vegetation). The
largest contributor to our locally generated air pollution is on-road mobile
sources (cars and trucks), which contribute 40 percent of the reactive organic
compounds and 55 percent of the emissions of oxides of nitrogen. Other mobile
sources (planes, trains, boats), the evaporation of solvents, combustion of
fossil fuels, surface cleaning and coating, and petroleum production and
marketing combine to make up the remainder. Figure EX-3 shows the emission
inventory for the Outer Continental Shelf, where the majority of reactive
organic compounds (61 percent) and oxides of nitrogen (98 percent) emissions
comes from mobile sources (predominantly international marine shipping
activities).
Figure EX-2
2000 Santa Barbara County Planning Emission Inventory
ROC 41.84 tons per day
NOx 43.89 tons per day
Figure EX-3
2000 OCS Planning Emission Inventory
ROC 2.91 tons per day
NOx 33.37 tons per day
HAS THE OVERALL CONTROL STRATEGY CHANGED?
The overall strategy for control of both reactive organic compounds and
oxides of nitrogen adopted in the 2001 Clean Air Plan continues in this 2004
Plan, with the addition of eight new or revised stationary source control
measures, and updated transportation control measures. The 2001 Clean Air Plan
contained: (1) the control measures needed to maintain the federal 1-hour ozone
standard, (2) additional control measures needed to address state requirements
and attain the state 1-hour ozone standard, and (3) measures that merit further
study, referred to here as further study measures. This 2004 Plan evaluates each
of the further study measures identified in the 2001 Clean Air Plan and sets a
schedule for adoption of those measures that were determined to be feasible.
This 2004 Plan also identifies further study measures that will be reviewed and
evaluated in the next plan revision and update process.
DOES THE 2004 PLAN SHOW THAT WE WILL ATTAIN THE STATE
1-HOUR OZONE STANDARD?
This 2004 Plan shows that onshore emissions of reactive organic compounds and
oxides of nitrogen will continue to decrease through 2020, due primarily to
on-road mobile source emission reduction measures. However, the large emission
increases expected to occur in the OCS due to marine shipping activities are
dramatic. While these offshore emissions may not have the same direct impact on
our air as onshore emissions, their magnitude may impair our ability to attain
the state 1-hour ozone standard. This 2004 Plan does not contain detailed
photochemical modeling that would be required to demonstrate attainment for the
state 1-hour ozone standard.
HOW DOES THE ADOPTION OF THIS 2004 PLAN IMPACT
RULEMAKING AT THE APCD?
The rules that are proposed in this 2004 Plan are directly included into the
rulemaking priorities of the APCD. The measures that this Plan proposes on a
near-, mid-, or long-term basis will be adopted by the APCD according to that
schedule. The formal adoption of this 2004 Plan by the APCD Board of Directors
establishes the commitments to adopt all proposed rules according to the
schedule identified in the plan.
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