Southern California’s air quality watchdog has approved regulations intended to reduce pollution from Los Angeles County oil refineries and related facilities.
The governing board for the South Coast Air Quality Management District on Friday, Nov. 5, OK’d rules mandating tighter emission limits, eliminating a credit system for emission reduction requirements, and implementing new provisions related to equipment start-up and shut-down periods, regulations with which the region’s petroleum trade group says they intend to comply.
The new regulations extend to 16 refineries and other related facilities in Carson, Wilmington, Torrance, Paramount, Long Beach and South Gate. The regulations, which will be implemented over the next decade, include:
- Limiting emissions for nearly 300 pieces of combustion equipment.
- Banning refineries from purchasing credits for emission reduction.
- Establishing two alternative compliance pathways for refineries to meet requirements.
For the last regulation, the “B-Plan” focuses on nitrogen oxide limits on individual pieces of equipment at refineries, and the “B-Cap” extends to facility-wide emissions targets.
The “B-Plan” and “B-Cap” targets must be based on the total emission reductions possible from the best available technology for pollution-control equipment, according to the new rule. Both plans will rely on a three-step implementation schedule, called an “I-Plan,” with the last phase set to be completed by 2031.
The decade-long timeline is meant accommodate the shutdowns refineries will have to undergo to perform maintenance and repairs refineries. The total cost to implement Rule 1109.1 is estimated at $2.3 billion, averaging about $133 million per year, said Susan Nakamura, AQMD’s assistant deputy executive officer.
Representatives with Western States Petroleum Association, which represents petroleum companies, said that while the new regulations are strict, the organization would work to implement the changes.
“WSPA recognizes the need to continue making progress with (nitrogen oxide) reductions while delivering energy for Californians,” said Patty Senecal, director for the association’s Southern California region. “This is a strong rule.
“The industry is committed to ensuring the rule is successful,” Senecal added, “by making substantial investments to reduce emissions.”
Senecal’s office estimated that it will require around $200 million to $1 billion for each refinery to implement the changes.
Environmental groups cheered the new rules on Friday, though they also said even greater changes remain necessary.
“We applaud the South Coast Air District’s passage of the long-awaited rule to curb deadly refinery emissions in Southern California,” Earthjustice senior attorney Oscar Espino-Padron said in a statement. “While this rule is far from perfect, it marks a critical turning point in a decades-long fight to clean up the air for all residents in the region, and is a watershed moment for the fenceline communities living alongside these refineries.
“But the work does not end here,” Espino-Padron added. “The Air District must continue its focus on adopting strong rules to reduce pollution at refineries throughout the region as we continue to work towards phasing out fossil fuels entirely.”
Despite having the nation’s most extensive emissions regulations, Southern California has endured some of the worst air quality in the country for years. A recent air-quality report ranked Southern California as the worst in the country and noted that its greenhouse gas emissions have contributed to warmer temperatures, droughts and wildfires.
Oil refineries emit nitrogen oxide, which have contributed to the a ground-level ozone of smog pollution, something South Coast AQMD sought to curb back in 1993 through its Regional Clean Air Incentive Market, a cap-and-trade system.
Under that system, refineries and related facilities could purchase credits that allowed them to exceed emission levels. But because the credits were so cheap, refineries invested heavily in that market rather than upgrading their equipment, according to a presentation AQMD staff gave during Friday’s meeting.
“This trajectory to move away from RECLAIM is incredibly important for the area I represent,” said Long Beach Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, who serves on the South Coast AQMD board.
Long Beach’s western half has among the worst air pollution in the country, according to state and federal data, with refineries contributing to that, though the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, and the heavy truck traffic on the 710 Freeway related to the ports also contribute.
“This rule expects to result in nearly 8 tons of (nitrogen oxide) reductions a day,” Richardson added about the emission-reduction rule, “and that’s a huge, huge step forward in addressing the health impacts in the most disadvantaged communities in Southern California.”
The estimated 8 tons of nitrogen oxide — or NOx — reductions, required under the main rule AQMD adopted Friday, would be a steep decrease compared to 2017 levels, which average around 12 tons per day.
That new emissions rule, AQMD officials said, is projected to hit the 8 ton a day mark Richardson cited over the next 14 years. Nearly half of those reductions, the agency said, would come within the next two years, the deadline to meet federal air standards. The regulation would reach 75% of its emissions-reduction goal by 2027 and 90% by 2031, AQMD said.
Doing so would prevent 370 premature deaths and more than 6,200 asthma attacks, AQMD said.
“Once implemented,” AQMD board Chairman Ben J. Benoit said in a statement, “this rule will have immediate benefits to our air quality, especially for those living near these facilities who are directly impacted.”