Chevron Products Company – Change in Throughput and TVP Limits for S-1296 (Air District Application 31458)

2026080042

Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD)

NOE - Notice of Exemption

8/4/2026

8/4/2026

Nimrat Sandhu

BAAQMD

Air Quality Engineer

Lead/Public Agency

375 Beale Street Ste 600
San Francisco, CA 94105

(415) 749-8604

nsandhu@baaqmd.gov

Laurie Mintzer

Chevron Products Company

Senior Environmental Air Specialist

Project Applicant

841 Chevron Way
Richmond, CA 94801

(510) 680-0539

lmintzer@chevron.com

Nearest Cross Street: Main Tank Field Road.

841 Chevron Way, Richmond, Contra Costa County, CA, 94801. Nearest Cross Street: Main Tank Field Road

Ministerial

Sec. 21080(b)(1); 15268

Finding of Exemption: The issuance of the Permit to Operate is ministerial, so it is not subject to CEQA (Public Resources Code§ 21080(b)(1); CEQA Guidelines§ 15268(a)). The Air District has also determined that this permit action is exempt from CEQA because the project involves no expansion of the existing private structure- tank S-1296, which is subject to the " Class 1" categorical exemption with negligible or no expansion of the existing use (CEQA Guidelines§ 15301). Reasons for Exemption;__ This permit action is exempt from CEQA because it is ministerial. The Air District's regulatory requirements that governed the approval of this project did not allow for any subjective judgement related to whether or how the project may be carried out. The project complied with objective numerical standards in the Air District's permitting rules (Air District Regulation 2-1-233, Regulation 8, Rule 1, and Regulation 8, Rule 5), which do not allow for or require any subjective judgment or discretion to interpret or apply. The Air District is legally compelled to approve the project where it complies with such standards. This permit action is also categorically exempt because it permits the minor alteration of an existing private structure involving the negligible expansion of an existing use. (CEQA Guidelines§ 15301(f)). Although the project increases the throughput of the tank by two times (meaning the number of times the tank may be filled up and emptied out is increasing by two times), the size and physical footprint of the tank itself will not change . The tank will continue to occupy the same footprint within the existing refinery. In addition, the project will not increase emissions. Although the throughput of S-1296 is being increased, the TVP of the contents of the organic liquids stored is decreasing. The facility has historically stored low-TVP materials(< 3.5 psia) in this tank; the historical sampling records of the TVP that the facility provided show that the TVP of the materials stored in the tank did not exceed 3.5 psia . Further, the facility has also agreed to a lower TVP limit and will be required to test for it on a biweekly basis, ensuring that the emissions do not increase. A lower TVP means that the product is not as volatile and, thus, the emissions will also be lower. The facility will also accept a maximum daily throughput limit of 69,789 bbls per day. Since TVP and throughput govern the number of emissions, decreasing the TVP results in lower emissions even with an increased throughput. Consequently, there is no increase in emissions. Increasing the throughput at S-1296 will result in negligible increase in production of hydrogen (0.6%) and sulfur (0.02%) but these increases are well within the permitted daily and annual throughput limits.

Categorical Exemption

(CEQA Guidelines§ 15301)

Finding of Exemption: The issuance of the Permit to Operate is ministerial, so it is not subject to CEQA (Public Resources Code§ 21080(b)(1); CEQA Guidelines§ 15268(a)). The Air District has also determined that this permit action is exempt from CEQA because the project involves no expansion of the existing private structure- tank S-1296, which is subject to the " Class 1" categorical exemption with negligible or no expansion of the existing use (CEQA Guidelines§ 15301). Reasons for Exemption;__ This permit action is exempt from CEQA because it is ministerial. The Air District's regulatory requirements that governed the approval of this project did not allow for any subjective judgement related to whether or how the project may be carried out. The project complied with objective numerical standards in the Air District's permitting rules (Air District Regulation 2-1-233, Regulation 8, Rule 1, and Regulation 8, Rule 5), which do not allow for or require any subjective judgment or discretion to interpret or apply. The Air District is legally compelled to approve the project where it complies with such standards. This permit action is also categorically exempt because it permits the minor alteration of an existing private structure involving the negligible expansion of an existing use. (CEQA Guidelines§ 15301(f)). Although the project increases the throughput of the tank by two times (meaning the number of times the tank may be filled up and emptied out is increasing by two times), the size and physical footprint of the tank itself will not change . The tank will continue to occupy the same footprint within the existing refinery. In addition, the project will not increase emissions. Although the throughput of S-1296 is being increased, the TVP of the contents of the organic liquids stored is decreasing. The facility has historically stored low-TVP materials(< 3.5 psia) in this tank; the historical sampling records of the TVP that the facility provided show that the TVP of the materials stored in the tank did not exceed 3.5 psia . Further, the facility has also agreed to a lower TVP limit and will be required to test for it on a biweekly basis, ensuring that the emissions do not increase. A lower TVP means that the product is not as volatile and, thus, the emissions will also be lower. The facility will also accept a maximum daily throughput limit of 69,789 bbls per day. Since TVP and throughput govern the number of emissions, decreasing the TVP results in lower emissions even with an increased throughput. Consequently, there is no increase in emissions. Increasing the throughput at S-1296 will result in negligible increase in production of hydrogen (0.6%) and sulfur (0.02%) but these increases are well within the permitted daily and annual throughput limits.