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Ventura County APCD briefs Port Hueneme council on rules, dredging emissions and enforcement authority
Summary
Ventura County Air Pollution Control District executive officer Ali Ghassemi outlined APCD authority, permitting rules and how portable dredging engines and vessels can trigger permit and offset requirements; he said a December MOU expanded local enforcement of visible emissions from ships.
The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District told the Port Hueneme City Council on March 3 that the district regulates stationary sources in the county and has limited authority over mobile sources but can — in some circumstances — regulate portable engines and visible emissions from vessels.
Ali Ghassemi, the APCD executive officer, said the district issues permits for around 1,300 stationary sources, enforces permit conditions, runs incentive programs (including Carl Moyer and FARMER-related grants) and operates five air-monitoring stations in the southern part of the county. He said the APCD has about 47 full-time staff and receives about 8–10% of its funding from federal (EPA) sources; incentive programs can run $5–10 million a year.
Ghassemi outlined key regulatory tools: Rule 10 (permit to construct and to operate), Rule 23 (exemptions), New Source Review (Rule 26) and offsets. He said new or modified sources that increase emissions above thresholds must provide offsets; APCD’s offset trigger for major increases is five tons per year of reactive organic compounds (ROC) and five tons per year of nitrogen oxides (NOx). APCD reviews applications, assesses best available control technology, and issues permit conditions.
Council members asked about dredging. Ghassemi said dredging equipment often uses engines registered under the Portable Equipment Registration Program (PERP). When PERP-certified equipment nonetheless creates emissions above the offset thresholds, APCD must account for those emissions and can require offsets and a permit pathway. “It’s not that your dredging operation requires a permit from this,” he said. “It is a mobile source. But because of the state rule that requires those…if your emission is high, you're required to provide offsets. In order for us to keep track of it, we have to issue a permit.”
Ghassemi also said the district and state executed a memorandum of understanding in December that gave the APCD authority to enforce visible-emission limits for ocean-going vessels in some circumstances, which the district previously could not do. He described “bonnet” or “scrubber” systems that the port has used over ship stacks; those systems are certified at efficiencies quoted by vendors and the state, he said.
Council members asked about the Ormond Beach power plant lease extension, the regional air profile, and whether APCD could enforce emissions from ship stacks; Ghassemi said the agency’s enforcement role has recently expanded with the MOU and that portable engines used in construction or dredging can trigger permitting and offset requirements if they exceed thresholds.
Ghassemi summarized that APCD’s core jurisdiction is stationary sources and that it partners with state and federal agencies on mobile-source matters. The presentation prompted council questions about dredging credits, enforcement tools and the bonnet scrubber systems used at the port; Ghassemi said he would provide additional details on monitoring data and the district’s incentive programs on request.
