Air Quality & Noise
Experience
Chambers Group staff of over 100 professionals includes environmental analysts, scientific resources professionals, urban and regional planners, as well as air and noise quality analysts. These professionals have expertise in complying with environmental regulations such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Clean Air Act (CAA) and recent California state legislation, including AB32, regulating GHG emissions and Global Climate Change. Chambers group has successfully prepared thousands of environmental and planning reports, documents and studies in compliance with these and other regulations.
Air Quality, Noise, and Global Warming
Recently, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) into law, which mandated regulations on how the state of California will address global climate change impacts. The State Attorney General's Office is already asking that individual projects be analyzed for impacts on global warming as part of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process.
State and federal agencies, and other appropriate governmental organizations, have not yet developed guidelines on how to prepare an impact assessment for global climate change. This has left lead agencies with the task of developing an appropriate approach to analyzing Global Climate Change Impacts for thresholds of significance and development of appropriate mitigation measures for greenhouse gas emission reduction strategies. It is likely that clients of Chambers Group will have to address global climate change issues in the near future.
The federal Clean Air Act was one of the first major environmental laws that impacted industry. Chambers Group’s highly qualified air quality specialists assist our clients to comply with current and future regulations. We provide a full range of air quality services related to compliance and permitting for industry.
Construction and traffic are the primary noise and vibration impacts associated with a project. If this construction is located in proximity to sensitive receptors, they could be potentially impacted by noise and vibration generated by heavy equipment. Additional traffic associated with construction, and later the increased land use density, will be forced onto existing and/or any newly proposed roadways and will increase vehicle-generated noise and vibration along these routes, possibly located in proximity to sensitive receptors. Chambers Group specialists analyze these impacts and provide strategies for minimizing noise and vibration.
By providing successful compliance, Chambers Group can assist in preserving and managing impacts to our environment. These activities re quire a delicate mix of scientific knowledge, and expertise with local, state, and federal regulations. Our multidisciplinary teams address each client’s unique needs and each resource’s distinct significance.
Comprehensive Environmental Services
We are dedicated to helping our clients develop innovative, cost effective solutions for all phases of projects. Chambers Group’s extensive in-house scientific capabilities include:
- CEQA-level Air Quality Analysis
- Clean Air Act Conformity Analysis
- Air Quality Mitigation Programs
- General Plan Air Quality Element
- Air Toxics Heath Risk Assessments
- Air Quality Permitting & Regulatory Support
- Environmental Auditing for Air Quality Compliance
Global Warming/Global Climate Change
- California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) Compliance
- Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories
- Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs
Air Quality Analysis
- Leading edge approaches to health effects and risks of hazardous air pollutants
- Public and regulatory concerns
- Changing regulations
- Industrial processes
- State-of-the-art pollution control technology
- Atmospheric dispersion, diagnostic, and deposition models
- Quality assurance/quality control
Noise Quality and Vibration Analysis
- Groundborne Vibration Analysis
- Airport and Rail Noise Impact Analysis
- Noise Impact for Commercial and Industrial Stationary Sources
- General Plan Noise Elements CEQA-level Noise and Vibration Impact Analysis
- Noise Impact for Commercial and Industrial Stationary Source Air Dispersion Modeling
Air Quality Projects:
Air Quality/Permit Applications (Monier Lifetile LLC)
Chambers Group prepared permit applications for a flash storage silo, a dry lightweight aggregate handling system, and a rock crusher for Monier Lifetile LLC's plant in Rialto, California. Particulate and toxic air contaminant emissions were estimated from each source. South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) permit application forms were completed. The best available control technology and compliance with the emission offset requirements for each source were analyzed. In addition, the impact of toxic air contaminant emissions and compliance with the District's Rule 1401 were determined.
Air Quality Analysis for Highland Lowe's (City of Highland)
Chambers Group conducted a CEQA-level air quality analysis of the proposed Lowe’s Home Improvement Center located at Greenspot Road and State Route 30. The project included construction and development of a shopping center including a Lowe’s Home Improvement Store as the anchor tenant at the intersection of Fifth Street and State Route 30 (now I-210) in the City of Highland, California. The Lowe’s Home Improvement Superstore with outdoor garden center totals 170,393 sq. ft. of gross floor space. Other proposed uses include a fast food restaurant with drive thru, a bank with drive thru, and approximately 26,000 sq. ft of other retail uses on a 15.4-acre site. The air study includes short-term construction and long-term emissions using the Urban Emissions (URBEMIS) model (version 8.7) published by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), a localized analysis of criteria pollutants using the ISC3 dispersion model, and a Carbon Monoxide (CO) Hotspot analysis was performed using the On-Road Emissions Factor (EMFAC) model published by CARB and the California Line Source, version 4 (Caline 4) model published by Caltrans.
