"Hot Spots" Prioritization
This page last reviewed August 17, 2016
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
(OEHHA) 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. In 2016, CAPCOA
updated these guidelines to incorporate the changes made to the OEHHA risk assessment methodology.
You may download a copy of the 2016
Facility Prioritization Guidelines at the CAPCOA website at www.capcoa.org.
What's New?
CAPCOA has released the "Hot Spots" Program Facility Prioritization Guidelines (August 2016). This document is available at the CAPCOA website at www.capcoa.org.