What are the Requirements for Conducting a Socioeconomic Analysis?

• The South Coast AQMD Governing Board is required to actively consider the socioeconomic impacts of any proposed rule, amendment, or repeal that will significantly affect air quality or emissions limitations and to make a good faith effort to minimize those adverse effects. (Health and Safety Code Sections 40440.8 and 40728.5)

• An incremental cost-effectiveness analysis is required for a proposed rule or amendment which imposes Best Available Retrofit Control Technology (BARCT) or “all feasible measures” requirements relating to emissions of ozone, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and their precursors. (Health and Safety Code Section 40920.6)

• The South Coast Air Quality Management District is committed to preparing a Socioeconomic Impact Assessment on each of its proposed projects, in accordance with the March 17, 1989 Governing Board Socioeconomic Resolution. Furthermore, Agenda #27 of the October 14, 1994 Governing Board Meeting outlines the process and key components involved in preparing a Socioeconomic Impact Assessment.

What is in a Socioeconomic Impact Assessment?

A Socioeconomic Impact Assessment includes:

• Types of industries or businesses affected by the project, including small businesses

• Impacts on employment and the regional economy

• Range of probable costs and benefits

To evaluate the specific impacts on small businesses, an analysis is conducted which identifies whether any affected businesses qualify as small businesses under South Coast AQMD’s Rule 102, the South Coast AQMD Small Business Assistance Office definition, the U.S. Small Business Administration, or the 1990 Federal Clean Air Act Amendments (section C) definition. 

The Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI) PI+ model is a tool that is utilized for assessing local macroeconomic impacts of proposed projects. This model integrates compliance costs and demand increases from proposed projects to forecast job gains or losses, prices, wages, and other economic variables in relation to a baseline scenario. 

For proposed plans, such as the Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP), no Socioeconomic Impact Assessment is required pursuant to Health and Safety Code Sections 40440.8 and 40728.5 because a plan is not a rule or regulation in the meaning of those statutes. However, proposed plans are evaluated to determine if any socioeconomic impacts will result. For example, for the AQMP, a socioeconomic assessment is conducted which evaluates the potential costs and benefits of the plan and analyzes its socioeconomic impacts on the region. The findings from these assessments are compiled into socioeconomic reports. For more information and to access reports on previous AQMPs please visit the AQMP Socioeconomic Webpage.

For proposed projects with an average annual cost of less than one million dollars, the Socioeconomic Impact Assessment is included within the Final Staff Report instead of being provided as a separate attachment. Additionally, for purely administrative projects that are expected to have no socioeconomic impacts, a Socioeconomic Impact Assessment is not required.

To access the socioeconomic analyses that were conducted for rule/regulation and plan projects, please click on the applicable year:  

2025, 2024, 2023, 2022 and Prior Years.