The Board of Supervisors finds and declares the following:
(a) Diesel Backup Generators emit large amounts of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns or less (PM10), sulfur oxides and hydrocarbons contributing to ground-level ozone, and reduced visibility.
(b) Diesel exhaust is linked to short and long-term adverse health effects in humans, which include lung cancer, aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, aggravation of existing asthma, acute respiratory symptoms, and chronic bronchitis and decreased lung function.
(c) In August of 1998, the California Air Resource Board listed diesel exhaust, specifically particulate emissions from diesel fueled engines, as a "toxic air contaminant."
(d) According to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Diesel Backup Generators tend to emit more pollutants than a new well-controlled power plant. In fact, even a clean diesel backup generator may emit more than 20 times as much NOx per kilowatt-hour as a new well-controlled power plant. Older dirtier Diesel Backup Generators may emit 200 times as much NOx.
(e) The Bay Area is currently designated nonattainment for the national ozone standards by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(f) The Bay Area is currently designated nonattainment for the state ozone and PM10 standards by the California Air Resource Board.
(g) The City and County of San Francisco is concerned about the health hazards posed by diesel emissions polluting the air, and wishes to impose limitations on Diesel Backup Generators to reduce the emission of diesel exhaust.
(Added by Ord. 202-02, File No. 012186, App. 9/27/2002)