San Joaquin Valley APCD Rule 3171 Fees - Are You Planning for Them?

If you operate a facility with a Federal Title V operating permit in the San Joaquin Valley, you may have already received a letter notifying you that you may be subject to new fees under Rule 3171. Below we highlight the impact these fees may have on your operations: 

What are Rule 3171 fees? 

Rule 3171 fees apply to all major sources of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) or Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) in the San Joaquin Valley air district. Major sources are sources with a potential to emit or actual emissions of over 20,000 pounds per year of either pollutant. The fee requirement was triggered by a provision of the Federal Clean Air Act, so the air district was forced to begin imposing these fees in calendar year 2026 based on calendar year 2025 emissions. These fees are an additional fee on top of the regular annual emission fees you have already been subject to. For large facilities, these fees could total in the tens of thousands of dollars per year. 

How are the fees calculated? 

The quantity of fees due each year is based on the difference between your actual emissions reported that year and 80% of your emissions reported in the baseline period. The default baseline period is calendar year 2024.  Any unit that qualifies as a “Clean Emissions Unit” can be excluded from the fees.   

What Can I do? 

First, make sure you are accurately reporting emissions and throughput in your annual emission statements. If you have been using default assumptions or permit limits to report emissions for some of your units in order to simplify recordkeeping and reporting, it may be worthwhile spending more time and effort to collect good usage data to be sure you are not over-reporting emissions. 

Second, review your equipment to determine whether any units can be exempt from fees as a “clean emissions unit”. Any equipment that is controlled by at least 95% or meets current Best Available Control Technology (BACT) can qualify as a “clean emissions unit” and be exempt from fees. The air district is sending out letters with their first pass screening of which units may qualify. You should review this list carefully and respond promptly if you believe they have improperly characterized any units that should be exempt from fees. 

Finally, review your operations in 2024 to determine whether they truly are a representative “baseline period”. If 2024 was not representative of normal options for your facility, you can propose a different two-year period from 2020-2024 that is more representative of your normal operations. 

If you would like to learn more about this regulation and how ALG can help you improve your monitoring and recordkeeping procedures, or evaluate the District’s Clean Emission Unit determination for your facility, please contact us at: 

bellenberger@algcorp.com 

303.949.9489