South Coast Air Quality Management District

Mobile Source Committee

SYNOPSIS: 

The Mobile Source Committee met Friday, September 28, 2001. 
Following is a summary of that meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

S. Roy Wilson, Chair
Mobile Source Committee

Attendance

The meeting started at 9:05 a.m. Present: Committee Chair Roy Wilson (by videoconference), Committee Vice Chair Jon Mikels, and Committee Member Norma Glover. Absent: Committee Members Jane Carney, Ron Loveridge and Jim Silva. Attached is an attendance roster.

ACTION/DISCUSSION ITEM

1. AQMD Smoke Management Program

Staff gave a brief presentation to the Committee on the AQMD Smoke Management Program. This plan was designed in accordance with CARB’s Title 17, Smoke Management Guidelines for Agricultural & Wildland Burning, which requires air districts to adopt smoke management programs. The plan meets all of the requirements specified in Title 17 and includes three enforceable elements: Rule 444 - Open Fires, Rule 208 - Permit for Open Fires, and Rule 402 - Nuisance.

As a follow-up action, staff is proposing to amend Rule 444 to address EPA’s limited disapproval of the rule, incorporate elements of the 1999 AQMP Control Measure WST-03 Emission Reductions from Waste Burning (implemented through Memorandum of Understanding), and update rule language to incorporate specific Title 17 text.

Staff recommended that the Board adopt the resolution approving AQMD’s Smoke Management Program and staff report and direct staff to submit this resolution and report to CARB to satisfy AQMD’s commitment on Title 17.

Committee Member Norma Glover moved to recommend approval of forwarding this item to the Board and Committee Chair Roy Wilson seconded with the proviso that staff provide the Committee with copies of the plan and resolution in adequate time for review before going to the full Board. The motion was passed unanimously.

Staff presented to the Committee a follow-up presentation on the status of the revisions to the CEQA Handbook. The presentation was divided into three parts: 1) a recap of the issues regarding localized significance thresholds, 2) the methodology for deriving the thresholds, and 3) an actual sample project. The sample project showed how localized significance thresholds developed for different source receptor areas would affect the significance determination for that project.

The purpose of revising the Handbook is to streamline and update analysis methodologies, emission factors, mitigation measures, and address new policy issues. The staff proposal regarding localized significance thresholds would implement, in part, Environmental Justice Initiative #4 to place greater emphasis on the analysis of localized effects in CEQA documents. The localized significance thresholds are derived using the ambient concentration in the source receptor areas, distance to the sensitive receptor, and size of the project. A dispersion model is used to back-calculate the mass daily emissions that would cause an exceedance of an ambient air quality standard at the sensitive receptor.

Committee Member Jon Mikels expressed concern that this proposed approach seemed to create a differential impact on projects with similar mass daily emissions which based solely on geography, would have to meet different significance criteria. He wanted to see an array of different types of projects with different types of emission characteristics, i.e. PM10, VOC and NOx, to understand what this methodology does, how it treats similar types of projects in different locations, and what the economic and geographical impacts of that policy will be.

Supervisor Mikels added that because this would be a new policy that he believed would create differential impacts on a geographical basis, staff has an obligation to study and use the best methodology available to understand the full impacts of what is being proposed, and to go to the various regions of the District to explain this policy to the potentially impacted businesses. Staff responded that they plan to reconvene the Handbook revision working group, continue to update the committees, and conduct public workshops.

Committee Chair Roy Wilson directed staff to return to the Committee next month with an estimate of the time it would take staff to complete an analysis of the current approach versus staff’s proposed approach showing the full effects of the new proposal in different source receptor areas of the District, potential costs associated with the localized significance proposal, and potential emission reductions that could be achieved by this proposal.

3. Status Report on AQMP Revision

Staff reported on the overall schedule for the 2001 AQMP. Regarding emissions inventory, staff has completed analysis based on EMFAC 2000. For the 2010 baseline, there were approximately 80 tons per day less of VOC and 180 tons per day more of NOx based on all the rules adopted since the end of 2000. Committee Member Jon Mikels commented that the most recent SCAG demographic projections may further reduce the 2010 baseline emissions. Staff responded that according to SCAG these changes are not significantly different from the previous version, but staff will look into the changes made by SCAG and their impacts on emissions.

In terms of control measures, almost 44 out of 48 tons per day of VOC reductions committed in the 1999 SIP were achieved. Long-term measures in the 1999 SIP will be eliminated and replaced with short-term measures in the 2001 AQMP. Staff believes the reduction commitment by the long-term measures can be met with short-term measures in more specific source categories with potential control technologies identified.

Regarding control strategy, staff has historically maintained a control measure for credit trading. It will be expanded to include the NSR credit concept. In the past, credit trading has always been associated with the District’s source specific regulations. Credit rules allow sources to flexibly achieve necessary reductions for their facilities, but applications as ERCs in the NSR program were never addressed. Due to the recent analysis that there may be a shortage in the ERC market for future growth, staff is exploring the concept of how to generate more long-term credits.

CARB intends to release their Clean Air Plan in 1-2 weeks. This is a comprehensive plan that will identify all the control measures for the entire state including toxics and will identify specific components for the South Coast Air Basin. CARB has indicated that they have 100 tons of commitment to "black box" measures based on the EMFAC 2001 inventory. However, to date they can only identify 30% of the VOC reductions needed with specific measures, but feel confident they have adequate NOx reductions.

Regarding modeling, the sensitivity analysis performed to date indicates that additional reductions may be needed for the 2006 PM10 standards. This analysis will be further refined once EMFAC 2001 is finalized. It will take staff approximately six weeks to prepare a draft AQMP once CARB’s Clean Air Plan is made available.

Rule 2202 Summary Status Report submitted, no comments.

Item #4 - CEQA Commenting:

1. CEQA Document Commenting Update: Written reports submitted, no comments.

6. Status Report on Mobile and Area Source Credits

Status Report on Credit Rule Implementation submitted, no comments.

Staff mentioned that the November committee meeting is scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving and the December meeting date is December 28. Because of the holidays, staff is in the process of polling the committee members to reschedule those meetings.

None.

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

Attachment
Attendance Roster

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