General Process

Q. Rule 9510 (ISR Rule) states that I must apply “no later than applying for a final discretionary approval with a public agency”. What exactly does this mean?

A. The ‘last discretionary approval’ is the discretionary approval that results in the project being vested (having the right to develop). For example, the Tentative Tract Map is often the last discretionary approval a public agency has for residential projects.

The application timing is intended to allow the ISR program to run parallel to the public agency approval process to the extent possible. The District expects that the best time to apply is when a project application is found complete by the public agency. ISR applications may be submitted prior to submitting a public agency application if the project information is not expected to change.

Applicants should keep in mind the ISR application review timeline when deciding the appropriate time to submit an ISR application. The District has up to 10 calendar days to deem the application complete, and then 30 calendar days to evaluate the application. If the application is deemed incomplete during the 10 completeness reviews, the applicant will be notified. When the applicant submits the additional information, a new 10-day completeness period starts.

Q. The ISR Timeline is 10 days for completeness and 30 days for evaluation. What happens if the District is not done evaluating after 30 days? Is the project automatically approved?

A. The purpose of the application is to determine the amount of a mitigation fee, if any, which is required to comply with the rule and is not a project approval that would delay development. Any mitigation fees that are required would not be waived if we exceed the 30-day evaluation period.

Q. If I have problems during or after the application process, to whom do I go and how are disagreements resolved?

A. Every application is assigned to a staff member who will evaluate the application and be the point of contact. The District recommends that applicants first contact the staff assigned to their project for any issues. We will make every effort to work with applicants and their representatives to fairly and expeditiously resolve any issues that arise.

Q. What happens to the fees if my project loses its development entitlement due to lawsuit or other action?

A. If the applicant has already paid the off-site fees, the District will process a refund.

Q. What happens if my project changes in a way that reduces emissions after the fees have been paid? For example, my grading contractor will be using a clean equipment fleet?

A. The District will accept a revision to the application that accounts for the change in emissions. If it results in a change that reduces emissions, the District will process a refund based on the amount reduced.

A. ISR applies to development projects that result in construction of a new building, facility or structure, or reconstruction of a building facility or structure for the purpose of increasing capacity or activity. If a change of use project includes construction or reconstruction of a building or facility, then the increase in emission may be subject to ISR. However, if the change of use does not include construction or reconstruction, the project is not subject to ISR.

Q. What if I have an approved tract map or site plan, and need a discretionary permit to change the design or layout, but the changes do not increase the units or capacity?

A. ISR does not apply to modifications to approved developments if the modifications do not increase emissions.

Q. If a School is shifting students from an overcrowded school to a new facility, is that a project under ISR?

A. Yes. Building a new facility adds capacity. ISR is designed to target emissions resulting from growth. Shifting students from an overcrowded school to a new facility is essentially shifting the location of the growth. Therefore, this scenario would be considered an applicable project under ISR.

A. For infrequently seen land uses not specifically listed in section 2.1, the District may determine rule applicability based on the trip generation rate and expected construction emissions from the project. Evaluation would be on a case-by-case basis to account for the many variables.

Q. Are projects that are ‘Categorically Exempt’ from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) subject to ISR?

“This rule shall apply to any applicant that seeks to gain a final discretionary approval for a development project…” Rule 9510 §2.1

ISR applies to discretionary approvals, regardless if that approval is exempted from the requirements of CEQA.

Q. According to the rule, I must go through a checklist of on-site emission reduction measures, and justify the measures that are not selected. What is considered a reasonable justification for non-selection?

A. The District’s preferred approach for rule compliance is through on-site measures; however, the District cannot require their use. The purpose of the checklist is to increase awareness of the various on-site measures available to applicants and to provide the opportunity to maximize on-site emission reductions thereby reducing the off-site fee. However, if measures are not consistent with the development’s objectives, are not economically feasible, etc., the applicant may denote that in the “Non-Selection of On-Site Measures” supplemental form. The explanation needs to provide sufficient information to tell why the measure was not selected.

Q. There is a measure for bike-paths under “Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure”. This measure and others have the option of “planned”. Is planned infrastructure given the same credit as existing?

A. Yes, as long as the implementation is enforced through an existing planning document. We realize that some planned infrastructure may not be installed at the same time the project is built. However, this sort of infrastructure provides a lifetime benefit to the area.

Q. If during the construction, the District finds that the project (construction equipment or other) is not compliant with what was submitted by the project applicant, who is ultimately responsible? Will the District hold the contractor or landowner responsible?

A. The project applicant is the ultimate responsible party. The applicant assumes all responsibility for ISR compliance for this project. If the project changes ownership, the applicant must notify the buyer, and both buyer and applicant must file a change of ownership form with the District. If the project changes ownership, and a change of ownership form is not filed with the District, the applicant remains liable for ISR compliance.

Q. Does the District provide any training on how to use the URBEMIS emission models for air quality assessment analyses?

A. The District will be holding training sessions for URBEMIS in the coming year and will answer questions from applicants and consultants regarding its use. URBEMIS has a user’s manual that explains basic model operation. The manual is available at no cost at www.urbemis.com.

Q. How does a Public Agency reference ISR in an Initial Study if the project has not yet been reviewed by the District under Rule 9510?

A. The District recommends that the Public Agency refer to the ISR rule the same way they refer to other District Rules and requirements. Although a project has not been reviewed by the ISR program, the requirements of the ISR rule are known:

Q. In CEQA documents, should the lead agency differentiate between on-site and off-site emission reductions achieved by a project?

A. Yes. Some of the onsite measures may be required by regulation and should be considered in the project baseline. Measures agreed to by the applicant as a CEQA mitigation measure would be handled as such. Reductions achieved by off-site fees are required by regulation and should be addressed in the CEQA document as such.

Q. Should Public Agencies still send request for comments to the District for project that are less than the ISR threshold?

A. Yes. The District will continue commenting on projects that Public Agencies send to the District. The District’s CEQA comments address the full range of air quality issues such as odor, toxic and hazardous pollutants, carbon monoxide, etc. while ISR only addresses NOx and PM10 emissions.

Q. Public Agencies received a letter a while ago stating that the District would not comment on certain projects. What projects will not be commented on and why?

A. The District sent a letter to Public Agencies stating that certain projects will not receive a District comment. The District receives more than 3,000 requests for comments from Public Agencies every year. In order to most efficiently use staff resources certain projects as having very little to no air quality impacts will not receive a letter unless specifically requested by the lead agency. The District will continue to accept, log and file all request for comment these projects. The “no comment” letter projects include, but are not limited to:

Q. In URBEMIS, is the trip rate in the land use tab Average Day Trips (ADT) or Peak Hourly?

A. The trip rate is ADT. The trip rates are primarily obtained from the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual.

Q. Will there be a penalty/cost associated with revising the construction phasing?

Would revising the schedule incur additional mitigation fees if the proposed project’s construction is shortened or vice/versa would the applicant receive a credit if scheduled to lengthen the time until project completion?

A. If the fees were paid at the same time as originally proposed in a fee deferral schedule, the phasing change would not have an impact. If the applicant is proposing to pay in a later year, the fee would be revised to reflect the cost of reductions for that year.

Q. My project involves the conversion of agricultural land to non-ag use. Can I net out the agricultural emissions?

A. No. The conversion of agricultural land is already accounted for in the emission inventory and so no surplus emissions are available.

General Process

Applicability

Application Documents

Compliance Actions

Resources/Training

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

Emissions Modeling