BOARD MEETING DATE: September 5, 2003
AGENDA NO. 23

Mobile Source Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Mobile Source Committee met Friday, August 22, 2003.
Following is a summary of that meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

James W. Silva, Acting Chair
Mobile Source Committee

Attendance

The meeting started at 9:05 a.m. Present: Committee Members William Craycraft, Ronald Loveridge and James Silva. Absent: Committee Chair Roy Wilson, Vice Chair Jane Carney and Committee Member Fred Aguiar.

INFORMATION ITEMS:
 

1)	Report on Survey of Future Diesel Engine Technologies to Meet 2007 Federal Standard, and Issue an RFP to Demonstrate Diesel Engine Technologies Henry Hogo, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, Science & Technology Advancement, gave the presentation. At its June 6, 2003 meeting the Governing Board approved an amendment to Rule 1193, and in adopting the resolution the Governing Board directed staff to: 1) conduct a survey of heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturers to determine their progress and identify the technologies they will use to meet the federal standards in 2007; and 2) solicit an RFP for a demonstration study of technologies identified in the survey. The survey was conducted with the six major heavy-duty engine manufacturers. The current heavy-duty federal emissions standards are 2.4g/bhp-hr NOx plus NMHC. In 2007, the NOx standard will decrease by an order of magnitude to 0.2 g/bhp-hr NOx. To facilitate this transition, there is a phase-in period which allows 50% compliance for model years 2007 – 2009 with full compliance by 2010. The survey results showed that all of the manufacturers have selected a technical strategy to meet the 2007 heavy-duty standards. In most cases, they will utilize a combination of lean NOx traps and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). At least one manufacturer is planning to use selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology. And, although all manufacturers are working towards the federal standards, most will take advantage of the allowed phase-in and utilize fleet emissions averaging to comply with the 2007 standards by certifying smaller engines at the stricter standards. Due to the breadth of technologies and the phase-in approaches adopted by the manufacturers, the RFP was drafted to demonstrate the diesel technology to meet the 2007 standards by 2005 with the reasonable costs to be proposed by the bidders. The purpose of the RFP is to solicit cost-shared proposals to demonstrate and evaluate the performance, durability, and emission-reduction potential of advanced diesel emission control systems (ADECS) in engines fueled by low-sulfur diesel fuel and commonly used in waste collection vehicles. Proponents will be required to perform engine dynamometer tests over the U.S. EPA heavy-duty Federal Test Procedures and steady-state test cycles to assess fuel consumption, gaseous emissions, and particulate matter emissions from the test engine with and without ADECS. This item is also being presented to the Technology Committee for its review and approval of the RFP.
2)	Report on White Paper on Regulatory Options for Addressing Cumulative Impacts from Air Pollution Emissions Elaine Chang, Deputy Executive Officer, Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources, gave a presentation on staff’s recommendations for a cumulative impacts reduction strategy. This work is related to Environmental Justice enhancements and a Board directive for staff to evaluate the feasibility of additional steps that can be taken to reduce cumulative impacts from air pollution. Staff worked with a stakeholder group and had extensive outreach to community members to educate them and help develop potential solutions. Staff has incorporated comments received and has come up with 25 recommended strategies. This item will be presented to the Board at its September 5th meeting for policy direction. The definition of cumulative air pollution impacts was discussed with the working group. No consensus had been reached, but staff attempted to capture the intent of many of the comments by addressing criteria pollutants, toxics, and nuisances such as odors. AQMD has comprehensive programs now and information is available on increased cancer risk from the MATES II study. The AQMP will be relied on for criteria pollutants. Additional analysis of high impact areas will help further identify contributions to cumulative impacts and solutions will be developed accordingly. The proposed scope includes cancer risks, acute and chronic impacts, a pilot odor program, and focus will be placed on repeat emission violations. Redlining has been one of the issues raised by business and local government. Interference with land use and additional regulatory burdens are two potential consequences of ‘redlining’ if additional requirements make development more difficult. Staff attempted to address this by not specifying a cancer risk or identifying cities above such a risk. A high cumulative impact area is the top 100 grid cells area for mobile and stationary sources (less than one percent of the Basin). Most of the proposed strategies are across the board and would not be limited to specific areas. Dr. Chang highlighted some examples of strategies, which include mobile, stationary and policy-related items. There are short- and long-term measures. One of the more controversial strategies is potential adjustment of thresholds for new source review, and for existing facilities (Rules 1401 and 1402). Environmental representatives would like to lower the thresholds for all facilities. Business representatives are concerned about impacts. Staff is recommending that lower thresholds be considered for facilities having a direct impact on schools and possibly other sensitive receptors. For new source review, this is envisioned as applying to new and relocated facilities only. By working with local governments, staff hopes to help influence better land use and zoning decisions through outreach and education. During the discussion of this item Committee Members raised concerns over the issues of redlining and identifying the top 100 grid cells areas. In response, Dr. Wallerstein stated that it is important to identify and analyze the high risk areas to try to come up with solutions but not to limit growth. Greg Adams, representing the L.A. County Sanitation District, and Bill LaMarr, representing the Small Business Alliance, expressed concern about insufficient time to work with the stakeholders and requested that the hearing of this item be moved to October. Dr. Wallerstein reiterated that the action by the Board in September would be policy direction only, and that each rule would go through the proper rulemaking process with full stakeholder participation. In addition, Dr. Wallerstein stated that he had scheduled a meeting with these representatives to discuss the substantive issues of staff’s recommendations. Committee Members will be informed of the outcome of the meeting and whether to delay the hearing until October.
3)	Annual Update on Rule 2202 Antonio Thomas, Program Supervisor, Transportation Program, presented an Annual Update on Rule 2202 – On-Road Motor Vehicle Mitigation Options. Rule 2202 requires employers with 250 or more employees on a full- or part-time basis to implement an emissions reduction program to reduce mobile source emissions generated by employee commutes during peak hours. Employers may select one of three program options to comply with Rule 2202: Employee Commute Reduction Program (ECRP), Emissions Reduction Strategies (ERS), or Air Quality Investment Program (AQIP). The report was divided into four sections. The first section described worksite operations that included data on employer participation in the available compliance options and the corresponding emissions reductions. Participation in the compliance options was as follows: 55% ECRP, 24% ERS, and 21% AQIP. Emissions reductions were: VOC - 4.04 tons per day (tpd), NOx - 4.64 tpd, and CO - 42.55 tpd. The second section contained outreach information describing training for employee transportation coordinators (ETCs); Internet Web site; AQIP assistance programs; and updated rule information for consultants, Transportation Management Associations (TMAs), rideshare events, and regulated employers. The third section contained information on program compliance that includes an audit process triggered by complaints and/or staff requests. The last section of the report listed future activities that staff is planning to implement to streamline ETC training and to amend the rule to incorporate updated emission factors, inter-pollutant crediting, and to require the attainment of an average vehicle ridership performance (AVR) target. Rule 2202 continues to make steady progress towards reducing mobile source emissions. Over the past year, employers have significantly increased their participation in the AQIP. Staff will continue to develop innovative techniques to heighten public awareness on successful emissions reduction strategies that will enable the region to meet the established air quality standards.
4)	Proposed Amendments to Rule 2202 Kathryn Higgins, Program Supervisor, Transportation Programs, presented a summary of the proposed amendments to Rule 2202-On Road Motor Vehicle Mitigation Options and its policy guidelines. Rule 2202 is an emissions reduction program, applicable to employers with 250 or more employees, that consists of a menu of compliance options including: the Employee Commute Reduction Program (ECRP), the Air Quality Investment Program (AQIP) and Emission Reduction Strategies (ERS). The key amendment to the ECRP would enhance the current "good faith effort" component by requiring employers to meet their prescribed average vehicle ridership (AVR) target. This amendment would assist the AQMD in meeting Clean Air Act requirements without sole reliance on substitute reductions and would in part address the 2003 AQMP "Black Box" issue. Proposed changes to the ERS would add the ability to use Area Source Credits, Short Term Emission Reduction Credits, Reclaim Trading Credits and inter-pollutant crediting (use of VOC or NOx in lieu of CO) as additional emission reduction credit sources for employers to meet their emission reduction targets. Administrative changes to the rule call for designating up to 5% of AQIP funds to be used for AQMD program administration, updating the mobile emission factors from EMFAC 7F to EMFAC 2002, updating the program guidelines upon approval of the Mobile Source Committee, and exempting police/sheriff/federal field agents from employer AVR survey requirements. Staff also presented the emissions reductions that are expected to result from the EMFAC update and the mandatory AVR requirement. Additionally, staff presented data on the estimated total compliance cost, range of compliance cost by worksite, and cost effectiveness. Changes to the guidelines would primarily be to maintain consistency with related rules and to clarify usage parameters of new credit sources. Key amendment issues have been raised by rule 2202 employers regarding the financial impacts of AVR performance requirement, the selection of projects by AQIP, and the proposed process for updating the rule guidelines that are currently being considered by staff. To date, staff has held three Public Workshops to present the proposed changes to Rule 2202. The Public Hearing on the amendments is scheduled to be held on November 7, 2003. A comment was given by a member of the public requesting that the AVR performance requirement be phased in between now and 2010. Committee members directed staff to give a follow-up presentation at the September meeting on: 1) a potential strategy to implement the mandatory AVR requirement according to a phased approach; 2) an overview of the Clean Air Act requirements that requires applicable employers to achieve a regional average AVR; and 3) scenarios of 4 current employer programs and how these programs would be affected by the proposed amendments.
5)	Status Report on Mobile and Area Source Pilot Credit Generation Rules Written report submitted, no comments.
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 report submitted, no comments.
8)	Other Business None.
9)	Public Comment None.

The meeting adjourned at 10:40 a.m.

Attachment

Attendance Roster

SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
MOBILE SOURCE COMMITTEE

AUGUST 22, 2003

ATTENDANCE ROSTER
 

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