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Regional Hearing Board Information
On October 29, 1992 the Districts Governing Board approved the
establishment of three Hearing Boards, as mandated by State Law. The three
Regional Hearing Boards consist of the following: the Northern Region Hearing
Board representing the counties of Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus; the
Central Region Hearing Board representing the counties of Fresno, Kings and
Madera; and the Southern Region Hearing Board representing the counties of Kern
and Tulare. The Hearing Board meets at the regional office within the
area it represents.
The Districts three Regional Hearing Boards offer another example of
citizen participation in cleaning up Valley air. Under California Health and
Safety Code, Section 40801, a hearing board shall consist of: one member
admitted to the practice of law in this state; one member from the medical
profession whose specialized skills, training or interests are in the fields of
environmental medicine, community medicine, or occupational/toxicologic
medicine; one member who is a professional engineer registered as such pursuant
to the Professional Engineers Act (Chapter 7, commencing with Section 6700) of
Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code; and two public members.
Therefore, each hearing board is comprised of one attorney, one member from the
medical profession, one engineer and two public members. Under California Health
and Safety Code, Section 40804, the terms of the members of a hearing board
shall be three years. That section also requires that those terms be staggered.
Meetings are scheduled monthly in each region and are used primarily to hear
requests by permitted sources for temporary relief from District rules and
regulations, known as variances. A variance may be issued to allow a source to
continue operating legally while temporarily in violation of regulations, in
order to avoid undue economic hardship. The source may not create a public
nuisance and must agree to return to compliance as quickly as possible.
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