The Stationary Source Committee met Friday, February 25, 2000. Following is a summary of that meeting. The next meeting will be March 24, 2000, at 10:30 a.m., in Conference Room CC8.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive and file.
Mee Hae Lee
Chair, Stationary Source Committee
Attendance
The meeting began at 10:40 a.m. Present were Mee Hae Lee (left at 11:50), Committee Chair, Jon Mikels, Norma Glover, Ron Loveridge (left at 11:40) and Leonard Paulitz.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Annual RECLAIM Audit Report for Compliance Year 1998
Pang Mueller, Compliance and Engineering Manager, presented this item. Trading in the calendar year 1999 remains very active, the second most active trading year. The price of NOx per ton has increased to almost double last year’s average price of over $2,000 to approximately $4,000 per ton per year. In contrast, the price of SOx credits has decreased compared to the previous year. Over the last two years there hasn’t been much decline in NOx emissions and if this level continues, by the end of the 1999 compliance year, emissions will be at the allocation point for both NOx and
SOx.
There is still some noncompliance. For the most part, noncompliant facilities have reported emissions that exceed their allocation without making any trading during the reconciliation period. About 30 percent of the facilities have been audited so far, so there may be an additional compliance rate change.
Prior to October of 2000, this item will come back to the Board to ratify findings based on the state law on the RECLAIM program. At that point the Board may choose to make other recommendations or ask staff to further explore the program to ensure that state law has been complied with.
Rule 1402 – Control of Toxic Air Contaminants from New and Existing Sources and
Rule 1401 – New Source Review of Toxic Air Contaminants
Elaine Chang, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources, presented this item. Elaine highlighted the staff proposal focusing on outstanding issues and public comments. Rule 1402 is also one of the Environmental Justice Initiatives. The Board has asked the staff to expedite the development of Rule 1402. The current proposal retains the current significance threshold of 100 in a million and a hazard index of five. Staff is now proposing to lower risk levels to 10 in a million and the hazard index to three. Facilities with approved HRAs will be brought under Rule 1402 in two tiers. Staff is also proposing a shorter compliance period of three years rather than five years. A number of sources could potentially be affected by this rule amendment. About 40 facilities coming through the AB 2588 program have a risk level greater than 10 in a million. There are about 100 facilities that could potentially be subject to our emission inventory requirement and about 7,500 smaller sources that could be affected through industry-wide categories.
Industry would not like to see a change in the risk threshold. Environmental groups would like to see one in a million but could accept ten in a million under certain conditions. They would also like to see more stringent inventory notification requirements. Staff has scheduled a series of meetings over the next few weeks and will continue with the working groups to try to address issues raised by both parties.
Resolution Supporting Railhaul of Non-Hazardous, Non-Recyclable Solid Waste to Distant, Environmentally-Sound Landfills
This item was delayed one month.
Draft Air Toxics Control Plan
Jill Whynot, Manager, Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources, presented this item. The purpose of the draft air toxic control plan is to provide a comprehensive approach to address air toxics in the Basin. The plan is not a regulatory requirement and will not be submitted to the state for the State Implementation Plan.
The plan analyzes existing and future toxic levels, including potential additional strategies. Current basin-wide risk levels are approximately 1400 in one million. In 2010, implementation of existing local, state and federal programs will bring the risk to approximately 1000 in a million. With implementation of all the potential strategies in the draft plan, the basin-wide risk in the year 2010 is projected to be 700 in one million. Additional control strategies have been developed. There are several early action strategies such as the fleet rules, gas station rule and Rule 1402. There are also approximately eight stationary source measures and about fourteen mobile source measures.
There has been an extensive public process at which staff has received many good suggestions on enhancements to the draft plan. Staff has added two new strategies to the plan. One is to look at the aerospace industry for a technology based approach rather than Rule 1402, and the other is to do a mobile source credit strategy. The draft Air Toxics Control Plan is scheduled to go before the Board in March. The Board will be requested to approve the draft plan as a policy planning document for possible future actions.
BACT Guidelines Report
Pom Pom Ganguli, Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources Manager presented the quarterly progress report. Now listed in the guidelines are new permits that are issued with BACT, which are: four boilers, one thermal fluid heater, one dryer/oven, seven internal combustion engines, one mixing tank, and one polyurethane tube manufacturing equipment. There has been one gas turbine permit issued. BACT guidelines updated information is available at the AQMD website. Staff appreciates the efforts of the BACT Scientific Review Committee.
Rule 461 – Gasoline Transfer Dispensing
Jack Broadbent, Deputy Executive Officer, Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources, presented this item. The 1999 AQMP calls for an amendment to Rule 461 this year. CARB certifies the equipment and AQMD staff enforces proper equipment maintenance in the field. Staff has observed that once the equipment is installed, it often isn’t being maintained properly. Staff has conducted a number of audits that indicate that the compliance rate in the past has been unacceptably low. With the recent increase of field inspectors, the compliance rate is beginning to improve.
Rule amendments are proposed to enhance accountability, increase test frequencies to quarterly, enhance performance and improve rule enforceability. Amendments would prohibit the sale, installation and use of non-CARB certified components. Some of the benefits include a reduction in VOC of 6.3 tons/day and benzene of 197 pounds/day. The cost-effectiveness would be $781 per ton VOC with a potential impact to the consumer of 0.16 cent increase per gallon of gasoline.
A number of workshops have already been held. There is a public consultation meeting scheduled for March 14, 2000. This item will go to the Board for consideration at the April Board meeting.
Ron Wilkness of WSPA expressed concern over the testing requirements and equipment certification.
Reg. IX – Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources
Jill Whynot, Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources Manager gave a brief update on Reg. IX. The federal standards are already in effect and there are no CEQA or socio-economic impact assessments required. Changes are administrative only.
ERC Transfer- Inter-District ERC Transfer to the Antelope Valley Air Pollution Control District
This item was delayed one month.
Notice of Violation Penalty Summary
The Committee acknowledged the summary report attached to the agenda.
Rule Forecast Report
The Committee acknowledged the report attached to the agenda.
