The Mobile Source Committee met Friday, May 28, 1999. Following is a summary of that
meeting. The next meeting will be June 25, 1999, at 9:30 a.m. in Conference Room CC-8.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive and file.
Cynthia Coad, Chair
Mobile Source Committee
Attendance
The meeting started at 9:40 a.m. Present: Committee Chairwoman Cynthia Coad, Committee
Vice Chair Roy Wilson (participating via videoconference), Committee Member Ron Loveridge
(arriving at 9:45 a.m.) and Committee Member Jon Mikels. Absent: Committee Members Norma
Glover and Mee Hae Lee. The attachment is an attendance roster.
ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM:
Rule 2202 – AQIP Funding Recommendation for 3rd and 4th Quarters 1998, and 1st
Quarter 1999, and RFP Scoring Revisions to Comply with Board Approved Changes
Staff’s presentation to the Committee for their funding recommendations included:
summary of available funding; proposals received – 10 proposals in total; emission
reduction credits balance; and cost effectiveness of each proposal. Staff recommended
three contracts be awarded: OceanAir Environmental to receive $459,402 for diesel tugboat
repowering, Earthguard Environmental to receive $94,352 for process change ERCs, and
Ecology Auto Wrecking to receive $1,066,399 for old-vehicle scrapping.
Committee Member Jon Mikels moved to recommend this action to the Governing Board and
Chairwoman Coad seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Staff then presented to the Committee the proposed changes to the RFP scoring process for
the AQIP program so as to render it consistent with the changes made to the RFP scoring
process for all other contracts with the AQMD by the Governing Board at the May Board
meeting.
Committee Member Ron Loveridge moved to recommend the changes to the Governing Board and
Committee Member Jon Mikels seconded. The motion passedunanimously.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
Recent Court Decision Regarding the New U.S. EPA Air Quality Standards
Staff gave an overview of the recent U.S. Court of Appeals Decision on the new air
quality standards for ozone and PM10 & PM2.5 adopted by U.S. EPA in 1997. Staff
reported that the Court held that the setting of the new public health air quality
standards for ozone and particulate matter was unconstitutional as an improper delegation
of legislative authority to the U.S. EPA. Basically, the Court held that U.S. EPA had not
adequately explained its basis in selecting a particular level rather than one slightly
higher or lower, as necessary to protect public health.
In addition, the Court:
rejected the claim that U.S. EPA consider costs when setting national ambient air
quality standards.
left the 8-hour ozone standard in place, but stated that it "cannot be
enforced."
left open the issue of whether the PM2.5 standards should remain in place, subject to
further briefing.
vacated the revised PM10 standards, but requested further briefing on the status of the
old PM10 standards in light of its decision.
The Court’s opinion is still being reviewed by the U.S. EPA and the Department of
Justice. U.S. EPA indicated that they intend to go ahead and designate non-attainment
areas for the 8-hour ozone standards. U.S. EPA also indicated that in the South Coast, the
prior ozone and PM10 standards have never been revoked, so they remain in effect.
Status Report on AB2766 Local Jurisdiction Programs for FYs
1996/97 and 1997/98
Staff gave a presentation on the annual AB2766 report which will go to the Board at the
June meeting and will be released to CARB. The presentation covered: purpose of the
report; focus of the staff report; summary of the AB2766 Subvention Fund report; financial
summary; and emissions reduced and related cost effectiveness.
Committee Members raised concern over the apparently low percentage of quantifiable
projects identified, especially for FY 96/97. Committee Member Jon Mikels suggested that
staff revisit the possibility of quantifying the FY 96/97 records and determine if there
is justification to quantify potential emission reductions in order to capture potentially
valuable emission credits missed or not reported previously. He also requested that the
Executive Office study the situation and determine if it is worth the effort and what the
resource implications would be. Another suggestion from Committee Member Jon Mikels was
that the purchase of street sweepers under Rule 1186 would be a very good use of AB2766
funds, and the emission reductions are readily quantifiable. This should be brought to the
attention of the cities through an intensive outreach effort, he suggested. With regard to
the local jurisdiction surveys, Chairwoman Coad asked: if the survey forms have been
revised to make them easier to follow; if additional workshops would be helpful to the
cities; and what happens to the cities that did not submit a report. In reply to her
questions, staff provided the following information: the form is being revised for FY
98/99; Southern California Edison will be conducting a workshop and staff will be
assisting with this effort; also, staff will look into video-taping the workshop. In
addition, staff noted that at their May meeting the Governing Board, at the request of the
Council of Governments (COGs) granted $25,000 to each of the four Counties in the Basin
for the purposes of providing assistance for the better utilization of AB2766 Subvention
funds. Staff also advised that the independent auditors will report back to AQMD’s
Finance Department on those cities that did not submit a report and staff will take up
this issue on an ongoing basis.
On the financial summary, Committee Member Ron Loveridge questioned the difference between
the ending balance for FY 96/97 and the beginning balance for FY 97/98. Staff responded
that in the history of the program there is a difference that is ongoing between what the
cities tend to report and what staff’s financial records show. The auditors are now
in the process of completing the audit for FY 96/97 and FY 97/98 and the difference should
be reconciled. Chairwoman Coad requested that a presentation be made by the finance staff
on how the bookkeeping was done so as to provide an explanation for the discrepancy.
This item will be agendized for the next meeting.
Rule 2202 Emission Reduction Shortfall - 1998
Staff explained that the AQMD had contracted with Haug International to conduct the 1998
Employer/Employee Survey and attempt to track the effectiveness of voluntary rideshare
programs and other emission reduction programs. Final findings are now available and were
presented to the Committee. Staff’s presentation covered the following: objectives of
the survey, methodology used, employee AVR survey response, 1998 AVR, AVR trend, 1998
Emission reduction shortfall, and emission reduction shortfall trend.
During the discussion of this item Committee Member Jon Mikels inquired if AQMD can go
straight to the market to purchase ERCs to make up the shortfalls instead of going through
the rulemaking process to achieve additional reductions. In response, staff will
investigate the feasibility and cost effectiveness of this approach. This item will be
agendized for the next meeting.
Potential Membership to the North American Research Strategy
for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO)
The Committee was provided an overview of the NARSTO regarding the background of the
organization; its mission, structure, charter and membership. Staff advised the Committee
that the AQMD has recently been asked to become a member of NARSTO. The request for
AQMD’s membership is to provide support in terms of activities in Southern California
Air Basin.
The AQMD’s District Counsel has reviewed the membership charter and had no legal
concerns. The Committee asked if any funding commitment is involved. Staff indicated that
there are no monetary commitment and that the administration of NARSTO is funded primarily
by U.S. EPA. Relative to the mission and goals of NARSTO, staff concurs with the
overarching goals of scientific research and further understanding air pollution through
coordinated research efforts.
The Committee moved to endorse AQMD’s application of membership to NARSTO.
Ammonia Inventory for the Year 2000 AQMP
Staff advised that a comprehensive update of the ammonia inventory is being conducted as a
part of the Technical Enhancement Program for the Year 2000 AQMP. A brief report on this
effort was provided. The 1995 annual average concentrations and the 1997 AQMP ammonia
inventory were reviewed. A $70,000 contract was awarded to AVES/SAI to update the
inventory. Study results are preliminary at this time. Major and minor proposed revisions
to the ammonia inventory were reported on. These include updating livestock emission
factors, adding composting as a new source, revised ammonia emissions from cars, and
updating activity levels to 1997 for all sources. Comparison of the ammonia inventory in
the 1997 AQMP and AVES Preliminary report was presented. There was a discussion on
emission factors and the formulas used for the inventory.
Response to U.S. EPA Regarding Rule 1610 Credits
Per U.S. EPA’s request, staff performed a Rule 1610 MSERCs analysis for sanded
engines, and presented the findings to the Committee. Staff reported that a licensed
scraper/auto-dismantler survey was conducted. The survey results indicated that the total
engine sales was 6% and that no Rule 1610 engines were sold. However, no documentation was
available to substantiate the Rule 1610 engine sales. Therefore, staff intend to recommend
a 0-3% discount to U.S. EPA. With the 3% discount, MSERC users achieved an AVR of 1.46
which is significantly greater than what has been committed in the 1994 SIP. The total
credits issued between 1996 – 2001 using the sanding technique amount to
approximately 0.6 tons/day VOC, 0.3 tons/day NOx, and 4.1 tons/day CO, 3% of which are
rather insignificant. Staff have therefore come to the conclusion that: the outstanding
credits are small; they will not cause any SIP attainment demonstration or Further
Progress Report concerns; and no replacement reductions are needed. Staff indicated that
with the Committee’s approval they will submit the Rule 1610 SIP package with the
study results to U.S. EPA.
Report on Diesel Truck Conference
Staff reported that a World Truck Conference was held in Monterey at the beginning of May.
This was convened by the California Trucking Association, in cooperation with UCR’s
CE-CERT. AQMD and CARB were both co-sponsors, as well as the Engine Manufacturers
Association. The main purpose was to review the status of the existing regulatory programs
revolving around diesel particulate control, to review engine manufacturers experience
with technology development, to consider recent health studies and identify additional
research needs, and to engage in an industry/government dialog to promote future
technology development. The conference was constructive in each of these areas. Two
important things that came out of the conference: (1) there is a billion dollar
development effort underway by the manufacturers to reduce emissions in response to the
consent decree between U.S. EPA and the engine manufacturers, and (2) the manufacturers
have noted that they have a potential to reduce emissions very significantly with advances
in the catalyst technology for heavy duty engine modifications. However, to bring that
technology to full fruition, much depends on the U.S. EPA and California setting stricter
diesel fuel quality standards.
Chairwoman Coad commented that there is currently very heavy truck traffic on the freeways
in Orange County. She asked if a density map on Basin emissions from diesel vehicle
traffic could be produced. She also asked about the possibility of hiring a consultant to
conduct a survey or developing a model for this purpose. Staff replied that, in
cooperation with CARB and SCAG, a model is being developed to map out heavy duty vehicle
emission estimates on the major corridors. The model will be presented to the Committee
upon its completion in the next few months.
Rule 2202 Activity Report:
Rule 2202 Summary Status Report submitted, no comments.
Monthly Report on Environmental Justice Initiatives:
Item #4 – CEQA Commenting:
a.
CEQA Document Commenting Update: Written report submitted, no comments.
b.
CEQA Handbook Revision: No report submitted – no meeting in May.
Monthly Report on Environmental Justice Initiatives:
Item #2 – Ambient Monitoring of Air Toxics:
Written report submitted, no comments.
Item #7 – Cleanup Incentives for Diesel:
Written report submitted, no comments.
Update on the Mobile Source Measures in the SIP
The monthly report on the mobile source measures in the SIP was submitted.
In addition, staff submitted to the Committee a copy of U.S. EPA.’s Fact Sheet on
Proposed Conclusion to the Public Consultative Progress for the South Coast. Staff
indicated that a public meeting on this subject will be held on June 9 in Los Angeles and
staff will report back to the Committee at the next meeting.
Committee Member Jon Mikels moved to approve reports for items 9 through 12, and
Chairwoman Coad seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Other Business
Chairwoman Coad commented on Vice Chair Norma Glover’s amendment to the motion to
approve Rule 1113 at the May Board meeting. The comment was to clarify that there are
going to be field studies of new low-polluting paints. In addition, there will also be
other technical assessment of coatings technology, painting contractor and public
outreach, and establishment of special working groups on niche markets, and the averaging
provisions of the rule.
