| October 12, 2009
AQMD to begin issuing permits after Jan. 1
Hundreds of Southland businesses and public
utilities forced to delay plans to expand, modernize or relocate can move
forward after Jan. 1, 2010 now that Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed a bill
lifting an air quality permit moratorium.
Yesterday, the governor signed Senate Bill 827 (Wright), which authorizes
the South Coast Air Quality Management District to begin issuing more than
1,200 air pollution permit applications frozen by a state court decision in
November 2008.
“Tens of thousands of jobs and more than $5 billion in investment were
foregone as a result of the court decision,” said AQMD Chairman William
Burke, Ed.D. “The governor’s approval now helps jump-start our ailing
economy while protecting our air quality.”
AQMD will begin issuing the first permits blocked by the moratorium soon
after Jan. 1.
SB 827, first introduced as SB 696, allows AQMD to resume issuing at no
charge emission “offsets” to small- to medium-sized businesses and public
service facilities.
Specifically, AQMD can resume issuing offsets to businesses that emit less
than four tons per year of smog-forming emissions, as well as public service
facilities such as police and fire stations, schools, hospitals, landfills
and sewage treatment plants. Businesses affected by the permit moratorium
include gas stations, tortilla chip makers, automobile recyclers, grocery
stores and many others.
SB 827 serves as a stopgap measure, temporarily lifting the permit
moratorium while allowing AQMD time to complete rulemaking on its emission
offset program pursuant to the state court decision. The legislation will
expire on May 1, 2012.
Small businesses and public facilities have been unable to obtain offsets,
also known as emission reduction credits, due to a lawsuit filed in August
2007 by the NRDC and other environmental groups.
The state judge’s final order in this case required AQMD to set aside two of
the agency’s regulations governing its emissions offset program on
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) grounds. The judge made the
decision even though CEQA compliance would otherwise occur at the individual
project approval phase. That in turn put a halt to issuing new permits for
facilities that needed emissions offsets from AQMD. The state court ruling
also potentially revoked over 3,000 permits issued since September 2006 that
relied on offsets from the AQMD.
Whenever a new or modified facility increases its emissions in Southern
California, it is required to provide emissions offsets to prevent air
quality in an already polluted area from further deteriorating. Offsets are
generated when a facility or air pollution-emitting equipment is permanently
shut down, or when an active plant controls its emissions to a greater
degree than required by air quality regulations.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
|
