Learn about the Air District's development process for amendments to Regulation 6, Rule 5, which are part of a set of amendments that would provide revisions to existing refinery rules.
Find out about the status and anticipated timeline of the rule development process. Information on hearings, workshops, and other events is provided below, along with supporting documents and materials.
Regulation 6, Rule 5 - one of three rules referred to as the Refinery Rules package - was adopted by the Air District's Board of Directors at a public hearing on December 19, 2018:
Regulation 6, Rule 5: Particulate Emissions from Refinery Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Units was adopted by the Air District Board of Directors in December 2015. Rule 6-5, along with other refinery rules, was challenged by three of the five Bay Area refineries in a lawsuit in 2016, Valero, et al. v. Bay Area Air Quality Management District. In March 2017, the parties to the lawsuit entered an enforcement agreement and agreement to stay litigation for these refinery rules. The agreement includes provisions for the Air District to modify implementation of the rules and subsequently develop corresponding amendments to the rules.
The Air District is developing amendments to Rule 6-5 to clarify rule exemptions and provisions. These amendments are being developed along with amendments to Rule 11-10 and Rule 12-15.
The Air District released a Notice of Public Hearing and a Notice of Completion/Notice of Availability for a CEQA Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the project. The Air District accepted public comments on the proposed rule amendments, staff report, and CEQA documents.
- Notice of Public Hearing and Notice of Completion/Notice of Availability of a Draft EIR(330 Kb PDF, 3 pgs, revised 10/22/18)
- Draft EIR - Refinery Rules(2 Mb PDF, 207 pgs, revised 10/20/18)
- Proposed Rule 6-5 Amendments(130 Kb PDF, 5 pgs, revised 10/22/18)
- Refinery Rules - Staff Report(740 Kb PDF, 20 pgs, revised 10/22/18)
- Appendix 4, Staff Report (Emissions Calculations)(714 Kb PDF, 10 pgs, revised 10/22/18)
Staff presented the final proposed documents for the amendments to Rule 6-5 and CEQA analysis to the Air District Board of Directors for consideration at a public hearing on December 19, 2018.
Documents
Supporting materials, such as staff reports, regulatory language, and other technical documents related to rule development, are posted throughout the development process.