On June 21, 2002, the South Coast AQMD adopted the 2002 Coachella Valley PM10 State Implementation Plan (CVSIP). The 2002 CVSIP (see below), which included a request for extension of the PM10 deadline and met all applicable federal CAA requirements, including a Most Stringent Measures analysis, control measures, and attainment demonstration. U.S. EPA approved the 2002 CVSIP on April 18, 2003. At the time of adoption, the South Coast AQMD committed to revising with the 2002 CVSIP with the latest approved mobile source emissions estimates, planning assumptions and fugitive dust source emission estimates, when they became available.
The 2003 CVSIP updates those elements of the 2002 CVSIP; the control strategies and control measure commitments have not been revised and remain the same as in the 2002 CVSIP. The 2003 CVSIP contains updated emissions inventories, emission budgets, and attainment modeling. It requests that U.S. EPA replace the approved transportation conformity budgets in the 2002 CVSIP with those in the 2003 CVSIP. U.S. EPA approved these budgets on March 25, 2004 with an effective date of April 9, 2004.
The Coachella Valley, located in the Salton Sea Air Basin and under South Coast AQMD's jurisdiction, has been designated as a serious nonattainment area for PM10. The attainment date for serious non-attainment areas to achieve the PM10 NAAQS is 2001. After years of demonstrating attainment of the PM10 standards, PM10 levels in the last three years (1999-2001) do not demonstrate attainment of the annual average PM10 NAAQS. (Coachella Valley has attained the 24-hour PM10 standard since 1993.)
Under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), an area can request an extension of up to five years to attain the PM10 NAAQS, if certain requirements are met. The requirements include a State Implementation Plan (SIP) that demonstrates expeditious attainment of the standards. The Draft Final 2002 Coachella Valley PM10 SIP (CVSIP) addresses the recent rise in PM10 levels above the standard by establishing additional controls needed to demonstrate expeditious attainment of the PM10 standards. This attainment plan builds upon a historically proactive and successful dust control program by Coachella Valley jurisdictions and the South Coast AQMD.
The Draft Final 2002 CVSIP details the modifications to the previous analyses and programs, including additional control measures for construction and earth-moving activities, farming, paved roads, unpaved roads and parking lots, vacant lands, and farming. In accordance with U.S. EPA guidance, the plan consists of a revised emissions inventory (including emission budgets for transportation conformity) , a Most Stringent Measures analysis, a control strategy, a demonstration of attainment, an update to the 1996 Natural Events Action Plan, and a request for extension of the PM10 attainment deadline.
The Coachella Valley, located in the Salton Sea Air Basin and under South Coast AQMD's jurisdiction, has been designated as a serious nonattainment area for PM10. With application of the U.S. EPA's Natural Events Policy, the Coachella Valley has not violated either the 24-hour or annual average PM10 standards during the last three calendar years (1993 - 1995) and is thus eligible for redesignation to attainment. This plan, adopted by the Governing Board on December 13, 1996, requests the U.S. EPA to redesignate the Coachella Valley as an attainment area for PM10. In accordance with U.S. EPA guidance, the plan consists of a demonstration of attainment, a maintenance plan, contingency measures, and a Natural Events Action Plan.