Article 2. Creation Of The South Coast Air Quality Management District of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 26. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 5.5. >> Article 2.

There is hereby created the South Coast Air Quality Management District in those portions of the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino included within the area of the South Coast Air Basin, as described in Section 60104 of Title 17 of the California Administrative Code, as now or hereafter amended.

(a) There is hereby established within the south coast district a sensitive zone, which shall include the general forecast areas known as the San Gabriel/Pomona Valleys and the Riverside/San Bernardino areas.
  (b) In addition to every other requirement for the issuance of a permit, the following requirements shall be applicable to the issuance of a permit by the south coast district for the construction or operation of any stationary source within the sensitive zone:
  (1) When emission offsets are required to mitigate the air quality impacts of a stationary source, the offsets shall be secured by the applicant so as to bring about ambient air quality improvements within the sensitive zone. The applicant shall be required to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the south coast district, that any emissions reductions acquired from stationary sources operating within the South Coast Air Basin will result in a demonstrable net ambient air quality improvement within the sensitive zone.
  (2) In considering an application for a permit to construct or operate a stationary source, the south coast district board shall, in addition to making a finding and determination that the impacts of the stationary source will be mitigated so as to result in a net improvement in ambient air quality within the South Coast Air Basin, also make a finding and determination that the impacts of the stationary source can be mitigated so as to result in a net improvement in ambient air quality within the sensitive zone.
  (c) The south coast district board shall adopt rules and regulations to implement this section by January 1, 1991.

(a) The south coast district board may, by resolution, include all or part of the County of Santa Barbara or the County of Ventura within the south coast district, upon receipt of a resolution from the appropriate board of supervisors requesting inclusion.
  (b) The inclusion of the county, or portion thereof, as the case may be, shall take effect at the commencement of the first quarter commencing at least 60 days after the adoption of the resolution.
  (c) A copy of the resolution of approval shall be sent by the south coast district board to the board of supervisors and the state board.

The south coast district shall be the sole and exclusive local agency within the South Coast Air Basin with the responsibility for comprehensive air pollution control, and it shall have the duty to represent the citizens of the basin in influencing the decisions of other public and private agencies whose actions might have an adverse impact on air quality in the basin.

The board of supervisors of a county that is only included in part within the south coast district may, by resolution, request the south coast district board to have that area of the county not included within the South Coast Air Basin included in the south coast district, or the board of supervisors may request to contract with the south coast district to perform air pollution control functions in that area of the respective county not within the South Coast Air Basin. The south coast district board may, by resolution, agree to (1) have that area of the county not included within the South Coast Air Basin included in the south coast district, or (2) perform air pollution control functions for that area of the county not included within the South Coast Air Basin, or both (1) and (2).

No provision of this chapter shall constitute an infringement on the existing authority of counties and cities to plan or control land use, and no provision of this chapter shall be interpreted as providing or transferring new authority over such land use to either the south coast district, the Southern California Association of Governments, or the state board.