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Rule 1180 - Refinery Community and Fenceline Air Monitoring

NEW Updated 06/28/2023
On June 28, 2023, between 12:20 AM and 1:05 AM, a Rule 1180 Community Air Quality Notification for Hydrogen Sulfide at Guenser Park Air Monitoring Station was incorrectly issued by the South Coast AQMD. We have identified the cause of this error, which was triggered by a scheduled automatic data quality control check, leading to the false alert notification being sent to the subscribers. The source of this error has since been corrected. H2S concentrations at the Rule 1180 community air monitoring stations remain within normally observed levels.

We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused you. Maintaining the accuracy and reliability of our notifications is of paramount importance to us, and we will take additional measures to prevent such errors in the future.

Thank you for your understanding and ongoing support as we strive to provide you with the most accurate and reliable community air quality information. 

Latest Updates:
The Phillips 66 Wilmington Refinery has submitted a Revised Rule 1180 Fenceline Air Monitoring Plan to request the relocation of Point Monitor 2. This is to provide more representative fenceline measurements of hydrogen sulfide and black carbon levels at the refinery fenceline.
South Coast AQMD staff has reviewed this request and agrees with the proposed changes. The Revised Phillips 66 Wilmington Rule 1180 Fenceline Air Monitoring Plan with the proposed revisions is now available for public comment and can be viewed by clicking on the link below

Phillips 66 Wilmington Revised Fenceline Air Monitoring Plan
I
nterested parties and stakeholders can submit their comments to rule1180@aqmd.gov through Friday, February 04, 2022.

 

This site will be updated as new information becomes available


The community air monitoring data can be found by clicking on the Rule 1180 Community Air Monitoring tab (left hand side menu).

Adopted in December 2017, Rule 1180 mandates the implementation of real-time observations of air quality at or near the fenceline of all major refineries in the South Coast Air Basin, and in nearby communities.

The main objectives of Rule 1180 are to:

  • Provide real-time information about air pollutant levels at the refinery fenceline and in nearby communities
  • Understand long-term variations and trends of refinery related emissions
  • Help communities understand potential air quality impacts of refinery emissions
  • Provide a notification to the community if emissions exceed pre-determined thresholds
  • Enable refineries to quickly address significant changes in emissions


Community Air Monitoring
 

As part of Rule 1180 implementation, staff prepared a Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) that outlines the South Coast AQMD’s strategy, approach and implementation of air monitoring in communities adjacent to all refineries that are subject to Rule 1180. A community air monitoring network is being developed by the South Coast AQMD and will be operated based on the information provided in this CAMP. A related Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) and all relevant Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the air monitoring equipment described in this CAMP will be released as separate documents.

The draft Rule 1180 CAMP was posted online for public comments in November, 2019. In December 2019 South Coast AQMD also hosted two community workshops in Carson and El Segundo. During these meetings, South Coast AQMD staff discussed and collected public feedback on the draft Rule CAMP. South Coast AQMD staff would like to thank everyone who provided feedback on this important document for their thoughtful comments and suggestions. All comments received have been carefully considered to determine if modifications of the draft CAMP should be made.

All public comments submitted on the draft CAMP and South Coast AQMD staff responses can be viewed here.

The revised Rule 1180 CAMP is now available at the link below

Rule 1180 CAMP (PDF)

The Rule 1180 CAMP is envisioned as a living document, thus portions of the community air monitoring network or monitoring approaches may be modified based on feedback and analysis of air monitoring data once air monitoring commences. Questions about the Rule 1180 CAMP can be sent to Rule1180@aqmd.gov.

Community Workshops

South Coast AQMD hosted two community workshops in Carson and El Segundo on December 5 and December 12, 2019, respectively. During these meetings, South Coast AQMD staff provided an update on the implementation of the refinery fenceline air monitoring plans for Rule 1180. Staff also discussed and collected public feedback on the draft Rule 1180 Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP).

Presentation (PDF)
Flyer (PDF)
Draft Rule 1180 CAMP (PDF)

Fenceline Air Monitoring

Rule 1180 requires petroleum refineries to install and operate fenceline air monitoring systems to measure a comprehensive list of criteria pollutants and toxic air contaminants. For each applicable refinery, the rule requires the submittal and approval of a fenceline air monitoring plan that provides detailed information about air monitoring instrumentation, maintenance and quality control procedures, backup systems, auditing, and data reporting methods. All fenceline air monitoring plans shall be consistent with the Rule 1180 Refinery Fenceline Air Monitoring Plan Guidelines developed during the rulemaking process. Prior to approval or disapproval the fenceline air monitoring plan shall be made available for public review for no less than fourteen (14) days. Comments received will be considered for modification of the draft plan, prior to its official approval/disapproval.  

In August 2018 all refineries submitted to South Coast AQMD their draft fenceline air monitoring plans. Upon the initial review of the plans, South Coast AQMD staff determined that all submitted plans had major deficiencies. Staff worked with each refinery individually to improve the plans. As a result of this work, all refineries submitted their revised draft fenceline air monitoring plans which were made available for public review. 

South Coast AQMD staff would like to thank everyone who provided feedback on the plans for their thoughtful comments and suggestions. All comments received were carefully considered to determine if modifications of the draft plans should be made, prior to their official approval or disapproval.

Public comments submitted on draft refinery fenceline air monitoring plans can be viewed here.
A summary of the public comments and South Coast AQMD staff responses can be found here.

Following review and analysis of the public comments, staff worked with each refinery to modify their proposed fenceline coverage in order to address the concerns raised by the public. All refineries agreed to modify their proposed fenceline coverage by including additional open-path and point instruments, and South Coast AQMD staff determined that the revised fenceline coverages are adequate to satisfy the requirements of Rule 1180. Therefore, all refineries received partial approvals of their fenceline monitoring plans. Partial approvals are granted to the fenceline air monitoring portion of the plans only. The partial approval letters for each refinery are linked in the table below.

South Coast AQMD staff has been working with all refineries on all other elements of the fenceline monitoring plans, namely: back-up monitoring and maintenance, data presentation to the public, public notifications and notification thresholds, and a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP). The revised fenceline air monitoring plans for all refineries can be found in the Table below. Plans are in review for approval consideration. Questions about the plans can be sent to Rule1180@aqmd.gov.

 Refinery/Operator Draft 
Fenceline Air Monitoring Plan
(Updated)
Released for Public
Comments
Public
Comments Accepted
Until
Partial Approval Letters and Earlier Plan Drafts
 Chevron El Segundo Refinery Updated Chevron Draft Plan and QAPP
 November 20, 2019 5:30pm  Extended to December 20, 2019 5:30pm  Partial Approval 03/21/19
Chevron Partial Approval

Chevron Initial Draft Plan
 Tesoro Carson and Wilmington Refineries* Updated Tesoro Plan and QAPP
 November 20 2019 5:30pm Extended to December 20, 2019 5:30pm  Partial Approval 04/02/19
Tesoro Partial Approval

Tesoro Initial Draft Plan
 Phillips 66 Carson Refinery Updated Phillips 66 Draft Plan

Phillips 66 Carson Draft QAPP
November 20, 2019 5:30pm Extended to December 20, 2019 5:30pm  Partial Approval
03/29/19
Phillips 66 Partial Approval

Phillips 66 Carson Initial Draft Plan

 Phillips 66 Wilmington Initial Draft Plan

 Phillips 66 Wilmington Refinery Updated Phillips 66 Draft Plan

Phillips 66 Wilmington Draft QAPP
 November 20, 2019 5:30pm Extended to December 20, 2019 5:30pm
 Torrance Refining Company Torrance Refinery Updated Draft Plan

Torrance Refinery Draft QAPP

Updated Torrance Refinery Draft QAPP submitted 12/05/19

 November 20, 2019 5:30pm Extended to December 20, 2019 5:30pm Partial Approval 03/27/19
Torrance Partial Approval

Torrance Refinery Initial Draft Plan
 Valero Wilmington Refinery Updated Valero Draft Plan

Valero Draft QAPP
 November 20, 2019 12:00pm  Extended to December 20, 2019 5:30pm  Partial Approval
03/27/19
Valero Partial Approval

Valero Initial Draft Plan
* Tesoro submitted one plan describing fenceline monitoring to be conducted at Carson and Wilmington refineries.


For any questions regarding the above information, please contact:
Dr. Andrea Polidori (909) 396-3283
Dr. Olga Pikelnaya (909) 396-3157



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