COMPLIANCE INFO_FINAL INITIAL STUDY/MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION 5/25

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North County Recycling Center and Sanitary Landfill Permit Revision Project Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration · San Joaquin County | May 2025 22 Less-than-Significant Impact The project would not change the capacity of the North County Landfill and would not involve the construction of any new facilities. The project would increase the maximum amount of allowed daily refuse disposal and number of daily incoming refuse trucks from 1,200 tons per day and 850 trucks per day to 4,000 tons and 1,200 trucks per day. This increase would require a change in refuse truck routing; that is, approximately 50 transfer trucks that currently go to the Foothill Landfill would be re-routed to the North County Landfill. The increase in daily refuse disposal would also increase the use of off-road equipment associated with landfill operations. Up to six new employees would be needed for the increase in waste disposal and truck trip- related activity. These changes in operational activities at the North County Landfill would generate criteria pollutant emissions that could potentially impact regional air quality. The primary pollutant emissions of concern during project operation would be ozone precursors (ROG and NOx), PM10, PM2.5, and emissions of LFG. Implementation of the project would result in net increases in off- road equipment usage on the project site, and project-generated vehicle trips along the haul route. Although the project would not change the North County Landfill design capacity, the rate of additional cell and module construction on the project site would increase to accommodate the amount of waste accepted with the proposed increase in maximum allowed daily refuse disposal. Compared to the current operation conditions, the project could increase fugitive emissions from the landfill surface, and exhaust emissions from LFG control devices (e.g., flare) due to the increase in LFG generated and collected. An analysis of estimated emissions that are expected to occur from implementation of the project is provided below. Off-Road Equipment and On-Road Mobile Sources Criteria air pollutant emissions from off-road equipment for the current operation condition (2024) of the landfill and project condition were calculated using the California Emissions Estimator Model (CalEEMod) version 2022.1 . Emissions associated with off-road equipment and refuse vehicles are characterized as mobile sources. The project would increase the allowed number of daily incoming refuse vehicles from 850 to 1,200 vehicles per day, and it was assumed that the project would generate 12 one-way worker commute trips per day for the six new employees. The project would also generate fugitive PM10 and PM2.5 emissions from on-site earthwork activities, on-road vehicle brake wear and tire wear, resuspended road dust on paved and unpaved roads, and windblown landfill sediment and cover. Earthwork at the North County Landfill is conducted in accordance with the Valley Air District’s Regulation VIII, using water trucks and sweepers for dust control. It was assumed that the exposed areas will be watered twice per day. The primary data used to estimate criteria air pollutant emissions associated with operation of the project were provided by the project applicant and included information about the current operation condition and project off-road construction equipment inventory and usage, off-site haul truck trips, on-site water trucks trips, other on-site service truck trips, and travel distances for each trip category.