Saticoy & Wells Community Plan & Development ... - City Of Ventura

Saticoy & Wells Community Plan and Code EIRSection 4.3 Air QualityCarbon Monoxide. Carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas, is a localpollutant that is found in high concentrations only very near the source. The major source ofcarbon monoxide is automobile engines. Elevated concentrations, therefore, are usually onlyfound near areas of high traffic volumes. Carbon monoxide’s health effects are related to itsaffinity for hemoglobin in the blood. At high concentrations, carbon monoxide reduces theamount of oxygen in the blood, causing heart difficulties in people with chronic diseases,reduced lung capacity and impaired mental abilities.c. Current Ambient Air Quality. The Air Quality Monitoring Station at El Rio is thenearest to the City of Ventura and most representative of air quality in the Project Area. The ElRio monitoring station measures ozone, NO2, PM10, and PM2.5. The closest monitoring stationreporting CO is the Goleta-Fairview station in Santa Barbara. There are no CO monitoringstations in Ventura County. Table 4.3-2 lists the ambient air quality data for the El Rio andGoleta-Fairview monitoring stations.Ozone concentrations at the El Rio monitoring station exceeded the state standard only onceduring the 2005-2007 period and federal standards were not exceeded. Measured concentrationsamples of PM10 at El Rio exceeded state standards between 2 to 4 times per year from 2005-2007. Federal exceedances occurred once in the year 2007; 2005 and 2006 did not report anyexceedances of the federal standard. Estimates were used due to a lack of samples. VenturaCounty is in attainment for the federal PM 2.5 standard. Neither carbon monoxide nor nitrogendioxide at the El Rio station exceeded federal or state standards. Carbon monoxideconcentrations at the Goleta-Fairview monitoring station did not exceed state or federalstandards during the 2005-2007 period.The major sources of ozone precursors in Ventura County are motor vehicles and other mobileequipment, solvent use, pesticide application, the petroleum industry, and electric utilities. Themajor sources of PM 10 are road dust, construction, mobile sources, and farming operations.Locally, Santa Ana winds are responsible for entraining dust and occasionally causing elevatedPM 10 levels.d. Air Quality Management Plan. The Federal Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA)mandate that states submit and implement a State Implementation Plan (SIP) for areas notmeeting air quality standards. The SIP includes pollution control measures to demonstrate howthe standards will be met through those measures. The SIP is established by incorporatingmeasures established during the preparation of AQMPs and adopted rules and regulations byeach local APCD and AQMD, which are submitted for approval to the ARB and the USEPA.The goal of an AQMP is to reduce pollutant concentrations below the National Ambient AirQuality Standards (NAAQS) through the implementation of air pollutant emissions controls.The USEPA designated Ventura County a moderate nonattainment area for the 8-hour ozonestandard based on Ventura County’s ozone levels over the previous three years in 2004.Moderate ozone nonattainment areas are required to obtain the federal 8-hour ozone standardby June 15, 2010. On February 14, 2008, ARB formally requested that the USEPA reclassifyVentura County to a serious 8-hour ozone nonattainment area. This means that Ventura Countymust meet the federal 8-hour ozone standard by June 15, 2013. VCAPCD has released a Final4.3-5City of Ventura