BOARD MEETING DATE: February 7, 2003
AGENDA NO. 20

Mobile Source Committee

SYNOPSIS: 

The Mobile Source Committee met Friday, January 24, 2003. Following is a summary of that meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

Jane W. Carney, Vice Chair
Mobile Source Committee

Attendance

The meeting started at 9:00 a.m. Present: Vice Chair Jane Carney, and Committee Members Fred Aguiar, William Craycraft, and Ron Loveridge. Absent: Committee Chair Roy Wilson and Committee Member Jim Silva.
 

ACTION ITEM
1)	Rule 2202 – AQIP Proposal of Recommendations for 3rd Quarter of 2002 This item has been continued to the next Committee meeting. The Committee requested that background information on the AQIP Program, RFP process, and justification for project selection be provided in writing prior to the next meeting and should be applicable to all future action items.
INFORMATION ITEMS
2)	Report on Preview of 2003 AQMP Staff provided a report on the Preview Document for the draft 2003 AQMP. The District has released a Preview Document to introduce the key elements of the draft 2003 AQMP as well as identify key issues and initiate the public review process. There has been continued improvement of air quality over the last several decades where the peak ozone concentrations have dropped significantly. The various elements of the Preview Document include: background on current air quality, health effects, and state and federal requirements; updated emissions inventory; control strategy; attainment demonstration; key issues; and adoption and public consultation process. The attainment dates for the federal 1-hour ozone and PM10 standards that are currently exceeded in the Basin are 2010 and 2006, respectively. The vast majority of VOC and NOx emissions in the Basin come from mobile sources which fall under the jurisdiction of CARB and EPA. Technical improvements in the draft 2003 AQMP include updated emissions inventory (with significant increase in estimated mobile source emissions) as well as incorporation of the latest analytical tools such as air quality models, chemical modules, air quality episodes, and latest growth forecasts. The draft 2003 AQMP is developed based on a comprehensive control strategy that would address ozone and PM10 standards with expeditious progress towards the upcoming new federal 8-hr ozone and PM2.5 standards. The overall control approach will have two components: District’s control measures and the State and Federal element. In order to further reduce emissions from stationary sources, the District has proposed 20 stationary source control measures resulting in 2010 emission reductions of 32 tpd VOC, 3 tpd NOx, 2-6 tpd of PM10, and 2 tpd SOx. The District’s proposed strategy will achieve approximately 70 tons per day of VOC emissions below the 1997/99 SIP target. In addition, CARB has proposed a state and federal element consisting of 27 control measures affecting a variety of on-road and off-road mobile sources as well as consumer products and gasoline refueling. These control measures will result in emission reductions of 118 tpd of VOC and 38-67 tpd of NOx in 2010. In spite of the proposed control measures by the District and CARB, staff is predicting a shortfall of approximately 67 tpd of VOC and 174 tpd of NOx by 2010 compared with the 1997/99 SIP remaining emissions, which are primarily associated with sources under CARB/EPA’s jurisdiction. However, based on modeling analysis, an additional 100 tons per day of VOC reductions may also be needed for the final attainment demonstration. The key issues for the draft 2003 AQMP include: selection of air quality model, chemistry modules, and episodes; shared responsibility of emission reductions (further negotiations among agencies are needed to determine the fair share reduction responsibility); extent of reliance on long-term control measures; and addressing the new federal 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 standards in the Plan. The draft 2003 AQMP is scheduled for release in February 2003, with public workshops planned in late February. A Pre-hearing is scheduled for this spring with a final hearing in the summer of 2003. There was considerable discussion from committee members on the proposed draft 2003 AQMP and the issues relative to the significant emission reductions necessary for attainment demonstration. Based on requests from committee members, staff will provide a more detailed presentation on District and CARB control measures as well as the emission contribution of SUVs and trucks from Mexico.
3)   4)	Status Report on Transit Bus Emissions Tests and School Bus Emissions Study Staff gave a combined presentation for Agenda Items 3 and 4. Results from two studies of transit bus emissions, and from one school bus emission study, were summarized. Transit buses from operating transit fleets were employed and were fueled with, respectively, CARB diesel, low sulfur diesel in combination with a particulate trap exhaust aftertreatment, CNG, and CNG combined with an oxidation catalyst aftertreatment. In the school bus study, a demonstration school bus from International fueled with either conventional diesel, or low sulfur diesel combined with a particulate trap, and CNG fueled bus with no exhaust aftertreatment from an operating school fleet in Arizona were tested. The school bus was used "as received" by the testing laboratory. For particulate emissions, both the low sulfur diesel with particulate trap and the CNG vehicles showed low emissions compared to conventional diesel. For nitrogen oxide emissions, CNG fueled transit buses showed about one half the emissions as the diesel fueled buses. The school bus fueled with CNG showed higher emissions of nitrogen oxides compared to the diesel fueled vehicles; staff noted that this was an unexpected result, and was not consistent with the transit bus studies. Staff is in the process of obtaining additional information to assess the significance of these results. For carbon dioxide, the CNG vehicles showed lower emissions than the diesel fueled vehicles. For carbonyl compounds, the CNG fueled vehicles without oxidation catalyst aftertreatment showed higher emissions than the diesel fueled vehicles. The transit bus test showed that an oxidation catalyst is effective in reducing the aldehydes emissions. For polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), the low sulfur diesel fueled buses with particulate traps and the CNG fueled buses showed low emissions compared to the conventional diesel fueled vehicles. Tests for mutagenic activity were also conducted on extracts of emissions of the transit buses. The data indicate that the particulate traps are effective in reducing the mutagenic activity found in the particulate fraction of the exhaust, but may not be effective in reducing activity in the volatile portion of the exhaust. Oxidation catalysts were also effective in reducing total mutagenic activity in the exhaust of the CNG fueled vehicles. Staff noted that definitive conclusions regarding emissions of different fuel technologies in school buses are premature, and that staff is obtaining additional information of this study. There were several differences in the two buses tested, so that an "apples to apples" comparison can not be made. Additionally, staff indicated that a school bus equipped with an oxidation catalyst should also be tested. Staff will take the results of the completed studies to the Toxics Equivalency Working Group to assess the implications for the staff proposed procedure to calculate equivalent toxic risks from vehicles. The Committee requested that this item be reagendized for the next meeting and focus the discussion on NOx emissions. The Committee also invites the public to comment on this topic.
5)	E.J. Subregional Analysis: Selection of 2003 Study Area Due to time limitations, this item was continued to the next Committee meeting.
6)	Rule 2202 Activity Report Rule 2202 Summary Status Report submitted, no comments.
7)	Monthly Report on Environmental Justice Initiatives Item #4 – CEQA Commenting: a.   CEQA Document Commenting Update: Written reports submitted, no comments.
8)	Quarterly Status Report on Mobile and Area Source Credits for RECLAIM Written report submitted, no comments.
9)	Other Business None.
10)	Public Comment None.

  The meeting adjourned at 10:50 a.m.

Attachment

Attendance Roster

SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
MOBILE SOURCE COMMITTEE
 
JANUARY 24, 2003
 
ATTENDANCE ROSTER
 

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