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Administrative Draft Environmental Impact Report Gill Medical Center Project Because the attainment/nonattainment designation is pollutant-specific, an area may be classified as nonattainment for one pollutant and attainment for another. Similarly, because the state and federal standards differ, an area could be classified as attainment for the federal standards of a pollutant and as nonattainment for the state standards of the same pollutant.The region is designated as nonattainment area for federal 03 and PM2.5 standards and is also a nonattainment area for the state standards for 03, PMio, and PM2.5 standards (CARB 2018a). 4.5.1.5 Sensitive Receptors Sensitive receptors are defined as facilities or land uses that include members of the population who are particularly sensitive to the effects of air pollutants, such as children, the elderly, and people with illnesses. Examples of these sensitive receptors are residences, schools, hospitals, and daycare centers. CARB has identified the following groups of individuals as the most likely to be affected by air pollution:the elderly over 65, children under 14, athletes, and persons with cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis. The nearest sensitive receptors to the Project site are existing rural residential properties directly adjacent to the site's southern boundary.These residences front Eight Mile Road between West Lane and North Ham Lane. 4.5.2 Regulatory Setting 4.5.2.1 Federal Clean Air Act The Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970 and the CAA Amendments of 1971 required the USEPA to establish the NAAQS,with states retaining the option to adopt more stringent standards or to include other specific pollutants. On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court found that carbon dioxide (CO2) is an air pollutant covered by the CAA; however, no NAAQS have been established for CO2. These standards are the levels of air quality considered safe, with an adequate margin of safety, to protect the public health and welfare.They are designed to protect those "sensitive receptors" most susceptible to further respiratory distress such as asthmatics, the elderly, very young children, people already weakened by other disease or illness, and persons engaged in strenuous work or exercise. Healthy adults can tolerate occasional exposure to air pollutant concentrations considerably above these minimum standards before adverse effects are observed. The USEPA has classified air basins (or portions thereof) as being in attainment, nonattainment, or unclassified for each criteria air pollutant, based on whether or not the NAAQS have been achieved. If an area is designated unclassified, it is because inadequate air quality data were available as a basis for a nonattainment or attainment designation.Table 4.5-3 lists the federal attainment status of the SJVAB for the criteria pollutants. Air Quality 4.5-7 October 2021