BOARD MEETING DATE: September 11, 1998 AGENDA NO. 3
PROPOSAL:
Set Public Hearing October 9, 1998 to Amend Rule 2202 - On-Road Motor Vehicle Mitigation Options and Implementation Guidelines
SYNOPSIS:
The proposed amendments will modify existing Rule 2202 to be consistent with amended Health & Safety Code Section 40458 effective June 19, 1998, and repealed Section 44243.5 (SB 432 (Lewis)). The law directs the AQMD to raise the employer applicability threshold for Rule 2202 compliance from 100 to 250, thus permanently exempting worksites with 100 to 249 employees. Rule 2202 Implementation Guidelines will be updated in order to reflect current legal requirements and policy and practice.
COMMITTEE:
Mobile Source, August 28, 1998, Reviewed
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Set a Public Hearing September 11, 1998 to Amend Rule 2202 – On-Road Motor Vehicle Mitigation Options, Rule 2202 Implementation Guidelines, and Employee Commute Reduction Program Guidelines.
Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Acting Executive Officer
Background
In December 1987, the Board adopted Regulation XV requiring trip reduction plans for larger employers. On April 14, 1995, the Board adopted Rules 1501 - Work Trip Reduction
Plans and 1501.1 - Alternatives to Work Trip Reduction Plans to provide greater flexibility while still complying with federal and state requirements for extreme non-attainment areas. Subsequently, on December 8, 1995, in response to state legislation
prohibiting the mandatory submittal of trip reduction plans, the Board adopted Rule 2202 as a replacement rule that did not mandate trip reduction plan submittals, yet allowed the
AQMD to remain in compliance with federal and state Clean Air Act requirements.
On November 8, 1996, in response to Health & Safety Code Sections 40458 and 44243.5, (SB 836 Lewis), Rule 2202 was amended to exempt approximately 2,800 employer worksites with 100-249 employees from the requirements of the rule effective January 1, 1997. SB 836 required that studies be conducted to determine if voluntary ridesharing and other replacement measures would be able to achieve equivalent emission reductions to those achievable under Rule 2202. The bill further mandated that if the emission reductions were not attained, the threshold would return to 100 and those employer worksites would again be subject to Rule 2202 by June 1, 1998. If the emission reductions were attained, the compliance threshold of Rule 2202 would increase to 500 by June 1, 1998.
Studies were conducted to determine the effectiveness of voluntary ridesharing. The findings of the studies indicated that voluntary ridesharing failed to meet emission reduction equivalency. Since equivalency was not attained, as required by SB 836, the deregulated worksites would have been brought back under Rule 2202. Subsequently however, the legislature passed Senate Bill 432 (Lewis) which was then signed into law by Governor Wilson on June 19, 1998. SB 432 amended Health & Safety Code Section 40458 and repealed Section 44243.5. The new law directs AQMD to raise the employer applicability threshold for Rule 2202 compliance from 100 to 250, thus permanently exempting worksites with 100 to 249 employees.
Proposal
The amendment to Rule 2202 proposes to raise the applicability threshold from 100 to 250, thus exempting worksites with 100 to 249 employees. Also proposed is the update of Rule 2202 Implementation Guidelines and Employee Commute Reduction Program Guidelines to be consistent with Health & Safety Code Sections 40458 & 44243.5 and to reflect current policy and practice. This Board letter shall constitute the staff report for these amendments. A summary of proposed rule changes follows:
A summary of proposed guideline changes follows:
The Proposed Amendments will bring Rule 2202 into consistency with State Law.
AQMP and Legal Mandates
The baseline for the 1997 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) and the State Implementation Plan (SIP) includes emission reductions for Rule 2202 and its predecessors, Rules 1501 and 1501.1. Due to the passage of SB 836 which exempts employers with worksites of 100-249 employees, Rule 2202 fell short of the emission reduction credits claimed in the 1997 AQMP and the SIP. The resulting shortfall for 1997 was offset by surplus emission reductions from the Rule 2202 Air Quality Investment Program. Likewise, the emission reduction shortfall that will occur during 1998 as a result of SB 432 must also be offset through other emission reduction measures in order for the District to remain in compliance with State and Federal Clean Air Acts.
Emission Impacts
After passage of SB 836, voluntary efforts to reduce emissions by exempted employers fell short of obtaining the emission reductions expected under Rule 2202. Thus, SB 836 led to the following emission reduction shortfall (tons per day) in 1997:
| VOC | 0.54 | |
| NOx | 0.64 | |
| CO | 5.63 |
The recent passage of SB 432 has made the exemption of smaller employers permanent, therefore a shortfall in emission reductions is likely to occur in 1998 as well. While the magnitude of the 1998 shortfall is uncertain at this time, a study will be conducted to ascertain the size of the shortfall and its changes over time. This type of analysis calls for collecting information from deregulated employers to determine whether any changes in the travel behavior of their employees, or in the use of emission reduction strategies at their work sites, has taken place since 1997. The data collection is expected to be completed by mid-November and the results of the study will become available in early January 1999.
A Rule 2202 Emissions Equivalency Task Force, scheduled to convene September 1998, will review the rule and propose programs and/or strategies that could be utilized to reduce additional mobile source emissions. Proposed strategies/programs from this Task Force may result in more cost-effective emission reduction options that expand the scope of existing compliance options offered under Rule 2202. The Task Force efforts may also result in a recommended Rule 2202 replacement measure which produces an equivalent level of emission reductions that are real, quantifiable and surplus relative to the most recently adopted SIP.
CEQA & Socioeconomic Impacts
The AQMD has reviewed the proposed amendments pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines §15002 (k)(1), the first step of a three-step process for deciding which document to prepare for a project subject to CEQA. The proposed amendments are exempt from CEQA for two reasons. First, the AQMD has no discretion regarding the portion of the proposed amendments which codifies the requirements of Health & Safety Code Sections 40458 and 44243.5 (SB 432, Lewis). As a result, this portion of project approval is a ministerial action and thus is exempt from the requirements of CEQA pursuant to Public Resources Code §21080(b)(1). Second, the remaining portion of the proposed amendments (e.g., deletion of obsolete language, streamlining redundant text, etc.) is strictly administrative. Since it can be seen with certainty that this portion of the proposed amendments has no potential to generate significant adverse environmental impacts, it is exempt from CEQA pursuant to state CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3) - Review for Exemption.
A Notice of Exemption will be prepared pursuant to state CEQA Guidelines §15062 - Notice of Exemption. The Notice of Exemption will be filed with the county clerks of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties immediately following the adoption of the proposed amendments.
The proposed amendments formally exempt those worksites between 100 and 250 employees from compliance with Rule 2202. To date, there are approximately 2,845 worksites in this size category. The following industries are those most affected by the exemption in the proposed amendments (percentages indicate an industry’s share of all workplaces exempted): manufacturing (24.9 percent), services (22.8 percent), wholesale and retail trade (18.8 percent), and transportation and public utilities (11.9 percent). The worksites exempted in the proposed amendments are not currently subject to Rule 2202. Therefore, there will be no socioeconomic impacts of the proposed amendments.
Rule Adoption Relative to the Cost-Effectiveness Schedule
On October 14, 1994, the Governing Board adopted a resolution that requires staff to address whether proposed rules being considered for adoption are being presented in rank order by cost-effectiveness. The 1997 AQMP ranks, in order of cost-effectiveness, all of the proposed control measures for which costs were quantified. The proposed amendments to Rule 2202 are not part of the 1997 AQMP, but, rather, are being proposed to make Rule 2202 consistent with SB 432. Consideration in the order of cost-effectiveness is, therefore, not applicable.
Incremental Cost-Effectiveness
Health and Safety Code Section 40920.6 requires an incremental cost-effectiveness analysis when there is more than one control option which would achieve the emission reduction objective of the proposed amendments, relative to ozone, CO, SOx, NOx, and their precursors. Since the proposed amendments to Rule 2202 do not result in emission reductions, the incremental cost-effectiveness analysis requirement does not apply here.
Implementation Plan
Pursuant to Health & Safety Code Sections 40458 & 442243.5, the applicability threshold of 250 was effective immediately upon passage by the California legislature on June 19, 1998. The amendments to the Guidelines will be effective immediately upon adoption of Rule 2202 by the AQMD Governing Board.
Resource and Fiscal Impacts
The permanent exemption of employer worksites with less than 250 employees or
elimination of fees levied on these employers will continue to result in an annual loss of
approximately $1.2 million in employer fee revenues. Under current State Law, (SB
432-Lewis), the District is no longer required to appropriate $1.5 million annually to the
Regional Transportation Agencies Coalition (RTAC) to promote voluntary ridesharing in the
basin.
Draft Findings Under California Health and Safety Code
Before adopting, amending, or repealing a rule, the California Health &Safety Code requires the AQMD to adopt written findings of necessity, authority, clarity, consistency, non-duplication, and reference, as defined in Health & Safety Code Section 40727. The draft findings for adopting proposed Rule 2202 are as follows:
Necessity
As set forth in the adopted AQMP, the emission reductions associated with the Proposed Amended Rule 2202 are needed for the following reasons:
Authority
The AQMD Board obtains its authority to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations
from Health & Safety Code Sections 40000,40001, 40440, 40440(a)(3), 40441, 40463,
40702, 40716, 40725 through 40728, and 40910 through 40920.
Clarity
The AQMD Board determines that the Proposed Amendment to Subdivision (b) of Rule 2202 is written or displayed so that its meaning can be easily understood by persons directly affected by it.
Consistency
The AQMD Board determines that the Proposed Amendment to Subdivision (b) of Rule 2202 is in harmony with, and not in conflict with or contradictory to existing federal or state statutes, court decisions or regulations.
Non-Duplication
The Proposed Amendment to Subdivision (b) of Rule 2202 does not impose the same requirements as any existing state or federal regulation and is necessary and proper to execute the powers and duties granted to, and imposed upon, the AQMD.
Reference
In adopting the Proposed Amendments to Subdivision (b) of Rule 2202, the AQMD Board references the following statutes which the AQMD hereby implements, interprets or makes specific: Health & Safety Code Section 40001 (rules to achieve ambient air quality standards), and 40440(a) (rules to carry out AQMP), 40918 (requirements for moderate and above areas), 40920 (requirements for severe and above areas), 40920.5 (requirements for extreme areas) and Federal Clean Air Act Section 182(d)(1)(B), 42 USC Section 7511a(d)(1)(B) (employee commute options requirements), Health & Safety Code Sections 40458 and repealed 44243.5.
Because the amended rule does not impose a new emission limit or standard, the proposed amended rule is compliant with the requirements of Health & Safety Code section 40727.2(g).
A. Summary of proposed rule and guideline amendments
B. Key Issues and Responses
C. Rule Development Process
D. Key Contacts List
E. SB 836 and SB 432
F. Proposed Amended Rule Language
G. Proposed Amended Rule 2202 Implementation Guidelines
H. Proposed Amended Rule 2202 Employee Commute Reduction Program (ECRP) Guidelines
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