Planning Division

Air Quality Assessment for CEQA

Air Quality Planning

Emissions Inventory

Publications / Forms

Transportation Planning

Transportation Outreach

 

Tyler Harris, Manager – Planning, Rules and Incentives (805) 303-3661

 

Emission Inventory & Forecasting

John Henkelman, Supervising Air Quality Engineer (805) 303-3656

Wunna Aung, AQ Engineer (805) 303-3659

Brian Serros, AQ Specialist (805) 303-3657

 

Transportation Planning

Holly Galbreath, AQ Specialist (805) 303-3666
Brian Serros, AQ Specialist (805) 303-3657

 

Environmental Review

Nicole Collazo, AQ Specialist (805) 303-3674

 

 

The Planning Division is responsible for developing the long-range strategy for how the District will provide clean, healthful air to the citizens, and visitors of Ventura County. To this end, District staff is called upon to estimate the quantities of pollutant emissions emitted to the atmosphere, and the relationship between these emissions and the quality of air we all breathe. Division staff identifies ways that businesses, government, and private individuals can reduce the amounts of pollutants emitted to the atmosphere to improve air quality and protect public health.

 

In addition, the Division is responsible for the Employer Transportation Program. The objective of this program is to reduce the number of single occupant vehicles operated by employees traveling to and from work. Transportation staff works directly with employers to develop voluntary programs that encourage employees to use alternate forms of transportation. Also, staff evaluates how governmental actions (including land use projects and capital improvements) can adversely affect air quality and ways to mitigate these impacts as required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

 

 

Division Objectives 

Develop a comprehensive plan for achieving health-based federal and state clean air standards.

Some Ventura County residents currently breathe air that does not meet federal or state health standards for ozone or state particulate matter standards. In an effort to clean up the air to meet health standards, the Air Pollution Control Board has adopted an Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP), which identifies the necessary programs to achieve healthful air. These programs include stationary source measures implemented by the District, off-road mobile source measures implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on-road mobile and area-wide measures implemented by the California Air Resources Board and other state agencies, and a variety of other measures to be implemented by the District, local cities and other local agencies.

 

As part of the District's ongoing planning effort, staff evaluates current and historical air quality levels, estimates current air pollutant emissions from a wide range of sources, develops emission control programs to achieve clean air countywide, calculates the level of emission reductions associated with current and future control programs, forecasts future emission levels accounting for growth and control trends, and uses air quality models to determine the required emission reductions to meet air quality goals.

 

Prepare and update the District’s emissions inventory on an ongoing basis.

An air pollutant emissions inventory is one of the cornerstones on which the District’s comprehensive air quality plan is based. This inventory allows the District to determine which programs are necessary to achieve clean, healthful air, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the individual emission control measures. District staff work with staff of the California Air Resources Board, and industry representatives to compile and update information on the location and quantity of air pollutants emitted in Ventura County throughout the year. The inventory includes emissions from stationary sources (generally industrial facilities and businesses), mobile sources (on- and non-road), natural sources, and dispersed “areawide” sources (such as solvent use and dry cleaning operations).

 

Evaluate the air quality impacts of projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The primary goal of CEQA is to develop and maintain a high-quality environment now and in the future, and take all action necessary to protect, rehabilitate, and enhance the environmental quality of the state. To achieve this goal, CEQA requires that public agencies in California identify and disclose the significant environmental effects of proposed activities and avoid or mitigate those effects to the extent feasible. APCD staff participates as a responsible agency in the preparation and review of environmental documents

prepared by the County of Ventura, local cities, and other public agencies to determine potential adverse air quality impacts from projects, and identifies measures to mitigate those impacts.

 

District Staff has also developed Air Quality Assessment Guidelines, for use by local agencies, environmental consultants and project applicants. These guidelines explain the county’s air quality significance thresholds and recommend procedures to evaluate the air quality impacts of proposed projects and mitigate those impacts to acceptable levels. They are revised on a periodic basis to update methodology on estimating emissions, alternative mitigation measures, air quality information, and address the changes in the CEQA requirements. Staff is currently working on an update to the 2003 Air Quality Assessment Guidelines, which will also involve a public review process.

 

Develop and implement measures to reduce motor vehicle emissions associated with urban growth.

On-road motor vehicle emissions currently account for more than half of the ozone-forming emissions in Ventura County. Consequently, the District's AQMP relies on a wide range of programs implemented by federal, state and local agencies, to reduce mobile source emissions and achieve clean air. Planning Division staff coordinates with these agencies to ensure that programs are implemented as expected, identifies opportunities where additional emission reduction programs can be implemented, and reviews agency actions to ensure that they will not interfere with efforts to reduce mobile source emissions.