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Grand Avenue Widening Project Environmental Impact Report Section 3.0 Air Quality Management The proposed Grand Avenue widening project is in the Basin and is, therefore, subject to review with respect to the Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) adopted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The Basin consists of all of Orange County and the non -desert parts of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The proposed project is jurisdictionally the responsibility of the AQMD and, to a lesser extent, the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The AQMD sets and enforces regulations for stationary sources in the Basin and develops and implements Transportation Control Measures. The CARB is charged with controlling motor vehicle emissions, including the establishment of legal emissions rates for new vehicles and oversight of the California vehicle emissions program. Other agencies important in air quality management for the Basin include the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and SCAG. The EPA implements the provisions of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) which establishes national ambient air quality standards (AAQS). In areas which are not achieving these standards, the CAA requires that plans be developed and implemented to meet the AAQS. The EPA oversees these efforts in the Basin and insures that appropriate plans are developed and implemented. The primary agencies responsible for writing and implementing the AQMP are SCAG and the AQMD. The AQMD and SCAG, in coordination with local governments and the private sector, developed the AQMP for the Basin. The AQMP is the most important air quality management document for the Basin because it provides a blueprint for meeting the defined federal and state AAQS. The 1997 AQMP was adopted locally on November 8, 1996, by the AQMD Board. The CARB amended the 03 part of the 1997 AQMP in 1999 as part of the California State Implementation Plan. The 1997 AQMP with the 1999 Amendments was adopted by the EPA in December 1999. State law mandates the revision of the AQMP at least every three years, and federal law specifies certain dates for development attainment plans for criteria pollutants. The 1997 AQMP with the 1999 Amendments supersedes the 1994 AQMP revision that was adopted locally by the AQMD in November 1996. The 1997 revision to the AQMP was adopted in response to the requirements set forth in the California Clean Air Act (CCAA) and the 1990 amendments to the federal CAA. The AQMD and SCAG are currently in the process of preparing a 2001 AQMP. The Basin has been designated by the EPA as a non -attainment area for 03, carbon monoxide (CO) and suspended particulates. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the Basin has met the federal AAQS for the last three years and, therefore, is qualified for redesignation to attainment. A maintenance plan for NO2 is included in the 1997 AQMP. The CCAA mandates the implementation of a program that will achieve the California AAQS and the CAA mandates the implementation of new air quality performance standards. .The attainment of all federal PMIo health standards is to be achieved no later than December 31, 2006, and 03 standards are to be achieved no later than November 15, 2010. The deadline for meeting the CO standards was December 31, 2000. The overall strategy for the AQMP is to meet the applicable state and federal requirements and to demonstrate attainment of the AAQS. The 1997 AQMP uses two tiers of emission reduction measures: short and intermediate term measures, and long term measures. Short and intermediate measures can be adopted using available technologies and management practices between 1994 and F: IPROJ-ENRGrand eirWew Text - GrandlSection 3 SplitlSection 3.4.doc Page 3.4-2