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it The pollution potential for the SJVAB is very high due to the topographic and meteorological conditions which often allow for the concentration of air pollutants. It has been assumed that due to the prevailing west winds during the summer that some of San I' Joaquin County's summer air quality problems are a result of pollutants being transported from the Bay Area. San Joaquin County's major air quality problems occur from late spring through early winter. From May to October high ozone levels are a recurring problem due to the region's intense heat and sunlight. Pollution problems also occur from October through January �I due to frequent strong temperature inversions which trap pollutants near the earth's surface. These stagnant air conditions can last for weeks at a time. During these periods carbon monoxide levels rise. The presence of visibility-reducing particulates are a problem during much of the year. Dust from spring winds and agricultural operations account for I most of the area's particulate pollutants (SJVUAPCD, 1995). i REGULATORY FRAMEWORK I' Federal Clean Air Act The Federal Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970 required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for several air pollutants on iI the basis of human health and welfare criteria. The CAA also set deadlines for the I� attainment of these standards. The CAA Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) made major IE changes in deadlines for attaining NAAQS and in the actions required of areas of the 'I nation that exceeded these standards. !I I I The CAA requires an air quality control plan referred to as the State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP contains the strategies and control measures California will use to attain F the NAAQS. The CAAA of 1990 require states containing areas that violate the NAAQS (such as the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin) to revise their SIPS to incorporate additional control measures to reduce air pollutants. If, when reviewing the SIP for conformity with CAAA mandates, the EPA determines a SIP to be inadequate, it may prepare a Federal !� I ' Implementation Pian (FIP) for the nonattainment area and may impose additional control measures. The most recent update to the California SIP was approved by the EPA-on September 25, 1996 (Merchen, .1997). I Pursuant to the CAA and subsequent amendments,.the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD),-the agency with jurisdiction over air quality in the ' Basin, prepared its 1993 Rate of Progress (ROP) Plan. The 1993 ROP Plan, which was submitted to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for inclusion in the SIP for California, outlined how the SJVUAPCD proposes to reduce ozone forming pollutants by providing a 15% reduction in emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) between li 1990 and 1996. Other SJVUAPCD SIP submittals include the Post-1996 ROP Plan, which # proposes to reduce emissions of VOC and/or oxides of nitrogen (NOJ by an additional 9% _ from 1990 levels, and the Ozone Attainment Demonstration Plan, which demonstrates by !` computer modeling that NAAQS for ozone (03)would be reached by 1999 (Mitchell, 1997). ! ; Draft Environmental Impact Report 4-61 ER-96-3 �I I.