WASHINGTON (CN) - California failed to set a time limit on acceptable levels of particulate matter rising from gas fired power turbines in the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District, according to an Environmental Protection Agency rule.
The rule officially rejects the California State Implementation Plan for pollution control in the district.
Gas fired turbines are just one source of particulate matter that results in haze and the agency warned California in April of this year that its plan for dealing with the length of time when particulate emissions were high enough to cause a 20-to-40 percent increase in the opacity of the air was insufficient.
The agency has said that it believes the opacity issue "could be addressed by adding rule text establishing appropriate time limitations on gas turbine startup, requiring sources to minimize time and emissions during startup..."
Usually disapproval of a state plan starts the clock on the creation and implementation of a federal plan to correct the deficiencies of the state plan but in this case, because the Monterey Bay pollution control district meets the over all standards for ambient air quality and particulate emissions, no federal action will result.
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