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RECLAIM Program
The Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM)
program was designed by South Coast Air Quality Management District
(SCAQMD) to achieve equivalent or better air pollution reductions.
RECLAIM is a market incentive program which allows facilities to
determine for themselves the most cost-effective approach (including
emissions trading) to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
and oxides of sulfur (SOx), two major sources of air pollution in
the Los Angeles area.
RECLAIM was the first regional air pollution emission-trading program
in the nation and the first approved by the EPA. Under RECLAIM,
a facility with an air emissions permit can use the most cost-effective
strategy to meet its emission reduction obligations. For example,
facilities can achieve their reductions through a variety of ways
that were previously not allowable such as using add-on controls,
implementing process improvements, or by purchasing lower-cost emission
reduction credits from another facility. This added flexibility
allows facilities the opportunity to reduce emissions at significantly
lower costs, and to trade emission allocations in a free market
setting. Currently, the RECLAIM program includes approximately 370
facilities from various industrial sectors, including oil refineries,
power plants, aerospace companies, asphalt batch plants, chemical
plants, cement plants, and many more. More recently, the SCAQMD
and EPA have worked together to develop significant amendments to
RECLAIM designed to stabilize NOx trading credit prices and address
California energy and environmental issues relating to the need
for increased electrical power generation in the Los Angeles area.
These amendments are designed to expedite installation of emissions
control equipment at power plants and facilitate the introduction
of new electric power plants.
To date, according to the Air District's annual reports, the major
benefit of RECLAIM is that air quality goals necessary to protect
public health and the environment are met in a more cost-effective
manner. It is also expected that the RECLAIM program will reduce
80 tons of NOx emissions per day and 14 tons of SOx emissions per
day by July 1, 2004. These emission reductions will be achieved
with little or no adverse impact on jobs or production costs. Finally,
the monitoring of compliance with a facility's annual emission allocation
will be achieved through improved air monitoring, which will result
in a better understanding of emissions and air quality.
If you need RECLAIM Trading Credits (RTC) for your facility’s
annual compliance requirements, AQMS can provide these credits for
you cost-effectively. For more information, see RECLAIM
Emission Provider Services.
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