Draft Environmental Impact Report - California Off Highway Vehicle ...

3.2 Air Quality
URBEMIS2007 also incorporates CARB’s OFFROAD2007 model for off‐road construction and
landscape maintenance equipment emissions. Mobile source emissions associated with the use of
off‐road vehicles, such as recreational vehicles, agricultural equipment, ships, and airplanes are
not calculated by URBEMIS2007. Mobile source emissions of OHVs are calculated in this impact
analysis using separate OFFROAD2007 model runs. While OFFROAD2007 includes OHV, it does
not address differences in red‐ and green‐sticker OHV emissions. However, it does assume an
aging vehicle fleet whereby older vehicles will be phased out over time, as is expected of red‐
sticker OHVs.
Area sources are stationary sources of criteria pollutants that individually emit small quantities of
pollutants, but can collectively contribute to significant quantities of pollutants. Area source
emissions calculated using URBEMIS2007 include natural gas combustion for cooking, heating,
and water heaters; hearth fuel combustion from wood‐burning stoves, wood‐burning fire places,
and natural gas fire places; fuel combustion from landscape equipment; consumer products, such
as hairspray, deodorants, cleaning products, spray paint, and insecticides; and maintenance
architectural coatings. Area sources of PM10 and fugitive dust include paved and unpaved roads,
undeveloped land with no vegetation, and farming operations.
The URBEMIS model uses the Feather River Air Quality Management District EMFAC database
because a database specific to Butte County is not available. This approach is considered
appropriate by Butte County AQMD staff (Kamian, pers. comm., 2010). The analysis of the
construction and operation of the headquarters facilities assumes construction would begin in
2012. However, construction may be delayed to funding or other constraints. Nonetheless, the
analysis reflected herein is accurate and appropriate for the purposes of CEQA because
construction emissions associated with the use of heavy equipment are anticipated to decrease as
technology improvements are realized in subsequent years.
General Plan Impact Analysis
IMPACT
3.2-1
Potential Air Quality Pollution Related to Construction Emissions
Construction of new OHV facilities envisioned in the Clay Pit SVRA General Plan may occur in
stages, but construction activities are anticipated to occur over the course of a total of
approximately 12 months, to be completed by June 2017. This analysis evaluates emissions
assuming construction during fiscal years 2012/2013 (headquarters facilities) and 2016/2017
(OHV facilities). Activities that would generate emissions during construction of the
improvements envisioned in the Clay Pit SVRA General Plan include mass site grading, fine
grading and soil compaction, trenching, building construction, asphalt pavement, and architectural
coatings. Other sources of emissions during construction would be from hauling and laying the
Clay Pit State Vehicular Recreation Area
Draft EIR 3.2-9 February 2012