Senate Bill 526 - Accountability for Aggregate Facilities

SACRAMENTO - Senator Caroline Menjivar (D- San Fernando Valley) has introduced SB 526 to address a pressing health and safety concern in her district and in numerous communities across California, pollutants from aggregate facilities that are subject to outdated regulations.

Residents of Sun Valley, in Senate District 20, have been voicing concerns about the noise pollution, odors, and dust from the eleven aggregate facilities concentrated within 3 miles of each other for years. This includes the largest aggregate recycling center in the San Fernando Valley, which is mere feet away from homes and Sun Valley Park, and less than half a mile from two elementary schools.

“For years, the community of Sun Valley has had to live suffocated by the visible dust that submerges their streets, cars, and parks. With each complaint having gone unresolved, residents have given up on hoping the government addresses their concerns. That ends today, as I fulfill a promise made to my residents that we will no longer accept the status quo of constant environmental injustices in communities of color,” said Senator Caroline Menjivar. “Their health and the safety of their children are at stake. I have heard your calls for a safer and cleaner environment, and that is why I am authoring SB 526 - Accountability for Aggregate Facilities, and saying no more to high rise stockpiles!”

Aggregate facilities crush and process gravel, concrete, asphalt, and other building materials to be used for future applications, and often store this building material in large open air piles, resulting in PM10 emissions. These facilities cause great concern given the known adverse health effects associated with PM10 exposure.

SB 526 will improve air quality by requiring South Coast AQMD (SCAQMD) to update Rule 1157 “PM10 Emissions from Aggregate and Related Operations.” In the rule update, the following requirements must be included:

• Maintain fencing around the entire property line that must be at least six inches taller than the tallest open storage pile.
• An eight feet height restriction for open storage piles if facilities are located near sensitive receptors.
• Establish a fence-line monitoring system to capture PM10 emissions.
• If PM10 emissions exceed the threshold limit set by SCAQMD, the facility will cease all operations, inform SCAQMD and the public, and implement dust mitigation measures.

SB 526 further mandates, if a facility, located near a sensitive receptor, has repeatedly met or exceeded the PM10 emissions’ threshold limit, the facility must fully enclose all existing open storage piles and  SCAQMD must inspect the facility monthly until it has been compliant for three consecutive months.

This bill has far-reaching impacts, as it will increase health protections for every Californian who lives near the 329 aggregate recycling facilities under SCAQMD’s jurisdiction.

“A lack of public investment and the intrusion of industrial facilities, unwelcome in other neighborhoods, has exacerbated Sun Valley’s infrastructure and pollution problems, resulting in a health crisis for the community and environment. The community is a patchwork of homes and schools adjacent to asphalt/concrete aggregate factories, a gravel quarry, and many other polluting industries. It is time for a change.” - Mariam Moore, CEO of The Climate Corps Initiative.

“We witnessed this problem firsthand by visiting an aggregate recycling facility in a residential community where residents' cars were covered in a dust so thick you could literally taste it, and yet neighborhood kids were playing soccer in a park across the street from the facility. Families shouldn’t have to choose between letting their kids play outside and keeping them healthy. SB 526 is a next step toward protecting those communities.” - Ian Bertrando, Second-Year UCLA Law Student, California Environmental Legislation Clinic

“Through research and stakeholder meetings, our UCLA Law team helped determine that a significant regulatory gap has enabled facilities to suffocate surrounding neighborhoods with particulate matter pollution for years with little to no oversight. SB 526 provides direction for the SCAQMD that will help to hold facilities accountable for their harmful emissions and protect the health and safety of nearby communities.” - Maya Hernandez, Second-Year UCLA Law Student, California Environmental Legislation Clinic

Rule 1157 aims to reduce PM10 emissions from aggregate and related facilities, but the rule was last updated in 2006, which means it has been 18 years since requirements have been reviewed. SB 526 will modernize and expand the rules governing these facilities.

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