Assemblywoman Oropeza's "Diesel Magnet Sources" Bill, Requiring Ports, Airports and RR Facilities To Make Disclosures & Reduce Diesel Exhaust Emissions, Faces Crucial Jan. 31 Vote After Falling Short In Initial Jan. 30 Tallies; We Learn LB City Hall Did NOT Make Supporting Bill A Priority

• Defines "diesel magnet source" as a facility that, by nature of its operation, attracts diesel engines in large numbers, and is either a port, an airport, or a railyard.

• Subjects the facilities in each of the four subcategories of diesel magnet source with the greatest potential impact on public health determined on a statewide basis, as listed by the Air Resources Board (ARB) to the requirements of toxic hot spots statutes.

• Requires ARB, in consultation with the districts, not later than July 1, 2007, to prepare and make available to the public a list of diesel magnet sources that consists of only five ports, 10 airports and 25 rail yards for the distribution of products or materials.

• Requires ARB to include on the list ports that move at least 1.5 million metric tons of dry cargo, inbound and outbound combined; airports through which at least two million passengers travel per year; and railyard sites where locomotive engines operate, including moving and idling, at least 10,000 hours per year.

• Defines "diesel magnet source risk reduction measure" (DMSRRM) as those changes to equipment or method of operation that reduce or eliminate toxic air releases subject to this statute.

• Requires DMSRRMs to be considered a form of airborne toxic risk reduction measure for the purposes of this bill

• Allows an air district to lengthen the period for a diesel magnet source to implement its plan for reducing toxic air emissions in increments of five years, if all of the following conditions are met:
  • a) The facility prepares and implements a plan, subject to district approval in a public hearing, to make real and measurable progress reducing risks using all technically and economically feasible DMSRRMs, including those measures already implemented by a similar diesel magnet source;
  • b) The facility convenes an advisory group, subject to district approval, that includes at least two members of the affected residential community, two members of the affected business community, and one representative each from the district, ARB, and the city or county within which the facility is located; and,
  • c) The facility reviews its risk reduction implementation progress with the advisory group, in a public meeting, at least once each year until the risk has been reduced to below the significance thresholds.

• Specifies that nothing in this bill requires the operator of a diesel magnet source to implement any DMSRRM that is preempted by federal law.

• Requires all costs incurred by ARB, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the air districts resulting from the bill to be recovered through fees imposed on the regulated entities.

[The text of the bill as it currently (Jan. 30) exists is]:

BILL NUMBER: AB 1101	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 26, 2006
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 9, 2006
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 27, 2005
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly  Member   Oropeza
  Members   Oropeza   and Jerome
Horton 

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2005

   An act to amend Sections 44320, 44322, 44342, 44360, 44390, and
44391 of, and to add Sections 44303.5, 44323.5, 44395, and 44396 to,
the Health and Safety Code, relating to air pollution.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1101, as amended, Oropeza  Air pollution: diesel magnet
sources.
   (1) Existing law imposes various limitations on emissions of air
contaminants for the control of air pollution from vehicular and
nonvehicular sources. Existing law generally designates the State Air
Resources Board as the state agency with the primary responsibility
for the control of vehicular air pollution, and air pollution control
districts and air quality management districts with the primary
responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources
other than vehicular sources, including stationary sources. The Air
Toxics "Hot Spots" Information and Assessment Act of 1987 requires
the state board to compile a list of substances that present a
chronic or acute threat to public health when present in the ambient
air, subjects certain facilities to the act, according to a schedule,
and requires the operator of a subject facility to prepare and
submit to an air district a proposed comprehensive emissions
inventory plan, for approval by the district. The act requires an air
district to prepare an industrywide emissions inventory for certain
facilities. The act, under certain circumstances, requires a facility
operator to conduct a facility toxic air contaminant risk reduction
audit and to develop an emissions reduction plan.
   This bill would make a facility that is a diesel magnet source, as
defined, subject to the act. The bill would require the state board,
on or before July 1, 2007, in consultation with the air districts,
to prepare and make available to the public a list of diesel magnet
sources, as prescribed. The bill would require any facility for which
a district is preparing an industrywide emissions inventory or
health risk assessment to provide to the district, within 60 days of
the date of the request, all information as may be specified by the
district as necessary for the preparation of the inventory or
assessment.
   The bill would provide for an extended period for a diesel magnet
source to comply with the risk reduction audit and plan requirements.
By expanding the types of facilities subject to the act, the bill
would impose new duties on air districts, thereby imposing a
state-mandated local program.
  (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) The people of California have a right to know when industrial
or commercial operations result in emission of toxic air contaminants
that may pose a significant health risk to the people exposed to
those emissions.
   (2) Existing law requires facilities whose operations result in
emission of toxic air contaminants to prepare inventories of those
emissions and submit them to the local air districts for
prioritization.
   (3) Existing law also requires facilities that are designated
high-priority to prepare health risk assessments, and if the
assessment shows the potential health risks to be significant, to
notify the public of those risks.
   (4) Existing law further requires facilities that pose
unacceptably high risks to public health to prepare plans to reduce
those risks, and to implement the plans according to a specified
schedule.
   (5) Traditional stationary sources, both large and small, have
already complied with these requirements by preparing inventories of
their emissions, and where applicable, preparing health risk
assessments, notifying the public, and implementing risk reduction.
   (6) Recent studies show that particulate emissions in diesel
exhaust are highly toxic, and account for upwards of 70 percent of
the statewide cancer risk due to toxic pollutants in ambient air.
   (7) Industrial and commercial operations that involve or attract
high levels of diesel traffic or other diesel engine use can pose
substantially higher risks to the public near the facilities.
   (8) Available data indicate that these diesel magnet sources may
pose risks to the surrounding communities that are far greater than
risks posed by most traditional stationary sources, and that far
greater numbers of people are affected by the emissions. These diesel
magnet sources meet the statutory definition of "facility" under
existing law, but to date have not submitted inventories or taken
other actions in compliance with existing statutes.
   (9) Large diesel magnet sources should comply with requirements to
prepare and submit inventories of their emissions, prepare health
risks assessments, notify the public of significant risks, and reduce
unacceptably high risks.
   (10) Local air pollution control districts and air quality
management districts should review policies and procedures that
implement existing law and, if necessary, revise them to
appropriately address large diesel magnet sources. Review of existing
policies and procedures, and the preparation of inventories, health
risk assessments, public notification, and risk reduction should be
carried out under a coordinated process and schedule.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to define diesel magnet
sources to include ports, airports,  railyards, and
intermodal sites   and railyards  , and to
establish the timeframe for districts to review and, if necessary,
revise policies and procedures, and for the largest diesel magnet
sources to comply with these requirements.
  SEC. 2.  Section 44303.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   44303.5.  "Diesel magnet source" means a facility that, by the
nature of its operation, attracts diesel engines in large numbers,
and includes  all of   only  the following:

   (a) Ports.
   (b) Airports.
   (c) Railyards.
  SEC. 3.  Section 44320 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   44320.  This part applies to all of the following:
   (a) Any facility that manufactures, formulates, uses, or releases
any of the substances listed pursuant to Section 44321 or any other
substance that reacts to form a substance listed in Section 44321 and
that releases or has the potential to release total organic gases,
particulates, or oxides of nitrogen or sulfur in the amounts
specified in Section 44322.
   (b) Except as provided in Section 44323, any facility that is
listed in any current toxics use or toxics air emissions survey,
inventory, or report released or compiled by a district. A district
may, with the concurrence of the state board, waive the application
of this part pursuant to this subdivision for any facility that the
district determines will not release any substance listed pursuant to
Section 44321 due to a shutdown or a process change.
   (c) Any facility that is a diesel magnet source, as defined in
Section 44303.5, with the greatest potential impact on public health
determined on a statewide basis, as listed by the state board under
subdvision (e) of Section 44322.
  SEC. 4.  Section 44322 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   44322.  This part applies to facilities specified in subdivision
(a) of Section 44320 in accordance with the following schedule:
   (a) For those facilities that release, or have the potential to
release, 25 tons per year or greater of total organic gases,
particulates, or oxides of nitrogen or sulfur, this part becomes
effective on July 1, 1988.
   (b) For those facilities that release, or have the potential to
release, more than 10 but less than 25 tons per year of total organic
gases, particulates, or oxides of nitrogen or sulfur, this part
becomes effective July 1, 1989.
   (c) For those facilities that release, or have the potential to
release, less than 10 tons per year of total organic gases,
particulates, or oxides of nitrogen or sulfur, the state board shall,
on or before July 1, 1990, prepare and submit a report to the
Legislature identifying the classes of those facilities to be
included in this part and specifying a timetable for their inclusion.

   (d) On and after January 1, 2006, facilities that are subject to
this part but have not submitted inventories as required under
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 44340) shall have one year from
the date of inclusion on a list of subject facilities, established
pursuant to this part, to prepare and submit to the district an
emissions inventory plan. Except for any calendar date deadline
before January 1, 2006,  all schedules for action set forth in
Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 44340), Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 44360), or Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 44390) shall
apply.
   (e) On or before July 1, 2007, the state board shall, in
consultation with the districts, prepare and make available to the
public a list of diesel magnet sources subject to this part, as
follows:
   (1) The list of subject facilities shall include  all of
  only  the following:
   (A) Five ports.
   (B) Ten airports.
   (C) Twenty-five railyards.
   (C) Twenty-five railyards.cilities shall include  all of
  only  the following: prepare and makeer 4 data
 are readily available and demonstrate   is
readily available and demonstrates  that other criteria and
ranking should be used, to include on the list the facilities likely
to pose the greatest potential risk to public health:
   (A) A port that moves at least 1,500,000  , 
metric tons per year of  dry  cargo, inbound and outbound,
combined.
   (B) An airport through which at least 2,000,000  ,
 passengers travel per year.
   (C) Any railyard site that locomotive engines operate at least
10,000 hours per year, including movement and idling.
   SEC. 5.  Section 44323.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   44323.5.  Any facility for which a district is preparing an
industrywide emissions inventory or health risk assessment shall
provide to the district, within 60 days of the date of the request,
all information as may be specified by the district as necessary for
the preparation of the inventory or assessment.
   SEC. 6.  Section 44342 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   44342.  (a) The state board shall, on or before May 1, 1989, in
consultation with the districts, develop criteria and guidelines for
site-specific air toxics emissions inventory plans which shall be
designed to comply with the conditions specified in Section 44340 and
which shall include at least all of the following:
   (1) For each class of facility, a designation of the hazardous
materials for which emissions are to be quantified and an
identification of the likely source types within that class of
facility. The hazardous materials for quantification shall be chosen
from among, and may include all or part of, the list specified in
Section 44321.
   (2) Requirements for a facility diagram identifying each actual or
potential discrete emissions point and the general locations where
fugitive emissions may occur. The facility diagram shall include any
nonpermitted and nonprocess sources of emissions, and shall provide
the necessary data to identify emissions characteristics. An existing
facility diagram that meets the requirements of this section may be
submitted.
   (3) Requirements for source testing and measurement. The
guidelines may specify appropriate uses of estimation techniques,
including, but not limited to, emissions factors, modeling, mass
balance analysis, and projections, except that source testing shall
be required wherever necessary to verify emissions estimates to the
extent technologically feasible. The guidelines shall specify
conditions and locations where source testing, fenceline monitoring,
or other measurement techniques are to be required and the frequency
of that testing and measurement.
   (4) Appropriate testing methods, equipment, and procedures,
including quality assurance criteria.
   (5) Specifications for acceptable emissions factors, including,
but not limited to, those which are acceptable for substantially
similar facilities or equipment, and specification of procedures for
other estimation techniques and for the appropriate use of available
data.
   (6) Specification of the reporting period required for each
hazardous material for which emissions will be inventoried.
   (7) Specifications for the collection of useful data to identify
toxic air contaminants pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section
39660) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 2.
   (8) Standardized format for preparation of reports and
presentation of data.
   (9) A program to coordinate and eliminate any possible overlap
between the requirements of this chapter and the requirements of
Section 313 of the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act of
1986 (Public Law 99-499).
   (10) On and after January 1, 2007, any specific criteria for the
preparation of emissions inventory plans by diesel magnet sources,
including, but not limited to, methods for quantifying air releases
of diesel particulate exhaust that occur within the boundaries of the
facility, and for characterizing for the public potential impacts of
releases that occur outside of the boundaries of the facility but in
the same general location and associated with mobile source trips to
and from the facility. Air releases of diesel particulate exhaust
from diesel magnet sources shall include emissions from motor
vehicles, and may address mechanisms to integrate data prepared by
the state board pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 44345.
   (b) The state board shall design the guidelines and criteria to
ensure that, in collecting data to be used for emissions inventories,
actual measurement is utilized whenever necessary to verify the
accuracy of emission estimates, to the extent technologically
feasible.
   SEC. 7.  Section 44360 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   44360.  (a) (1) Within 90 days of completion of the review of all
emissions inventory data for facilities specified in subdivision (a)
of Section 44322, but not later than December 1, 1990, the district
shall, based on examination of the emissions inventory data and in
consultation with the state board and the State Department of Health
Services, prioritize and then categorize those facilities for the
purposes of health risk assessment. The district shall designate
high, intermediate, and low priority categories, and shall include
each facility within the appropriate category based on its individual
priority. In establishing priorities pursuant to this section, the
district shall consider the potency, toxicity, quantity, and volume
of hazardous materials released from the facility, the proximity of
the facility to potential receptors, including, but not limited to,
hospitals, schools, day care centers, worksites, and residences, and
any other factors that the district finds and determines may indicate
that the facility may pose a significant risk to receptors. The
district shall hold a public hearing prior to the final establishment
of priorities and categories pursuant to this section.
   (2) On or before January 1, 2007, the districts, collaboratively,
and in consultation with the state board, shall review, and if
appropriate, revise or augment guidelines and procedures for facility
prioritization to address diesel magnet sources pursuant to this
chapter.
   (b) (1) Within 150 days of the designation of priorities and
categories pursuant to subdivision (a), the operator of every
facility that has been included within the highest priority category
shall prepare and submit to the district a health risk assessment
pursuant to Section 44361. The district may, at its discretion, grant
a 30-day extension for submittal of the health risk assessment.
   (2) Health risk assessments required by this chapter shall be
prepared in accordance with guidelines established by the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. The office shall prepare
draft guidelines, which shall be circulated to the public and the
regulated community, and shall adopt risk assessment guidelines after
consulting with the state board and the Risk Assessment Committee of
the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association and after
conducting at least two public workshops, one in the northern and one
in the southern part of the state. The adoption of the guidelines is
not subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The scientific
review panel established pursuant to Section 39670 shall evaluate the
guidelines adopted under this paragraph and shall recommend changes
and additional criteria to reflect new scientific data or empirical
studies.
   (3) The guidelines established pursuant to paragraph (2) shall
impose only those requirements on facilities subject to this
subdivision that are necessary to ensure that a required health risk
assessment is accurate and complete, and shall specify the type of
site-specific factors that districts may take into account in
determining when a single health risk assessment may be allowed under
subdivision (d). The guidelines shall, in addition, allow the
operator of a facility, at the operator's option, and to the extent
that valid and reliable data  are   is 
available, to include for consideration by the district in the health
risk assessment any or all of the following supplemental
information:
   (A) Information concerning the scientific basis for selecting risk
parameter values that are different than those required by the
guidelines and the likelihood distributions that result when
alternative values are used.
   (B) Data from dispersion models, microenvironment characteristics,
and population distributions that may be used to estimate maximum
actual exposure.
   (C) Risk expressions that show the likelihood that any given risk
estimate is the correct risk value.
   (D) A description of the incremental reductions in risk that occur
when exposure is reduced.
   (4) To ensure consistency in the use of the supplemental
information authorized by subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of
paragraph (3), the guidelines established pursuant to paragraph (2)
shall include guidance for use by the districts in considering the
supplemental information when it is included in the health risk
assessment.
   (c) Upon submission of emissions inventory data for facilities
specified in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 44322, the district
shall designate facilities for inclusion within the highest priority
category, as appropriate, and any facility so designated shall be
subject to subdivision (b). In addition, the district may require the
operator of any facility to prepare and submit health risk
assessments, in accordance with the priorities developed pursuant to
subdivision (a).
   (d) The district shall, except where site-specific factors may
affect the results, allow the use of a single health risk assessment
for two or more substantially identical facilities operated by the
same person.
   (e) Nothing contained in this section, Section 44380.5, or Chapter
6 (commencing with Section 44390) shall be interpreted as requiring
a facility operator to prepare a new or revised health risk
assessment using the guidelines established pursuant to paragraph (2)
of subdivision (a) of this section if the facility operator is
required by the district to begin the preparation of a health risk
assessment before those guidelines are established.
   SEC. 8.  Section 44390 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   44390.  For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
   (a) "Airborne toxic risk reduction measure" or "ATRRM" means those
in-plant changes in production processes or feedstocks that reduce
or eliminate toxic air emissions subject to this part. ATRRM's may
include:
   (1) Feedstock modification.
   (2) Product reformulations.
   (3) Production system modifications.
   (4) System enclosure, emissions control, capture, or conversion.
   (5) Operational standards and practices modification.
   (b) Airborne toxic risk reduction measures do not include measures
that will increase risk from exposure to the chemical in another
media or that increase the risk to workers or consumers.
   (c) "Airborne toxic risk reduction audit and plan" or "audit and
plan" means the audit and plan specified in Section 44392.

   (d) "Diesel magnet source risk reduction measure" or "DMSRRM"
means those changes to equipment or method of operation that reduce
or eliminate toxic air releases subject to this part. DMSRRMs shall
be considered a form of airborne toxic risk reduction measure for the
purposes of this chapter, and may include, but are not limited to,
all of the following:
   (1) Modification of operational standards or practices.
   (2) Application of emissions control technology.
   (3) System enclosure and emissions control, capture, or
conversion.
   (4) Use of alternative fuels or fuel additives.
   (5) Engine replacement, retrofit, or repowering.
   (6) Electrification of diesel-fueled internal combustion engines.

   SEC. 9.  Section 44391 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   44391.  (a) Whenever a health risk assessment approved pursuant to
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 44360) indicates, in the judgment
of the district, that there is a significant risk associated with
the emissions from a facility, the facility operator shall conduct an
airborne toxic risk reduction audit and develop a plan to implement
airborne toxic risk reduction measures that will result in the
reduction of emissions from the facility to a level below the
significant risk level within five years of the date the plan is
submitted to the district. The facility operator shall implement
measures set forth in the plan in accordance with this chapter.
   (b) The period to implement the plan required by subdivision (a)
may be shortened by the district if it finds that it is technically
feasible and economically practicable to implement the plan to reduce
emissions below the significant risk level more quickly or if it
finds that the emissions from the facility pose an unreasonable
health risk.
   (c) (1) A district may lengthen the period to implement the plan
required by subdivision (a) by up to an additional five years if it
finds that a period longer than five years will not result in an
unreasonable risk to public health and that requiring implementation
of the plan within five years places an unreasonable economic burden
on the facility operator or is not technically feasible.
   (2) A district may lengthen the period for a diesel magnet source
to implement the plan required by subdivision (a) in increments of
five years, consistent with the quadrennial review pursuant to
subdivision (h) of Section 44392, if all of the following conditions
are met:
   (A) The facility prepares and implements a plan, subject to
district approval in a public hearing, to make real and measurable
progress reducing risks using all technically and economically
feasible DMSRRMs, including those measures already implemented by a
similar diesel magnet source.
   (B) The facility convenes an advisory group, subject to district
approval, that includes at least two members of the affected
residential community, two members of the affected business
community, and one representative each from the district, the state
board, and the city or county within which the facility is located.

   (C) The facility reviews its risk reduction implementation
progress with the advisory group, in a public meeting, at least once
each year until the risk has been reduced to below the significance
thresholds.
   (d) (1) The state board and districts shall provide assistance to
smaller businesses that have inadequate technical and financial
resources for obtaining information, assessing risk reduction
methods, and developing and applying risk reduction techniques.
   (2) Risk reduction audits and plans for any industry subject to
this chapter which is comprised mainly of small businesses using
substantially similar technology may be completed by a self-conducted
audit and checklist developed by the state board. The state board,
in coordination with the districts, shall provide a copy of the audit
and checklist to small businesses within those industries to assist
them to meet the requirements of this chapter.
   (e) The audit and plan shall contain all the information required
by Section 44392.
   (f) The plan shall be submitted to the district, within six months
of a district's determination of significant risk, for review of
completeness. Operators of facilities that have been notified prior
to January 1, 1993, that there is a significant risk associated with
emissions from the facility shall submit the plan by July 1, 1993.
The district's review of completeness shall include a substantive
analysis of the emissions reduction measures included in the plan,
and the ability of those measures to achieve emissions reduction
goals as quickly as feasible as provided in subdivisions (a) and (b).

   (g) The district shall find the audit and plan to be satisfactory
within three months if it meets the requirements of this chapter,
including, but not limited to, subdivision (f). If the district
determines that the audit and plan does not meet those requirements,
the district shall remand the audit and plan to the facility
specifying the deficiencies identified by the district. A facility
operator shall submit a revised audit and plan addressing the
deficiencies identified by the district within 90 days of receipt of
a deficiency notice.
   (h) Progress on the emissions reductions achieved by the plan
shall be reported to the district in emissions inventory updates.
Emissions inventory updates shall be prepared as required by the
audit and plan found to be satisfactory by the district pursuant to
subdivision (g).
   (i) If new information becomes available after the initial risk
reduction audit and plan, on air toxics risks posed by a facility, or
emissions reduction technologies that may be used by a facility that
would significantly impact risks to exposed persons, the district
may require the plan to be updated and resubmitted to the district.
   (j) This section does not authorize the emission of a toxic air
contaminant in violation of an airborne toxic control measure adopted
pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 39650) or in
violation of Section 41700.
   SEC. 10.  Section 44395 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   44395.  Nothing in this chapter requires the operator of a diesel
magnet source to implement any DMSRRM that is preempted by federal
law.
   SEC. 11.  Section 44396 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   44396.  Notwithstanding the amendments to this part enacted by
Assembly Bill 1101 of the 2005-06 Regular Session of the Legislature,
all provisions of this part remain in full force and effect, and
nothing in this part limits the authority of a district under any
other provision of this code.
   SEC. 12.  All costs incurred by the State Air Resources Board, the
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and air districts,
in complying with this act shall be recovered through fees collected
pursuant to Section 44380 of the Health and Safety Code.
   SEC. 13.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.

Assembly Legislative Analysis

          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 1101 (Oropeza)
          As Amended January 26, 2006
          Majority vote
      ...

         SUMMARY :  Requires facilities that attract large numbers of
          diesel engines to take steps to reduce the levels of exhaust
          emissions from those engines.  Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding the
            emission of toxic air contaminants from industrial and
            commercial establishments and the need for local air districts
            to address the operations of facilities that attract large
            numbers of diesel-burning engines.

          2)Defines "diesel magnet source" as a facility that, by nature
            of its operation, attracts diesel engines in large numbers,
            and is either a port, an airport, or a railyard.

          3)Specifies that a center for distribution of products or
            materials may include a single distribution operation or an
            aggregation of such operations in the same general location,
            where there may be cumulative impacts of such aggregations.

          4)Subjects the facilities in each of the four subcategories of
            diesel magnet source with the greatest potential impact on
            public health determined on a statewide basis, as listed by
            the Air Resources Board (ARB) to the requirements of toxic hot
            spots statutes.

          5)Allows, on or after January 1, 2006, facilities that are
            subject to hot spot statutes but have not submitted required
            inventories one year from the date of inclusion on a list of
            subject facilities, to prepare and submit to the appropriate
            air district an emission inventory plan.

          6)Provides that all schedules for action set forth in hot spot
            statutes shall apply except for any calendar date deadlines
            prior to January 1, 2006.

          7)Requires ARB, in consultation with the districts, not later
            than July 1, 2007, to prepare and make available to the public
            a list of diesel magnet sources that consists of only five
            ports, 10 airports and 25 rail yards\ for the distribution of
            products or materials.

          8)Requires ARB to include on the list ports that move at least
            1.5 million metric tons of dry cargo, inbound and outbound
            combined; airports through which at least two million
            passengers travel per year; and railyard sites where
            locomotive engines operate, including moving and idling, at
            least 10,000 hours per year.

          9)Requires any facility for which a district is preparing an
            industrywide emissions inventory or health risk assessment to
            provide to the district, within 60 days of the date of the
            request, all information as may be specified by the district
            as necessary for the preparation of the inventory or
            assessment.

          10)Requires ARB's criteria and guidelines for site-specific
            air toxics emissions inventory plans to include, on and after
            January 1, 2006, any specific criteria for the preparation of
            inventory plans by diesel magnet sources, including, but not
            limited to, specified quantification methods.  Air releases of
            diesel particulate exhaust from diesel magnet sources would be
            required to include emissions from motor vehicles, and would
            be allowed to address mechanisms to integrate data prepared by
            ARB.

          11)Requires air districts, collaboratively and in
            consultation with ARB, on or before January 1, 2007, to
            review, and if appropriate, revise or augment guidelines and
            procedures for facility prioritization to address diesel
           magnet sources pursuant to this bill.

          12)Defines "diesel magnet source risk reduction measure"
            (DMSRRM) as those changes to equipment or method of operation
            that reduce or eliminate toxic air releases subject to this
            statute.

          13)Requires DMSRRMs to be considered a form of airborne toxic
            risk reduction measure for the purposes of this bill, and
            specifies that they may include, but are not limited to, all
            of the following:

             a)   Modification of operational standards or practices;

             b)   Application of emissions control technology;

             c)   System enclosure and emissions control, capture, or
               conversion;

             d)   Use of alternative fuels or fuel additives;

             e)   Engine replacement, retrofit, or repowering; and,

             f)   Electrification of diesel fueled internal combustion
               engines.

          14)Allows an air district to lengthen the period for a diesel
            magnet source to implement its plan for reducing toxic air
            emissions in increments of five years, if all of the following
            conditions are met:

             a)   The facility prepares and implements a plan, subject to
               district approval in a public hearing, to make real and
               measurable progress reducing risks using all technically
               and economically feasible DMSRRMs, including those measures
               already implemented by a similar diesel magnet source;

             b)   The facility convenes an advisory group, subject to
               district approval, that includes at least two members of
               the affected residential community, two members of the
               affected business community, and one representative each
               from the district, ARB, and the city or county within which
               the facility is located; and,

             c)   The facility reviews its risk reduction implementation
               progress with the advisory group, in a public meeting, at
               least once each year until the risk has been reduced to
               below the significance thresholds.

          15)   Specifies that nothing in this bill requires the operator
            of a diesel magnet source to implement any DMSRRM that is
            preempted by federal law.

          16)Requires all costs incurred by ARB, the Office of
            Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and the air districts
            resulting from the bill to be recovered through fees imposed
            on the regulated entities.

          EXISTING LAW makes ARB responsible for the control of emissions
          from motor vehicles and the coordination, management, and review
          of the efforts of all level of government as they affect air
          quality.

          FISCAL EFFECT :  According to Assembly Appropriations staff,
          there will be nominal implementation costs for ARB.  All other
          costs will be reimbursed through fees.

          COMMENTS:  Under existing law, "facilities" are required to
          prepare inventories of their air emissions and submit the
          inventories to local air districts.  The air districts
          prioritize the facilities based on the magnitude and toxicity of
          their emissions, and high priority facilities are required to
          perform health risk assessments to determine the maximum
          probable health risks to the public exposed the facility's
          emissions.  Each district board has established a risk threshold
          at which facilities must notify the public of potential health
          risks, and state law also requires that very high risk
          facilities reduce their risks to acceptable levels within five
          years or cease operation.  Typically, the facilities that have
          done this are stationary sources.  Stationary sources as large
          as petroleum refineries and as small as gas stations and dry
          cleaners have been required to comply with this law.  Risk
          analysis results are reported to the state air board and are
          available graphically on ARB's Web site.

          Air monitors throughout the state indicate that stationary
          sources account for only a small percentage of the cancer risk
          from air pollution, however.  Over 90% of the cancer risk is
          caused by pollutants emitted from mobile sources, and, on
          average, diesel particulate emissions are responsible for about
          75% of the statewide cancer risk from air pollution.  Standards
          for new engines, reformulated diesel fuel, and efforts to
          replace or retrofit existing engines will slowly reduce the
          diesel particulate emissions from mobile sources, but the
          process is slow.

          Certain activities attract very large numbers of diesel engines
          in trucks, rail engines, ships, and other types of diesel
          equipment.  These "magnet sources" include large ports,
          airports, rail yards, and intermodal sites.  Although the
          emissions come from the activity of mobile sources at the site,
          the site itself behaves as a stationary source in so far as its
          operations cause emissions to occur that impact the surrounding
          public in a predictable and long-term way.  Because of the very
          large numbers of diesel engines operating at the site, the risks
          to the surrounding public are expected to be very, very high.
          Preliminary studies have borne this out.

          The author argues that the public has a basic right to know
          about the potential health risks posed by these magnet sources.
          Existing magnet sources should be required to minimize risks in
          the same fashion that other stationary sources have done, and
          new sources or expansions, should be constructed with the
          minimum possible risk to the public.  In fact, these magnet
          sources meet the definition of "facility" under current law and
          could be required to comply with existing law as written.

          Supporters of this bill within the environmental community point
          to the toxicity of diesel exhaust and believe air districts
          should be given the tools to disclose and mitigate diesel
          emissions that are currently unregulated.  Some environmental
          organizations, however, feel this bill does not go far enough
          and, instead of relying on risk assessments, should simply
          mandate the use of best available control technologies at the
          facilities in question.

          Opponents argue that the state should continue to be the
          regulatory authority over ports and rail yards, rather than
          shifting this jurisdiction to local air districts.  Otherwise,
          businesses that operate in many parts of the state will be
          subject to inconsistent regulations.  They also complain that
          this bill "requires the magnet sources to mitigate emissions
          from other sources over which it does not have control, such as
          ships, trains, and trucks."

          

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