(1)(a) The Environmental Quality Commission may establish by rule a pilot program for evaluating and controlling public health risks from toxic air contaminant emissions from multiple stationary air contamination sources. The requirements of a pilot program adopted under this section shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, any requirements applicable to a person in control of an air contamination source under a program and rules adopted under ORS § 468A.337.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) Rules adopted for purposes of evaluating and regulating the public health risks from toxic air contaminant emissions from air contamination sources subject to the pilot program must be consistent with, and administered subject to the provisions of, ORS § 468A.337 (3) and (4).

(2) The pilot program adopted under this section may apply to no more than one area in this state in a county with a population exceeding 500,000 people, selected based on:

(a) The degree to which the level of excess lifetime cancer risk in the area from all sources of toxic air contaminants exceeds the statewide mean excess lifetime cancer risk from all sources of toxic air contaminants; and

(b) The degree to which the area contains multiple stationary sources of toxic air contaminants, leading to high cumulative public health risks from the toxic air contaminant emissions of those air contamination sources.

(3) In determining the boundary of the pilot program area, the department shall consider the degree to which the level of cumulative risk resulting from the toxic air contaminant emissions of existing stationary air contamination sources within the area exceeds the benchmark for excess lifetime cancer risk or the benchmark for excess noncancer risk. The pilot program area may not be larger than a circle measuring 2.5 miles in diameter.

(4) Subsection (5) of this section applies:

(a) If ambient concentrations of toxic air contaminant emissions from all stationary air contamination sources within any portion of the pilot program area result in an exceedance of two times the benchmark for excess lifetime cancer risk or two times the benchmark for excess noncancer risk within that portion of the pilot program area; and

(b) To persons in control of existing air contamination sources that significantly contribute to an exceedance described in paragraph (a) of this subsection and to any person in control of a new or modified source that is reasonably anticipated to significantly contribute to an exceedance described in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(5) In order to obtain a permit or a permit modification that would authorize a significant increase in the public health risks from toxic air contaminants emitted by an air contamination source, and except as provided in subsection (6) of this section, a person described in subsection (4)(b) of this section must prepare and submit to the Department of Environmental Quality a risk mitigation plan that includes one or more actions to offset the projected increase in public health risks from toxic air contaminant emissions from the new or modified air contamination source. The plan required by this subsection may include actions to reduce emissions from other sources in the area, including mobile sources. The department shall approve a risk mitigation plan submitted under this subsection if the department determines that the actions described in the plan are reasonably likely to achieve the projected reduction in public health risks necessary to offset the projected increase in public health risks from toxic air contaminant emissions from the new or modified air contamination source.

(6) Notwithstanding subsection (5) of this section, if the department determines, considering cost and available technology, that a risk mitigation plan is not feasible because reasonable actions to reduce public health risks are not available, the person in control of the air contamination source, in lieu of a risk mitigation plan, shall make a payment into the Clean Communities Fund established under ORS § 468A.341. The amount of the payment required by this subsection shall be determined by the department based on the following considerations:

(a) The expected cost of actions to achieve the projected reduction in public health risks necessary to offset the increase in public health risks from toxic air contaminant emissions from the new or modified air contamination source; and

(b) How to best incentivize payments for actions that will most directly offset the increase in public health risks from toxic air contaminant emissions from the new or modified air contamination source in the portion of the pilot program area where the cumulative public health risks are expected to be the highest.

(7) The department may enter into a contract or agreement for services to implement a program for investing moneys deposited in the Clean Communities Fund in actions to reduce public health risks from toxic air contaminants emitted by air contamination sources located within the pilot program area. [2018 c.102 § 4]