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II.6.3 Sole Reliance on Emission Thresholds to Evaluate Air Quality Impacts Is not Adequate L The Draft EIR relied solely on emission thresholds to determine the significance of Project NOx and ROG emissions. These thresholds are not intended to be standalone environmental policies. The use of regulatory standards as the sole threshold for significance [former CEQA§15064(h)] was struck from the CEQA Guidelines pursuant to Communities for a Better Environment v. Calif. Resources 6. Agency, 103 Cal. App. 4th 98, 109 (2002). Further, the courts have determined that significance thresholds are one-way valves. If significance thresholds are exceeded, B-14 L project impacts are significant, but if a significance threshold is not exceeded it does not necessarily follow that the impact is not significant. As the court held in M4ia v. City of Los Angeles, 13 Cal.AppAth 322 (2005), "[a] threshold of significance is not L conclusive ... and does not relieve a public agency of the duty to consider the evidence under the fair argument standard" and concluded that"[a] public agency cannot apply a threshold of significance or regulatory standard in a way that L forecloses the consideration of any other substantial evidence showing there may be a significant effect." Here, the County improperly relied on inadequate thresholds o L significance despite the fact that the Project will emit pollutants that will contribute to the well known degraded air quality in the region. (See Comment VI.) L III. PROJECT CONSTRUCTION EMISSIONS ARE SIGNIFICANT AND NOT ADEQUATELY MITIGATED L The Draft EER finds that emissions related to the construction phase of the L Project, i.e. the initial period when site grading and construction of the processing equipment occur,would not result in significant adverse impacts on air quality. Specifically, the Draft EER finds that fugitive dust PM10 emissions would be less than significant after implementation of the SJVAPCD's Regulation VIII. (Draft EIR, p. 4.6-21.) The Draft EER compares emission estimates for NOx and ROG, both ozon precursor compounds, to the SJVAPCD's annual significance thresholds and B-15 concludes that these emissions would be less than significant, and, thus, would not require mitigation. (Draft EIR, pp. 4.6-20 -4.6-21.) As discussed in the following comments, these conclusions are erroneous. L The Project's construction phase would result in significant adverse impacts on air quality during construction due to NOx emissions from diesel-powered L equipment. (See Comment III.A.) The Draft EIR does not propose any mitigation for these emissions. Many feasible mitigation measures exist that are frequently Lrequired for other construction projects and should be required here. (See Comment V.C.) 7