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Air district presents AB 2588 'toxic hot spots' prioritization; three facilities flagged as high priority
Summary
Tuolumne County Air Pollution Control District presented its 2024 AB 2588 prioritization on Feb. 11: York Engineering’s analysis classified 60 permitted facilities, identifying three as high priority (required health‑risk assessments), nine intermediate priority and 48 low priority.
Tuolumne County’s Air Pollution Control District presented the district’s 2024 annual toxic hot‑spot prioritization and compliance update on Feb. 11.
Kent Rasmussen, the county’s air pollution control specialist, said the district oversees 60 permitted facilities and began an AB 2588 compliance process with York Engineering after a board contract approval on July 18, 2024. York grouped facilities into four categories for assessment: auto‑body shops, gasoline‑dispensing facilities, stationary sources and Title V facilities.
Rasmussen said York staff and district personnel used emissions data and conservative prioritization scoring to screen facilities for acute, chronic and cancer risk. “A facility classification as low priority is exempt from further requirements under current AB 2588 program,” he said, while intermediate‑priority facilities must submit quadrennial emissions inventories and high‑priority facilities must complete a detailed health‑risk assessment.
The district’s summary (Attachment A) lists three high‑priority facilities that have 120 days to submit health‑risk assessments; after district review those assessments go to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment for additional review. If a health‑risk assessment shows a cancer risk greater than 10 in 1,000,000 or a hazard index above 1, the facility must notify affected individuals, perform a toxic‑risk reduction audit and submit a risk‑reduction plan within six months. Facilities then have up to five years to implement approved measures.
Rasmussen noted that prioritization is a conservative screening tool and that detailed health‑risk assessments may find lower risks than initial scores suggest.
Ending: The presentation was informational; the board did not take regulatory action at the hearing. The district said it will continue to work with York Engineering on the three high‑priority facilities as they submit health‑risk assessments.
