2014-069 - Final Environmental Impact Report No. 2014-01

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HARBOR BLVD. MIXED USE TRANSIT CORRIDOR PLAN FINAL FIR CITY OF SANTA ANA 5. Environmental Analysis AIR QUALITY CARB's recommendations on the siting of new sensitive land uses were developed from a compilation of recent studies that evaluated data on the adverse health effects from proximity to air pollution sources. The key observation in these studies is that close proximity to au pollution sources substantially increases exposure and the potential for adverse health effects relative to the existing background concentrations in the au basin. However, the impact of au pollution from these sources is on a gradient that at some point becomes indistinguishable from the regional au pollution problem. The Harbor Boulevard Mixed Use Transit Corridor Plan area is not near any rail yards, ports, or refineries. State Route 22 (SR 22) is approximately 2,400 feet from the plan's northernmost boundary and therefore beyond the 500 -foot buffer distance. Additionally, there are no roadways with daily roadway volumes of 100,000 or more either within or near the plan's boundaries. However, there are several SCAQMD permitted land uses within (e.g., Stremick's Heritage Foods) and near the project site that may generate stationary or mobile sources of TACs. While some or all of the existing light industrial uses within the project boundaries would transition to commercial, office, and residential land uses, future sensitive land uses could still be exposed to existing facilities. Therefore, air quality compatibility impacts for new sensitive land uses are potentially significant. Impact 5.2 -6: The Harbor Boulevard Mixed Use Transit Corridor Plan is a regionally significant project that would contribute to an increase in frequency or severity of air quality violations in the South Coast Air Basin and would conflict with the assumptions of the applicable air quality management plan. [Threshold AQ -1] Impact Analysis: CEQA requires that general plans be evaluated for consistency with the AQMP. A consistency determination plays an important role in local agency project review by linking local planning and individual projects to the AQMP. It fulfills the CEQA goal of informing decision makers of the environmental efforts of the project under consideration at a stage early enough to ensure that air quality concerns are fully addressed. It also provides the local agency with ongoing information as to whether they are contributing to clean air goals contained in the AQMP. Only new or amended general plan elements, specific plans, and major projects need to undergo a consistency review. This is because the AQMP strategy is based on projections from local general plans. Projects that are consistent with the local general plan are considered consistent with the air- quality - related regional plan. The regional emissions inventory for the SoCAB is compiled by SCAQMD and SCAG. Regional population, housing, and employment projections developed by SCAG are based, in part, on the county's general plan land use designations. These projections form the foundation for the emissions inventory of the AQMP. These demographic trends are incorporated into the 2012 RTP /SCS, compiled by SCAG to determine priority transportation projects and vehicle miles traveled (VM'I) within the SCAG region. Per CEQA Guideline Section 15206, the proposed project is considered regionally significant by SCAG because it would result in the development of over 500 residential dwelling units and 250,000 square feet of commercial office space. Changes in the population, housing, or employment growth projections associated with this project have the potential to substantially affect SCAG's demographic projections and therefore the assumptions in SCAQMD's AQMP. The proposed project would increase the land use intensity within the Page 5.2 -20 PlaceWorkr