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.  

• Rule 1180 (PDF, 105kb)
• Rule 1180 Refinery Fenceline Air Monitoring Plan Guideline (PDF, 2MB)

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.

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