(a) Notwithstanding Section 40500, the south coast district board may prohibit the granting of variances by the hearing board from the provisions of a market-based incentive program adopted pursuant to Section 39616 that establish procedures for assessing emissions during periods when monitoring or reporting systems are not operating as required.
(b) The south coast district board may prohibit the granting of variances by the hearing board from the minimum federal requirements for new source performance standards, or for national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants, under Sections 7411 and 7412 of Title 42 of the United States Code, unless the district rule at issue is more stringent than the federal requirement. The south coast district board shall not prohibit the granting of a variance if the petitioner for the variance has obtained a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency of the federal requirement at issue and the variance would be consistent with the waiver.