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The Lake County Air Quality Management District, Lake County Farm Bureau, the Lake County Winegrape Commission and other interested parties will hold the workshop on Dec. 14 at 10 a.m., at the agricultural center conference room.
Tiny particles in diesel engine exhaust have increasingly been regulated by the state as a cancer-causing health risk. The Lake County Air Quality Management District is required to enforce the Air Toxic Control Measures (ATCM) enacted by the CARB for all stationary sources within the Lake County air basin.
CARB recently amended the ATCM to require Stationary Agricultural Compression Ignition Engines (engines using diesel or similar fuel) to be permitted / registered in local air districts statewide. The changes will implement a regulation to control particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions from stationary agricultural diesel engines (not tractors or other motive powered equipment).
All stationary engines larger than 50 horsepower are required to be permitted by the LCAQMD by March 1, 2008. Full compliance with the various emission requirements will be phased in over several years, starting on January 1, 2011, but requirements are already in effect for engines purchased or installed after January 1, 2005.
The requirements will apply to most stationary agricultural diesel engines now in use, although most were previously unregulated. Some engine use may be exempt from the emissions reduction requirements, but still must be permitted by the LCAQMD, and their use reported annually.
Engines that do not meet the new requirements must be upgraded to conform or be replaced with compliant equipment. Upgrade options include replacement with electrical service motor/engines, add-on particulate control devices, newer cleaner diesel engines, or gasoline or propane spark-ignition engines.
The CARB has estimated that 21 to 29 affected engines exist in Lake County. Further constraints may apply if the engine is located within 1,000 feet of a school or hospital.
Currently there are no state regulations that place requirements on agricultural tractors, spray rigs, harvesters, or other mobile farm equipment.
Further information about the new ATCM requirements is available by contacting Barbara Cook of the CARB at (916) 323-0440 or
A fact sheet is available on the Web at www.arb.ca.gov/diesel/ag/inuseag.htm.
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The California Highway Patrol arrested Francisco Javier Olivarez-Zuniga, 19, of Clearlake on a felony charge of hit and run causing injury following the Friday morning collision, according to CHP Officer Adam Garcia.
At 7:50 a.m. Friday Olivarez-Zuniga was allegedly driving a 2007 Hyundai at about 10 miles per hour on Lake Street just north of Lower Lake Elementary when a 9-year-old boy entered the roadway from the left shoulder, Garcia reported.
Olivarez-Zuniga allegedly hit the boy with his vehicle and fled the scene, according to Garcia.
The child was taken to Redbud Hospital and treated for minor injuries, Garcia reported.
CHP Officer Steve Curtis, with the help of witness information, found and arrested Olivarez-Zuniga in Clearlake an hour after the collision, according to Garcia.
Olivarez-Zuniga remained in the Lake County Jail on Friday night, held on $10,000 bail.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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