Proposal:

Amend Rule 403 - Fugitive Dust and 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:

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, now 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 a variety of circumstances. Contingency requirements are also proposed for new road construction.

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. In response to these concerns, staff amended the routine street sweeping provisions of PR 1186 to be applicable only on streets with heavy silt loading potential (i.e., roads that intersect with unpaved road or have unimproved road shoulders). By focusing the PM₁₀-efficient street sweeper use on roads with high silt loading the necessary emissions reductions can be achieved with less of an impact to local government. Nevertheless, staff has received comments from jurisdictions regarding the feasibility of paying for the equipment. Comments have also been expressed regarding the availability of adequate technology, even though staff believes existing technologies have been demonstrated.

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. The attached resolution commits the District to establish a working group to resolve outstanding issues prior to the PR 1186 January 1, 1999, effective date to begin procurement. The working group would be comprised of local jurisdiction and District staff, street sweeper manufacturers, and other interested parties and would be required to report to the Board by June 30, 1998 on the working group's findings. Specific issues to be addressed by the working group include proposed PM₁₀-efficient street sweeper standards and testing protocols, alternative fuels, and advancing street sweeper technologies.

Other PR 1186 items of concern expressed by some local jurisdictions included: the "post-event" street cleaning provisions and the unpaved road treatment requirements. In response to these concerns, the District has revised the PR 1186 post-event clean-up requirements to allow jurisdictions additional time to remove material following major storms. The District has also revised the PR 1186 unpaved road treatment requirements to be more easily understood. Specifically, PR 1186 would require jurisdictions to pave one mile of the qualifying unpaved road mileage or chemically stabilize two miles or implement speed control on three miles of unpaved roads (per year for nine years). Jurisdictions can implement any of the three compliance options in each of the nine years following rule adoption, and additional treatments can apply to the future year requirements.

AQMP and Legal Mandates

The proposed requirements are estimated to result in a reduction of 30,806 tons of PM₁₀ per year, or 86.4 tons per day (PAR achieves 42.9 tons per day and PR 1186 achieves 43.5 tons per day). The federal Clean Air Act requires all areas designated as serious nonattainment for PM₁₀, including the Basin, to adopt BACM by February 8, 1997. These emissions reductions are also 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. The EIR was released for a 45-day public review period relative to PAR 403 and PR 1186. No comments were received on the EIR. Since certain mitigation measures in the EIR are applicable to PAR 403 and PR 1186, the Mitigation Monitoring Plan prepared for the 1997 AQMP EIR is included as Attachment 1 to the Governing Board resolution.

Socioeconomic Assessment

The proposed amendments to Rule 403 and Proposed Rule 1186 (excluding the contingency measures) are estimated to cost an average of approximately $10.6 million per year and result in an average of 203 jobs forgone annually over the 1997-2010 period. Implementation of the contingency measures is estimated to cost approximately an additional $6.1 million per year and result in an additional 48 jobs forgone annually. The local government sector is expected to be impacted the most. The cost-effectiveness of the proposed amendments to Rule 403 and Proposed Rule 1186 (without the contingency measures) is estimated at $283 per ton of PM₁₀ removed. With the contingency measures, the cost-effectiveness of both rules is estimated at $505 per ton of PM₁₀ removed.

Resource Impact

Existing District resources will be sufficient to implement the proposed rule requirements with minimal impact on the budget.

Attachments

A. Summary of Proposed Requirements
B. Rule Development Flow Chart
C. Key Contacts
D. Resolution
E. Rule Language
F. Final Staff Report
G. Final Socioeconomic Assessment

ATTACHMENT A

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED REQUIREMENTS

PAR 403

Upgrades the existing requirement to implement reasonably available control measures (RACM) to the requirement to implement best available control measures (BACM) within the Basin. Establishes new standards to reduce the track-out of material onto paved public roadways. Creates a soil erosion control plan review process in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service that would allow agricultural operations to maintain their existing exemption from the Rule. Establishes a contingency requirement that would increase the number of facilities required to file a fugitive dust control plan or notify the District that the appropriate Table 1 and 2 control actions would be implemented.

ATTACHMENT A (CONTINUED)

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED REQUIREMENTS

PR 1186

• Establishes requirements for the rapid removal of soil or other particulate matter deposited onto paved public roadways. • Requires the future procurement of "PM10-efficient" street sweepers. • Establishes treatment options for unpaved roads (e.g., paving, chemical stabilization, speed control) and establishes annual treatment requirements for public unpaved roads. • Requires the cessation of hay grinding activities when visible emissions extend more than 50 feet from a source. • Establishes treatment options for unpaved access roads and feed lane access areas used by livestock operations. • Establishes a contingency requirement that would require curb and gutter or minimum paved shoulder widths or landscaping for new road construction and road widening projects. • Allows for alternative control options that achieve equivalent emission reductions.

ATTACHMENT B

RULE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

RULE 403 - Fugitive Dust
RULE 1186 - PM₁₀ Emissions from Paved
and Unpaved Roads and Livestock Operations

Development of

Draft Rule Language

March, 1996-August 1996

Public Consultation Meeting: October 8, 1996
Public Workshop: October 29, 1996
Public Workshop: December 4, 1996
Public Consultation Meeting: January 8, 1997
(5,000 notices mailed)

Date Set Public for Hearing: December 13, 1996

Public Date of Hearing: January 10, 1997

Total Time Spent in Rule Development Pre-Board Hearing: 14 Months

(Note: Includes time to get background information for rule language)

1proprule\augamend\brdltr.doc

ATTACHMENT C

KEY CONTACT LIST

Industry/Environmental Consultants

Athey Products Corporation

Building Industry Association

Cal Portland Cement

California Milk Producers Council

Carde Pacific Corporation

Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition

Dames and Moore

Elgin Sweeper Company

Haaker Equipment

Metropolitan Water District

Riverside County Farm Bureau

Southern California Material Handling Company

Tymco Sweeper Company

UC Riverside College of Engineering - Center for
Environmental Research and Technology

Governmental Agencies

California Air Resources Board

City of Los Angeles

County of Los Angeles Sanitation District

County of Riverside

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

Regional Water Quality Control Board

U.S. Department of Agriculture - Forest Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Western Riverside Council of Governments