South Coast Air Quality Management District

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Recognize and Appropriate Grant Funds from EPA for Rural Air Toxics Monitoring

SYNOPSIS: 

As part of a national air toxics pilot monitoring program, EPA is allocating Section 103 Grant funds for one year of toxics monitoring distributed among each of the ten EPA regions. Part of this program includes a rural/small city component, and EPA has invited the AQMD to participate in this portion of the pilot study. An amount of $143,000 is available to each rural/small city participant. Staff is proposing that air toxics monitoring be conducted at two locations within the community of San Jacinto, in Riverside County, meeting EPA objectives. This action is to recognize $143,000 from EPA upon receipt, and appropriate these funds to the FY 2000-01 Budget.

COMMITTEE: 

Administrative, August 11, 2000, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Recognize $143,000 in revenue from EPA Section 103 Grant funds for the special one-year air toxics monitoring in San Jacinto.
   
   
2. Upon receipt of the grant, appropriate $143,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to the Science & Technology Advancement FY 2000-01 Budget as follows: Salary and Employee Benefits Major Object, $20,000; Fixed Assets Major Object, 15,000; and Services and Supplies Major Object, $108,000.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

In 1999, as part of EPA’s annual appropriation, Congress authorized $3 million to begin the development of a national air toxics monitoring network. EPA, in working with state and local agencies, developed a one-year pilot study to help answer fundamental questions about the adequacy of site representativeness needed for a long-term toxics monitoring network. This pilot study is to cover four major metropolitan areas, and six small community/rural locations. Because of the success of the MATES-II study, four other cities (Providence, RI; Tampa, FL; Detroit, MI; and Seattle, WA) were selected to for detailed monitoring of air toxics similar to what was done here during MATES-II.

As part of the small community/rural portion of the pilot study, EPA has invited AQMD to be a participant. Such monitoring would add value to the results obtained during MATES-II. Specifically, it would be advantageous to determine the differences in risk estimates within the larger geography of the South Coast Air Basin, especially for the mobile dominated toxic compounds. It would also be of value to ascertain if other toxic compounds, not noticeably high in urban areas, would actually be higher in rural areas due to agricultural operations, which may include the use of pesticides.

In reviewing candidate sites, staff believes the community of San Jacinto, in Riverside County, meets EPA’s requirements for small community/rural areas. EPA is offering a total of $143,000 to conduct toxics monitoring in San Jacinto for a one-year period, commencing this fall.

Staff further believes that these funds can also leverage our own future toxic monitoring needs. Staff is proposing to utilize a portion of these funds to upgrade one of our mobile source test vans (MSTV) to meet EPA’s monitoring objectives. Thus at the conclusion of the project, the AQMD will have another monitoring platform available.

Proposal

Staff recommends that the offer from EPA to conduct special air toxics monitoring in a rural location (San Jacinto) be accepted, and that the Board recognize and appropriate $143,000 from EPA for Rural Air Toxics Monitoring to Science & Technology Advancement FY 2000-01 Budget, as follows:

Resource Impacts

EPA funding will support the upgrade of one MSTV to become a mobile monitoring platform, and will further provide for temporary staff, reimbursement of costs for AQMD laboratory staff, and necessary supplies to meet the objectives of the program. Toxics monitoring equipment are available from the MATES-II study such that procurement of additional equipment is not necessary.

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

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