South Coast Air Quality Management District: air quality.

Senator Menjivar's air quality legislation targets particulate matter emissions from aggregate operations in Southern California through enhanced monitoring and containment requirements. The measure directs the South Coast Air Quality Management District to update Rule 1157, which governs PM10 emissions from facilities like quarries and cement plants within Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

By January 2027, affected facilities located within 500 feet of homes, schools, parks, hospitals and other sensitive sites must install perimeter fencing that extends above their tallest storage piles, limit pile heights to 8 feet, and implement continuous fence-line monitoring systems. The monitoring equipment must provide real-time PM10 concentration data, with facilities required to cease operations and deploy dust controls if readings exceed district-set thresholds. Facilities must also notify both regulators and the public when violations occur.

Starting July 2027, facilities with documented PM10 violations that operate near sensitive locations face additional requirements. These sites must fully enclose their existing outdoor storage piles and undergo monthly district inspections until maintaining three consecutive months of compliant emission levels. The measure authorizes local agencies to levy fees to cover implementation costs, with state reimbursement available for other mandated expenses as determined by the Commission on State Mandates.