South Coast Air Quality Management District

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Appropriate and Reallocate Funds for PM2.5 Program and Children’s Health Study

SYNPOSIS: 

EPA has allocated Section 103 grant funds to implementation of the PM2.5 program. From FY 1999-00, $713,365 of EPA funds were unexpended from the PM2.5 "core" monitoring program. In addition, ARB has funded each successive year of the operation of the Children’s Health Study (CHS). From FY 1999-00, $309,342 of ARB funding was unexpended. This action is to appropriate and reallocate $713,365 for the PM2.5 program and $309,342 for the CHS, which reverted to the Undesignated Fund Reserves as of June 30, 2000, to the FY 2000-01 Budget.

COMMITTEE: 

Administrative, September 8, 2000. Committee Members who were present communicated their concurrence.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Recognize $713,365 revenue from prior year EPA Section 103 Grant funds and appropriate a total of $713,365 unexpended from the PM2.5 implementation from the Undesignated Fund Reserves to the FY 2000-01 Budget.
   
   
2. Reallocate $713,365 to the FY 2000-01 Budget for the continuation of the PM2.5 program.
   
   
3. Appropriate a total of $309,342 unexpended from the ARB’s Children’s Health Study program implementation from the Undesignated Fund Reserves to the FY 2000-01 Budget.
   
   
4. Reallocate $309,342 to the FY 2000-01 Budget to continue support of the operation of 7 monitoring sites established or upgraded for the Children’s Health Study.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Since the inception of the PM2.5 air monitoring program in 1998, EPA has granted to AQMD, under Section 103 Grant funding, a total of $1,553,620 for the start-up of PM2.5 monitoring at 18 locations. These funds are to fully cover the costs of the basic network and the start-up of the PM2.5 speciation monitoring network.

The funding is to cover the costs of operation and maintenance of federal reference method samplers deployed by AQMD at 18 air monitoring sites. This amount includes funds for the collection and analysis of all filters collected by AQMD as part of the base PM2.5 monitoring program for the calendar year 2000. Additional funding for the chemical speciation portion of the program is anticipated later this year.

The CHS program has been funded by ARB each successive year of operation since 1995. The AQMD has assumed the operational responsibility for the designated sites within the AQMD jurisdiction. In FY 1999-00, the Board recognized a total of $408,341 from ARB to continue the program through the end of 2001. The funding included primarily the funds for repair and maintenance of the needed monitoring equipment and costs of two temporary technicians.

From FY 1999-00 funding a total of $309,342 was unspent. This amount needs to be reallocated to the FY 2000-01 Budget to support the operation through December 31, 2001.

Use of Funding

Under the Section 103 Grant program, funds can only be used for the purpose intended. With previous carryover funds from last year’s Section 103 Grant, there will be a total of $713,365 in the FY 2000-01 Budget for the implementation of the PM2.5 program.

The CHS is fully funded by ARB. Since these costs are to include expenditure through December 31, 2001, staff will request the Board at the beginning of the FY 2001-02 Budget to reappropriate the unused portion of these funds.

Proposal

Staff proposes that the Board appropriate and reallocate $713,365, unexpended from the PM2.5 program implementation, from the Undesignated Fund Reserves to the FY 2000-01 Budget, as follows:

Staff proposes that the Board appropriate and reallocate $309,342, unexpended from the CHS program implementation from the Undesignated Fund Reserves to the FY 2000-01 Budget, as follows:

Fiscal Impacts

These grant funds are a supplement to the FY 2000-01 Budget, and have no negative impact on the budget. It should be noted, however, for the mandated PM_2.5 program, AQMD has no assurance that EPA will continue to provide sufficient funding in subsequent years, and should sufficient funding not occur, staff will need to consider either reducing the level of the program, or readjusting existing resources to meet program commitments. To date, EPA has provided sufficient funding to fully cover the costs of the PM2.5 monitoring program.

Since the appropriation and reallocation 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.

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