Variance Oversight Program

This page last reviewed February 9, 2012

Air District Hearing Boards are allowed to issue variances to stationary sources that currently are or may become out of compliance with their local district rules, regulations, or Health and Safety Code (HSC) 41701. A petition for a variance must be brought before an air district hearing board which allows or denies the petition, based on a set of criteria defined by the HSC. ARB has oversight authority over all variances. This oversight consists of a thorough review of granted variances to determine that the requirements of the HSC are met and that compliance with increments of progress and emission standards are met as expediently as possible.

There are several entities involved throughout the process: petitioner, district staff, hearing board, and ARB, having different levels of responsibility and authority. Numerous regulations pertain to the issuance of variance and abatement orders. ARB offers Hearing Board Workshops which provide useful information for anyone involved in the variance process.