Proposed Amended Rule (PAR) 1111 – Reduction of NOx Emissions from Natural Gas-Fired Furnaces, (continued)

A Cooperative Agreement between South Coast AQMD and Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles (Cooperative Agreement), which was approved by the South Coast AQMD Governing Board on November 7, 2025, and executed on December 17, 2025, requires the Ports to develop and implement charging and fueling infrastructure plans. The proposed Addendum to the Cooperative Agreement has been subsequently developed which: 1) includes three additional measures requiring the Ports to enhance their current clean ship incentive programs to encourage port calls from the cleanest ocean-going vessels, to develop and implement a new incentive program to encourage utilization of zero-emission trucks, and to allocate funds to South Coast AQMD for regional off-port zero-emission truck charging and fueling infrastructure projects; 2) incorporates a provision for South Coast AQMD to recover reasonable costs for newly introduced staff expenses; and 3) directs payment for contract defaults to go into the Clean Air Mitigation Fund previously established in the Cooperative Agreement. The cost recovery provision in the Proposed Addendum to the Cooperative Agreement, which was crafted to ensure that South Coast AQMD recovers the reasonable costs associated with the implementation and compliance activities, is statutorily exempt from CEQA and is not the focus of this Notice of Determination. A Notice of Exemption for the cost recovery provision has been filed and posted separately. Lastly, the direction requiring payments resulting from contractual defaults associated with the additional measures to be deposited into the existing Clean Air Mitigation Fund is not a project as defined by CEQA, does not change the prior determination that the creation of the Clean Air Mitigation Fund in the Cooperative Agreement is not considered a project within the meaning of CEQA, and is also not the focus of this Notice of Determination.