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NUISANCE COMPLAINT PROGRAM
About SDAPCD
The San Diego Air Pollution
Control District [District] is the agency responsible for ensuring
healthful air quality in San Diego County. You can help us achieve our clean air goals by reporting
excessive dust, odors, smoke, or other air contaminants. This web page describes how the District evaluates, responds to,
and resolves air quality complaints.
What
is an air quality complaint?
An air quality complaint is a formal complaint about a nuisance or
annoyance concerning emissions of air contaminants including smoke, dust, or odors.
Prohibition
against causing a public nuisance.
California Health and Safety Code [ http://www.arb.ca.gov/bluebook/bluebook.htm ] Section 41700 states that no person can discharge air
contaminants that cause injury, nuisance or annoyance to any
considerable number of persons or the public, or discharge air
contaminants that endanger the comfort, health or safety of such
persons. If a business violates this prohibition or any other air
quality requirement, the District may issue a Notice of Violation to the
business. If a Notice of Violation is issued, the business must
take action to correct the violation and pay a monetary penalty to the District.
Penalties are determined in accordance with Health and Safety Code
Sections 42400 – 42403.
How
do I report an air quality complaint?
When an air quality problem is observed at a stationary source
(business, government or military), call (858) 586-2650 or e-mail a
completed Nuisance Complaint Form (Word)
/ (PDF) to apcdcomp@sdcounty.ca.gov . You
will need to provide the following information
- ** Your name, address and telephone number.
- **The
time and date the air quality incident occurred and whether it is
still continuing.
- **The
nature of the air quality complaint (smoke, dust, odor, or other).
- **The
name and address of the alleged source and the type of operation
causing it, if known.
Complaint
information is forwarded to a District inspector; as soon as possible;
for investigation and resolution. However,
complaints received after normal business hours or during the non-work
may be dispatched to an inspector the next business day.
Do
I have to identify myself when I call the District to report an air
quality complaint?
The District always encourages people reporting stationary source
air quality problems to provide their name, address, and telephone
number. This information
helps District inspectors verify complaint information, including any
prior history of air quality problems involving the alleged source, and
allows them to inform complainants of the status of complaint
investigation activities. District
policy strictly prohibits the release of any information that would
identify a complainant to an alleged source or to any other non-District
personnel without their consent. Information about your complaint will be kept confidential,
except where required in litigated matters.
How
are air quality complaints handled?
Whenever possible, an inspector will contact a complainant by telephone
to determine the cause of the complaint and the nature and source of the
alleged air quality problem. At
this time, the inspector obtains or verifies the following information.
**The frequency of annoyance or occurrence of the smoke, dust, or odor that is causing the complaint
- **The
time of day the air quality problem was first noticed
- **The
duration of the air quality problem at each occurrence
- **The
names and addresses of other persons affected, if available
**The location and extent of property damage
**A description and frequency of any illness alleged to have resulted from the air contaminants
**A description of odors, if any
**Any other information the complainant may have that will relate the air quality problem to a specific source, operation, or piece of equipment.
-
The inspector documents the findings of the inspection and issues Notices to Comply/Notices of Violation for any observed violations of air quality requirements. The inspector also informs the source of the suspected cause of the complaint and what steps could be taken to address the problem.
After the investigation, the inspector contacts the complainant to discuss the findings. This will be done within 10 days of completion of the investigation. The complainant is advised to report any additional instances as they happen. The complainant is also given a customer service survey form to provide feedback to the Air Pollution Control District on the level of service that was provided by the inspector that handled the complaint. This survey form is sent back (postage free) to the Air Pollution Control District.
If you would like to contact the California Air Resources Board about a complaint, please call 800-952-5588 or go to http://www.arb.ca.gov/enf/enfprog.htm for more information.
If you would like to contact the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about a complaint please call 415-947-4142 or go to http://www.EPA.gov/compliance/complaints.html. In addition, the California Air Resources Board and the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association have developed a Complaint Resolution Protocol at http://www.arb.ca.gov/ch/complaint_resolution_protocol_10-03-02.pdf.
If you would like to make a public records request for information about a business in San Diego County that has an Air Pollution Control District permit to operate, please submit a public records request form [http://www.sdapcd.org/permits/forms/ReqPubRec.doc] or call 858-586-2618 to obtain a copy of the form]. -
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