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4 Environmental Analysis 4.3 Air Quality Hazardous Air Pollutants The 1977 federal CAA amendments required the USEPA to identify national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (HAP) to protect public health and welfare. HAPs include certain volatile organic chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and radionuclides that present a tangible hazard, based on scientific studies of exposure to humans and other mammals. The 1990 federal CAA Amendments, which expanded the control program for HAPs, identified 189 substances and chemical families as HAPs. Over the years, the list has been modified. Currently, there are 187 federally regulated HAPs. 4.3.2.2 State Regulations Criteria Air Pollutants The CCAA, passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by the Governor in 1988, assigns state-specific ambient air quality standards. The California standards are, in most cases, more stringent than federal standards. The goal of the CCAA is to attain state air quality standards by the earliest practical date. Since California established ambient air quality standards several years before the federal action and due to unique air quality problems introduced by the restrictive dispersion meteorology in much of California, there can be a considerable difference between state and national clean air standards. The standards currently in effect in California are shown in Table 4.3-1. The CCAA requires each air pollution control district of an air basin that is designated as nonattainment of state ambient air quality standards to prepare and submit a plan for attaining and maintaining state standards. After further review of the relationship between fine PM and human health effects, the CARB adopted new state standards on June 20, 2002, for PM2.5which are more stringent than the federal standards. No specific control programs are in place to achieve this much more stringent standard. However, it does represent an air quality goal to dramatically reduce the adverse health effects from small-particle air pollution. Toxic Air Contaminants The state Air Toxics Program was established in 1983 under Assembly Bill (AB) 1807 (Tanner). The California Toxic Air Contaminants (TAC) list identifies more than 700 pollutants, of which carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic toxicity criteria have been established as a subset of these pollutants pursuant to the California Health and Safety Code. In accordance with AB 2728, the state list includes the (federal) HAPs. The Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Information and Assessment Act of 1987 (AB 2588)seeks to identify and evaluate risk from air toxics sources. TAC emissions from individual facilities are quantified and prioritized. "High-priority"facilities are required to perform a health risk assessment and, if specific thresholds are exceeded, facilities are required to communicate the results to the public in the form of notices and public meetings. The mixture of solid particles from equipment with diesel engines are collectively known as diesel particulate matter (DPM)'. These include many known or suspected cancer-causing substances, such as benzene, arsenic, and formaldehyde. Long-term exposure to diesel exhaust particles poses the highest cancer risk of any toxic air contaminant evaluated by the Office of DPM has been estimated as PM10 emitted from the exhaust of onsite, diesel-fueled construction equipment and vehicles. Griffith Energy Storage Project 4.3-5 Tetra Tech/SCH 2022120675 Draft Environmental Impact Report August 2023