Proposal:
Set Public Hearing January 10, 1997 to Amend Rule 403 - Fugitive Dust and to Adopt Rule 1186 - PM10 Emissions from Paved and Unpaved Roads and Livestock Operations
Synopsis:
The 1994 PM10 SIP identified candidate Best Available Control Measures (BACM) for fugitive dust sources and established technical and cost feasibility criteria for their adoption by February 8, 1997, as required by the federal Clean Air Act. AQMD staff have completed the BACM feasibility analysis and have incorporated the BACM that meet the feasibility criteria into proposed amendments to Rule 403 and proposed Rule 1186.
Committee:
Stationary Source, December 5, 1996, reviewed.
Recommended Action:
Set Public Hearing January 10, 1997 to Amend Rule 403 - Fugitive Dust and Adopt Rule 1186 - PM10 Emissions from Paved and Unpaved Roads and Livestock Operations
James M. Lents, Ph.D.
Executive Officer
Background
The South Coast Air Basin (Basin) exceeds state and federal air quality standards for PM10 (defined as particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 microns or less). As a result of these exceedances, the Basin has been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as a "serious nonattainment area" for PM10. Under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), the South Coast Air Quality Management District (District) is required to implement best available control measures (BACM) for fugitive dust sources by February 8, 1997. The District also is required to adopt contingency measures in regulatory form by February 8, 1997 to be implemented if the area does not achieve sufficient progress towards attainment. In 1994, the District prepared and adopted a "serious nonattainment area" PM10 SIP revision (1994 BACM SIP, Appendix I-D of 1994 AQMP) that identified candidate BACM for fugitive dust sources. The 1994 BACM SIP committed the District to adopt all candidate BACM by February 8, 1997, except any measure that does not meet the established technical and cost-feasibility criteria.
District staff has completed the BACM technical and cost-feasibility analysis and has incorporated the BACM that meet or exceed the 1994 BACM SIP criteria into proposed amendments to District Rule 403 (PAR 403) and proposed Rule 1186 (PR 1186). BACM that did not meet the established criteria are proposed in PAR 403 and PR 1186 as contingency measures to be implemented only if required by the U.S. EPA.
Proposal
The BACM amendments to Rule 403 would require an incremental increase in the amount of fugitive dust control at construction sites, aggregate facilities, and landfills. Agricultural operations, exempted under existing Rule 403, could maintain the exemption provided that a soil erosion control plan is filed with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and forwarded to the District. A contingency measure is also proposed that would lower the threshold definition for activities required to file a plan or submit a notification.
PR 1186 seeks to reduce the amount of PM10 from paved and unpaved roads and from livestock operations. The PR 1186 requirements would primarily impact the governmental agencies responsible for paved and unpaved road maintenance and certain livestock facilities. Exemptions are provided for unpaved roads with less than 50 average daily trips and livestock operations less than 10 acres. Contingency requirements are also proposed for new road construction and weed abatement activities.
Policy Issues
Staff developed the routine street sweeping control measure based on a demonstration project conducted by the Coachella Valley Association of Governments. In the study, the UC Riverside College of Engineering - Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) used four vacuum-based (PM10-efficient) street sweepers, outfitted with filtration systems, and one mechanical broom sweeper within an artificial tunnel to determine the amount of material removed from the road and the amount of material resuspended or vented by the equipment itself. The study determined that vacuum sweepers and broom sweepers were similarly effective in removing material from the road. However, the study also determined that two of the PM10-efficient street sweepers represented an eighty percent reduction in the amount of PM10 reentrained or vented from a broom sweeper. On this basis, and utilizing BACM guidance provided by the U.S. EPA, staff incorporated street sweeping into PR 1186.
As part of the public process, local jurisdictions and street sweeper There are no policy issues associated with the proposed amendment.manufacturers provided several suggestions and introduced issues regarding the PR 1186 requirements for the future procurement of PM10-efficient street sweepers. Specifically, there is information that current PM10-efficient street sweepers typically travel at two-thirds the speed of a non PM10-efficient street sweeper. Thus, a jurisdiction may need to purchase three PM10-efficient street sweepers for each two non PM10-efficient street sweepers being replaced. Moreover, PM10-efficient street sweepers are generally not capable of removing heavy or oversized material (e.g., rocks or garbage) and may not be appropriate for street cleaning under certain conditions.
Staff is committed to resolve the concerns over the PR 1186 street sweeper requirements raised at the public consultation meeting, the public workshop, and from meetings with local jurisdictions and street sweeper manufacturers. One alternative under consideration would limit the applicability of PM10-efficient street sweeper use to areas where the greatest surface street dust loadings are most prominent.
Other PR 1186 items of concern expressed by some local jurisdictions include: the "post-event" street cleaning provisions, the unpaved road treatment requirements, and the contingency requirements to conduct mowing instead of discing for weed abatement. Specifically, concern was expressed that following a major rain storm, it may not be practical for a jurisdiction responsible for thousands of miles of paved roads to conduct street cleaning on all roads impacted by erosion within 72 hours after the event. Regarding the unpaved road treatment requirements, jurisdictions stated that existing budgets are insufficient to conduct a capital improvement program to pave unpaved roads and that the passage of Proposition 218 may affect their ability to establish assessment districts to conduct paving. Some jurisdictions and fire departments expressed concerns over the cost of mowing versus discing as mowing may be required as many as three times per year.
The staff is in the process of resolving these issues and will be preparing additional rule modifications to be included in the final proposal rule package. An additional public workshop has been scheduled for December 4, 1996, to present these rule modifications and solicit further public input.
AQMP and Legal Mandates
The proposed requirements are estimated to result in a reduction of 30,806 tons of PM10 per year, or 84.4 tons per day (PAR = 42.9 tons per day and PR 1186 = 41.5 tons per day). These emissions reductions are necessary as part of the District's 1997 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) attainment strategy to achieve the PM10 standards by 2006. Moreover, the implementation of BACM is necessary to qualify for U.S. EPA's recently issued Natural Events Policy.
CEQA
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15153, a CEQA Lead Agency may use an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared in connection with an earlier project to apply to a later project if the circumstances of the project are essentially the same. District staff has determined that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the 1997 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) (SCH#96011062) adequately analyzes the potential adverse environmental impacts from the proposed project. The EIR for the 1997 AQMP includes an analysis of the PM10 BACM from which PAR 403 and PR 1186 are directly derived.
Socioeconomic Assessment
Staff has estimated the cost of compliance with the proposed requirements, which are included in the draft staff report. The estimated cost-effectiveness of PAR 403 is $90 per ton. The estimated cost-effectiveness of PR 1186 is $209 per ton. The total cost-effectiveness of PAR 403 and PR 1186 is $157 per ton.
Resource Impact
Existing District resources will be sufficient to implement the proposed rule requirements with minimal impact on the budget.
A. Summary of Proposed Requirements
B. Rule Development Flow Chart
C. Key Contacts
D. Draft Rule Language
E. Draft Staff Report
F. Draft Socioeconomic Assessment