§ 2478.7. Alternative Compliance Plan.
13 CA ADC § 2478.7Barclays Official California Code of RegulationsEffective: January 1, 2024
Effective: January 1, 2024
13 CCR § 2478.7
§ 2478.7. Alternative Compliance Plan.
(a) A Locomotive Operator may apply to the Executive Officer to use an Alternative Compliance Plan (ACP). An approved ACP shall replace the requirements of section 2478.4, section 2478.5, or both, for the duration of the ACP. An approved ACP shall be valid for a Five-Year Verification Period, subject to subsection (i), and shall apply to the Locomotive Operator's entire Locomotive fleet Operating in California.
(b) The ACP shall reduce PM, NOx, and GHG emissions in California in amounts equivalent to or greater than the reductions that would have been achieved during the Five-Year Verification Period by the Locomotive Operator directly complying with the requirements set forth in section 2478.4, section 2478.5, or both (as applicable), using the assumptions listed below.
(A) Per the Spending Account Funding Requirement calculated under the Spending Account Requirements in subsection 2478.4(c), all Spending Account funds would have been used to purchase, at Fair Market Value, Tier 4 Locomotives until December 31, 2028, and ZE Locomotives from January 1, 2029, onward.
(D) If using an ACP instead of direct compliance with the In-Use Operational Requirements, detailed calculations and assumptions made to calculate emission reductions that would have been achieved through direct compliance with the In-Use Operational Requirements during the Five-Year Verification Period.
(E) A detailed explanation of the calculations, assumptions, and information used to demonstrate that the applicant's proposed ACP emission reduction measures will achieve Quantifiable, Verifiable, and Enforceable Emission Reductions from the Locomotive Operations covered by the ACP in the amount required by subsection (b).
(2) The ACP application provides sufficient information to accurately estimate the emission reductions required during the Five-Year Verification Period, including a detailed explanation of the information and calculations used to determine the amount of emission reductions that must be achieved by the ACP throughout the Five-Year Verification Period.
(4) The ACP application demonstrates that the ACP proposed emission reduction measures will achieve reductions of PM, NOx, and GHG emissions equivalent to or greater than the level that would have been achieved by directly complying with the requirements set forth in section 2478.4 and section 2478.5 (as applicable) using the assumptions set forth in subsection (b) and demonstrates that these reductions will be Quantifiable, Verifiable, and Enforceable, including a detailed explanation of the information and calculations used to demonstrate that the emission reductions to be achieved by the ACP will satisfy the requirements of subsection (b) throughout the Five-Year Verification Period.
(1) The Executive Officer's approval of an ACP shall not serve as a substitute for any other approvals that may be required by the federal, state, or local government. Approval is contingent on the ACP's compliance with all applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations, including obtaining any permits or approvals necessary to undertake the activities constituting the ACP, and complying with all environmental review requirements associated with such activities.
(2) If the ACP is approved, upon the start date for the ACP listed in the Executive Order approving the ACP and until expiration or revocation as described in subsection (i), the Operator shall be exempt from its regulatory obligations under the Spending Account, the In-Use Operational Requirements, or both, as indicated in the Executive Order.
(h) Notice of Disapproval. Within 45 business days after the Executive Officer has received an ACP application, the Executive Officer shall issue a notice of disapproval if the application is incomplete or does not meet the requirements of this section. The Executive Officer shall summarize the application deficiencies in the notice of disapproval.
(C) The ACP is not in compliance with approvals that may be required by the federal, state, or local government, or with applicable laws, ordinances, or regulations, or the Locomotive Operator did not obtain the permits or approvals necessary to undertake the activities constituting the ACP, or the Locomotive Operator has not complied with all environmental review requirements associated with the ACP.
(3) If any of the circumstances listed in subsection 2478.7(i)(2)(A) through 2478.7(i)(2)(D) occur, the Locomotive Operator shall submit a notification to CARB following the requirements for submittals set forth in section 2478.15 within 15 calendar days of the date when the Locomotive Operator discovers or reasonably should have discovered that one of these circumstances has occurred.
(j) Amendment. Applicants seeking approval of an amendment to an ACP shall submit their application for proposed amendment in strikeout/underline format to the Executive Officer at least six months prior to the requested start date of the amended ACP, following the requirements set forth in section 2478.15.
(k) Reapplication. If an applicant would like to continue to use an ACP for another Five-Year Verification Period without any gaps in time between the expiration of the previous Five-Year Verification Period and the start date of the subsequent Five-Year Verification Period, they shall submit a reapplication and application payment as set forth in section 2478.12 for the ACP no more than one year prior to, but at least six months prior to, the expiration of the current ACP. The requirements set forth in section 2478.7 apply to reapplications. A reapplication shall use the Operator's Locomotive fleet at the time of the reapplication for all calculations required for the reapplication.
(l) Annual ACP Reports. Locomotive Operators using an approved ACP shall annually report any activity under the approved ACP. These reports shall be submitted no later than July 1 of each year throughout the Five-Year Verification Period pursuant to the applicable requirements specified in section 2478.11.
(m) Public Transparency. CARB will upload all approved ACP applications, reapplications, and amendments to the CARB “Reducing Rail Emissions in California” webpage for public access. CARB shall provide notice on its webpage of any disapproved ACP application or revoked ACP. Applicants may identify specific portions of an application as confidential and if so, CARB shall keep such information confidential to the extent permitted under California's Public Records Act, Government Code, section 7920.000 et seq.
Credits
Note: Authority cited: Sections 38560, 39600, 39601, 39658, 39659, 39666, 41511, 43013 and 43018, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39650, 39659, 41511, 43013 and 43018, Health and Safety Code.
History
1. New section filed 10-27-2023; operative 1-1-2024 (Register 2023, No. 43).
This database is current through 4/26/24 Register 2024, No. 17.
Cal. Admin. Code tit. 13, § 2478.7, 13 CA ADC § 2478.7
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