"Hot Spots" Prioritization

This page last reviewed February 5, 2008

Assembly Bill (AB) 2588 (Connelly), the Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Information and Assessment Act, requires air pollution control and air quality management districts (districts) to prioritize facilities to determine which facilities must perform a health risk assessment. These facilities, for purposes of risk assessment, are ranked into high, intermediate, and low priority categories. Each district is responsible for establishing the prioritization score threshold at which facilities are required to prepare a health risk assessment. In establishing priorities, the districts are to consider the potency, toxicity, quantity, and volume of hazardous materials released from the facility, the proximity of the facility to potential receptors, and any other factors that the district determines may indicate that the facility may pose a significant risk.

In order to assist the districts with this requirement, the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) Toxics Committee, in cooperation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the Air Resources Board (ARB), developed the Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Program, Facility Prioritization Guidelines (July 1990). The purpose of the guideline is to provide districts with suggested procedures for prioritizing facilities. However, districts may develop and use prioritization methods which differ from the CAPCOA guidelines.

You may download a copy of the Facility Prioritization Guidelines in Acrobat format (3.9MB).

Additionally, a hardcopy of these guidelines can be obtained by contacting, either by email or by phone, Linda Keifer of the ARB at (916) 323-4327.