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PROPOSAL:

Appropriate and Reallocate Funds for PAMS Program

SYNOPSIS:

EPA has allocated grants funds to the AQMD which can only be used for the PAMS program. From the fourth, fifth, and sixth years of implementation of the program, $233,000, $640,596 and $715,742, respectively, were unexpended. This action is to appropriate a total of $1,589,338 which reverted to the Undesignated Fund Reserves as of June 30, 1998, and reallocate these funds to the FY 1998-99 Budget for the PAMS program. This carry-over of grant funds, due primarily to AQMD’s efforts to maximize the value of sequencing annual PAMS funds, has been discussed with and accepted by EPA.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, July 24, 1998, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Appropriate a total of $1,589,338 unexpended from PAMS fourth, fifth and sixth years of implementation from the Undesignated Fund Balance to the FY 1998-99 Budget for the PAMS program.

2. Reallocate $1,589,338 in the FY 1998-99 Budget for the continuation of the PAMS implementation as set forth in Attachments 1B, 2B, and 3B.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Acting Executive Officer

Background

In February 1993, the EPA promulgated the PAMS regulations for areas classified as serious, severe or extreme non-attainment. Those regulations required AQMD to conduct monitoring for ozone precursors with enhanced monitoring equipment at 1 site per year, up to a total of 7 sites by 1998. As of mid-1997, the AQMD operates 6 sites and has met the implementation schedule of the Standard Plan submitted in August of 1993. Since the onset of the PAMS program, EPA has annually allocated Section 103 or Section 105 supplemental grant funds in support of this requirement.

On July 11, 1997, $492,000 unexpended from the EPA 105 grant for the PAMS fourth year operation was carried over to the FY 1997-98 Budget. The expenditures from these funds are listed in Attachment 1A. The unexpended funds in the amount of $233,000 will need to be carried over and reallocated to the FY 1998-99 Budget as listed in Attachment 1B.

Also on July 11, 1997, the AQMD Governing Board recognized and appropriated a $1,075,800 EPA 103 grant for the fifth year implementation of the PAMS program. The expenditures from these funds are listed in Attachment 2A. The unexpended funds in the amount of $640,596 will need to be carried over and reallocated to the FY 1998-99 Budget as listed in Attachment 2B. Most of this reallocation is to support needed upper air wind and temperature data. Because of the 1997 Southern California Ozone Study program, the need for this information under the PAMS program has been delayed to the current budget year.

On February 13, 1998, the AQMD Governing Board recognized and appropriated a $854,622 EPA 105 supplemental grant for the sixth year implementation. Typically, EPA PAMS grants are more closely utilized with the AQMD’s budget year, but because this particular grant occurred earlier than the FY 1998-99 Budget year, most of the funds were unspent at the end of FY 1997-98, as listed in Attachment 3A. The amount of $715,742 will need to be carried over and reallocated to the FY 1998-99 Budget as listed in Attachment 3B.

Resource Impacts

The total amount of $1,589,338 not expended from the fourth, fifth and sixth years of PAMS implementation in the FY 1997-98 Budget will need to be appropriated and reallocated to the FY 1998-99 Budget to allow completion of planned purchases, maintain the existing network, and accomplish the goals of the PAMS program, in a manner that maximizes the use of available funding. The PAMS reallocation recommendations have been accepted by EPA and can only be used for this purpose.

Since the appropriation of funds by the AQMD constitutes a budget supplement within the definition of Health and Safety Code 40720(j), public notice of this proposed supplement was published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Riverside Press Enterprise, Orange County Register, San Bernardino Sun, and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

Attachments

Attachment 1A - PAMS Fourth Year Expenditures
Attachment 1B - PAMS Fourth Year Carry-over Reallocation
Attachment 2A - PAMS Fifth Year Expenditures
Attachment 2B - PAMS Fifth Year Carry-over Reallocation
Attachment 3A - PAMS Sixth Year Expenditures
Attachment 3B - PAMS Sixth Year Carry-over Reallocation

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