Proposal:

Amend Contract with Ecotek for Privatization of Portions of
Annual Emissions Report Program

Synopsis:

At its February 1996 meeting, the Board awarded a contract to Ecotek for privatization of portions of the Annual Emissions Report Program. For the 1995-96 emissions reporting period, Ecotek developed emissions reporting software, produced and distributed the reporting packages (paper forms or software), provided public outreach and assistance, and collected and compiled facilities’ reported emissions data. Based on Ecotek’s satisfactory performance and responsiveness, staff recommends exercising the second-year renewal option to amend the contract with Ecotek for an amount not to exceed $250,000.

Committee:

Administrative, January 24, 1997, Recommended for Approval

Recommended Action:

Authorize the Executive Officer to execute an amendment to contract with Ecotek in an amount not to exceed $250,000 to exercise the second-year renewal option for privatization of portions of the Annual Emissions Report Program.

James M. Lents, Ph.D.
Executive Officer

Pursuant to Rule 301, facilities annually report their emissions and pay associated emission-based fees. A variety of resources are needed for this program to prepare and distribute emission reporting packages, provide technical support, collect and compile the reports, and perform quality control and engineering audit of the reported emissions and fees data. For the 1995-96 Annual Emission Reporting Program (Program), AQMD privatized portions of this Program in order to enhance the Program efficiency, improve service to facilities, improve data quality and processing, and enable AQMD staff to more effectively conduct engineering audits of the annual emissions reports.

Under AQMD’s direction and assistance, Ecotek (AQMD’s contractor) made a number of improvements to the Program to reflect AQMD’s latest rule amendments, facilitate reporting of emissions, reduce potential reporting errors, and to provide easy-to-use instructions. Specifically, for the first time, an emissions reporting software program was developed to allow facilities to file their annual emission report electronically rather than using the traditional paper forms. Through an advanced survey and extensive outreach effort, Ecotek identified about 1,700 facilities which selected the software reporting option, representing nearly half of all facilities filing the annual emission report and a wide spectrum of industry categories and emission levels. This electronic filing method has proven to be successful and the overall feedback from the facilities has been positive.

Following AQMD’s approval, Ecotek produced and distributed software/paper form packages to approximately 4,900 facilities. In July 1996, four informational workshops, co-hosted by AQMD and Ecotek staff, were held to assist facility personnel in preparing the emissions report using either software or paper forms. In addition, Ecotek established technical support through the Internet, E-mail, fax, and phone systems to answer questions and provide one-on-one consultation through individual appointments. Ecotek has partially completed compilation and preparation of a data file based on facilities’ reported emissions and fee data and is currently conducting data quality control of the reported data. Following Ecotek’s data quality control, AQMD staff will conduct detailed engineering audits of the annual emission reports. During all phases of this Program, AQMD staff has worked closely with Ecotek to ensure efficient implementation of the Program.

Ecotek has accomplished the specific tasks outlined in the original contract in a satisfactory manner and has been very responsive to AQMD’s Program needs and diligent in achieving the Program’s objectives. Therefore, staff recommends to exercise the second-year renewal option in the contract with Ecotek to privatize portions of the 1996-97 Annual Emission Report Program. For the next reporting year, Ecotek is expected to further refine and improve the reporting software and further enhance the emissions forms and instructions.

Resource Impacts

Sufficient funding is available in the FY 1996-97 Budget.

Attachment 1995-96 Annual Emissions Report Program Summary Report

ATTACHMENT

1995-96 Annual Emissions Report Program

Summary Report

The following provides a brief summary of the 1995-96 Annual Emission Report Program (Program), organized in order of Program tasks:

Development of Mailing List -
At the outset of the Program, AQMD staff developed a mailing list of all potential facilities subject to the Program following a prescribed methodology and in accordance with the emission levels specified in Rule 301(e). Under Rule 301(e), facilities that emit 4 or more tons per year of reactive organic gases (ROG), specific organic gases (SPOG), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SOx), or particulate matter (PM), or emit over 100 tons per year of carbon monoxide (CO) are required to report their emissions annually and pay associated fees. The initial mailing list consisted of 4,926 facilities.

Revision of Forms and Instructions -
Forms designed to calculate and report emissions and fees were revised to reflect AQMD’s latest rule amendments, simplify reporting of emissions and fees data, and provide easy-to-use instructions to reduce reporting errors. Also, in addition to the specific instructions printed on the back of each form, a general instruction booklet was also developed to provide updated Program information, general instructions for filing the annual emission reports, answers to frequently asked questions, and several examples for filling out the forms. For the 1995-96 Program, a total of 43 types of detailed and summary forms was utilized covering a wide range of facilities from refineries and power plants to auto-body shops and dry cleaners.

Development of Software Program -
Traditionally, facilities have used paper forms to file their annual emissions reports. For the 1995-96 Program, under AQMD’s direction, Ecotek developed an emissions reporting software program to streamline the filing of annual emission reports, to expedite processing of facilities’ reported emissions/fees data, and to increase the data accuracy as well. Facilities using the software could simply submit a data diskette and a signature form (along with any fees due and supporting documentation) in lieu of traditional paper forms. The overall feedback from facilities using the software program has been positive and that it saves time and money in filing the annual reports.

Advanced Survey -
Prior to the distribution of the emission reporting packages, Ecotek conducted a survey of all facilities identified in AQMD’s mailing list to determine their preference for either software or paper forms reporting. In addition, facilities were given the opportunity to file for exemption from the 1995-96 Program based on exemption criteria specified in Rule 301(e). Nearly 3,100 responses to the advanced survey were received (representing a 65% return) of which 1,540 facilities requested the software program to file their 1995-96 annual emission report. Also, a total of 742 exemption requests were evaluated by AQMD staff of which 189 were granted exemption. The mailing list was then revised to exclude the exempt facilities.

Preparation and Distribution of Emissions Reporting Packages -
Based on the responses to the advanced survey, Ecotek produced and distributed a total of 3,197 paper forms emission reporting packages and 1,540 software packages. The packages contained paper forms or software diskette, general instruction book, notice of workshop dates, self-addressed envelope, and a cover letter. The due date for submitting the reports was August 30, 1996.

Public Outreach and Assistance -
Following the distribution of packages, AQMD and Ecotek staff co-hosted four informational workshops in July 1996 to assist facility personnel in preparing their emission reports using either software or paper forms. Over 400 people attended these workshops. In addition, Ecotek established technical support through the Internet, e-mail, fax, and phone systems to answer questions and also provide one-on-one consultation through individual appointments. Prior to the due date, over 2,700 calls were responded to and handled by Ecotek of which about 500 calls were transferred to AQMD staff for inquiries related to rule interpretation, permitting, or prior reporting activities. In addition, AQMD and Ecotek staff held over 80 individual appointments with facility representatives to provide one-on-one consultation and assist them in filing their report. Also, an additional 184 software or paper form packages were mailed to other facilities not initially identified in the original mailing list.

Receipt of Emissions/Fee Packages -
Using self-addressed envelopes provided in the packages, facilities submitted their completed paper forms or data diskettes (for those using the software program) along with any fees due to AQMD. Overall, out of 4,921 facilities identified in the final mailing list, 3,747 facilities submitted their 1995-96 annual emissions report of which 1,715 facilities used the software program and 2,032 facilities used the paper forms. Thus, the new software has been used by nearly half of all facilities filing the annual emission report, representing a wide spectrum of industry categories and emission levels as indicated in Tables 1 and 2. To the remaining facilities which did not file their annual emission reports, a second notice was sent advising them of their obligation to file and that failure to file may result in further follow-up through AQMD’s field inspection and may ultimately result in suspension of equipment permits. Thus far, approximately 250 facilities have responded to the second notice and have either filed their report or are expected to do so soon.

Table 1

Number of Software Users by Major Industry Type

Industry Code	Description	Number of Facilities	Industry Code	Description	Number of Facilities
13	Oil & Gas Extraction	73	38	Industrial Instruments	25
14	Mining	26	39	Misc. Mfg Industries	18
16	Construction Contractors, Heavy	15	49	Electric, Gas, Sanitary Services	125
17	Construction Contractors, Special	12	50	Wholesale Trade, Durable Goods	17
20	Food Products	41	51	Wholesale Trade, Non-Durable Goods	49
22	Textile Mill Products	10	55	Automotive Dealers	15
24	Wood Products	20	70	Hotels and Lodging	13
25	Furniture & Fixtures	53	72	Personal Services	18
26	Paper Products	31	73	Business Services	15
27	Printing Industries	97	75	Automotive Repair	84
28	Chemical Products	41	80	Health Services	46
29	Petroleum Refining	36	82	Educational Services	22
30	Rubber Products	46	87	Engineering Services	13
32	Stone, Glass, & Concrete Products	47	91	Executive and General Government	16
33	Primary Metal Industries	40	95	Adm. of Environmental Quality	6
34	Fabricated Metal Products	144	96	Adm. of Economic Programs	11
35	Industrial Machinery Equipment	48	99	Nonclassifiable Establishments	12
36	Electronic Equipment	53	xx	Others/Non-identifiable Industries	310
37	Transportation Equipment	67	All	All Industries	1,715

Table 2

Characterization of Facilities Filing the 1995-96 Annual Emission Report

by Reporting Method

Facility Size (tons per year)	Software Reporting (number of facilities)	Paper Forms Reporting (number of facilities)
Greater than 10	429	329
Between 4 and 10	694	775
Less than 4	592	928
Total	1715	2032

Preparation of Emissions/Fee Data File -
Subsequent to AQMD’s logging in of the annual emission report received, these reports were forwarded to Ecotek for data processing. Ecotek has established administrative procedures for receiving, logging, and tracking emission report submittals. For paper form submittals, Ecotek has developed a manual data entry procedure for entering data. Ecotek is currently in the process of preparing a data file of the facilities’ reported emissions and fees data from both paper form and data diskette submittals and has already completed the first phase of this task.

Preparation of Image Files -
Ecotek is currently in the process of preparing image files of the paper form submittals based on AQMD’s specified format.

Quality Control of Data -
As the final task specified in Ecotek’s contract, Ecotek is required to conduct data quality control of the facilities’ reported data (e.g., to verify proper calculations and units of measurement), identify any emissions or fee discrepancies and report its findings to AQMD for further processing. Once Ecotek completes this task, AQMD staff will conduct a more detailed engineering audit of the emission reports.

AQMD Auditing Efforts -
Because of the privatization of the portions of the Program, AQMD staff has been able to more effectively conduct detailed engineering audit of the annual reports to ensure accuracy of the emissions data as well as the corresponding emission fees. During this contract’s time frame, AQMD staff has audited over 250 annual emission reports resulting in approximately $310,000 in revenues from underpayments and about $51,000 in refund of overpayments to facilities. In addition, AQMD staff has conducted a more extensive emissions data analysis to support AQMP control measure development as well as rule development.