District To Help Farmers Comply With New Air Law
The California Air Resources Board’s (ARB) Air
Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) for Stationary Compressions
Ignition Engines was revised by ARB in 2006. The revision
added requirements for diesel engines used in agricultural
operations. In general, these requirements apply to nearly
all diesel engines used to power irrigation pumps; however,
they do not apply to diesel engines used to power farm
equipment such as trucks and tractors. These requirements
have both administrative requirements and emission control
requirements. An
ARB fact sheet provides additional information and
details on these new requirements.
To implement these agricultural diesel engine requirements,
the District adopted Rule 250, "Registration of Agricultural
Engines" on September 11, 2007.
As of March 1, 2008, all agricultural engines 50 horsepower
and greater were required to be registered with Air
Pollution Control District. New engines installed after
September 11, 2007, must be registered within 90 days after
installation. This registration program is not a permitting
program, but requires
application forms
and fees similar to a permitting program. These fees are
significantly less than permitting fees. The District
recently issued a Compliance Assistance Advisory regarding
enforcement of the registration requirements and advising
agricultural engine operators of upcoming deadlines for
older (“Tier 0”) agricultural engines.
As a part of the registration program, emission control
requirements are determined for each engine on a
case-by-case basis. The emission control requirements have
been set by the California Air Resources Board. Newer
engines may already comply with the requirements, however,
older engines may need to be retrofitted or replaced to
comply with the new requirements. Any diesel pump engine
replaced with an electric motor or natural gas engine will
not be required to register with the District.
Grant money may be available from the District to
replace older diesel engines with newer, compliant diesel
engines, natural gas engines or electric motors.
More information on the ARB plans for diesel engines used in
agricultural operations is available at
"In-Use
Stationary Diesel Agricultural Engines".
For questions on the District’s plans to implement these
new ARB requirements, please contact
Ali Ghasemi at
(805) 303-4016.
For information on District grant programs, please
contact Tyler Harris
at (805) 303-3661
Click here
to obtain a copy of the registration application form and
instructions.
