BOARD MEETING DATE: December 3, 2004
AGENDA NO. 32

Mobile Source Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Mobile Source Committee met Friday, November 19, 2004.
Following is a summary of that meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

Jane Carney, Chair
Mobile Source Committee

Attendance

The meeting started at 9:00 a.m. Present: Committee Chair Jane Carney, Vice Chair Roy Wilson (via videoconference), Committee Member Jan Perry (via videoconference), and Committee Members Jim Silva and William Craycraft. Absent: Committee Member Ronald Loveridge.

ACTION ITEM:
 

1)

Reallocate Rule 2202 AQIP Funds to Assist in Purchase of 2004 Model Year Passenger Vehicles for Taxicab Services Planning and Rules Manager Dean Saito identified that this action item consisted of a re-allocation of funds for the purchase of 32 natural gas-fueled Ford Crown Victoria’s. Yellow Cab of Orange County recently made a request for funding assistance for purchasing 25 Crown Victoria vehicles. Mr. Saito gave a brief presentation on the background of Rule 2202 AQIP Funding for Rule 1194. He cited that the effective date for Rule 1194 was January 1, 2002, and the funding program began in December 2001 to assist taxi cab operators. To date, approximately 400 natural gas Crown Victoria vehicles have been funded. The current Rule 1194 funding program will cover 7 of the 32 natural gas vehicles requested. In order to cover the purchase request by Yellow Cab of Orange County, funding is needed for the remaining 25 Crown Victoria 2004 model year vehicles. Mr. Saito noted that this is the last of the 2004MY natural gas vehicles manufactured by Ford Motors. Total funding of the request to purchase 25 natural gas Crown Victorias is not to exceed $373,250. The necessary funding for this proposal comes from a de-obligation from previous award of $523,000, where $373,000 will be used to fund the 25 natural gas Crown Victorias and the remaining $149,778 will go back into the AQIP program. He mentioned that the emission reductions benefits from use of the 32 Crown Victorias over the life of the program will be approximately 3,000 lbs. of NOx and 700 lbs of VOC reductions. Staff has recommended reallocating the remaining funds from prior AQIP awards for purchase of the taxi cabs for this particular project, and returning the remaining funds to Rule 2202 AQIP Program. Mr. Scott Schaffer from City Cab was present and requested that staff’s proposal be modified to cover hybrid vehicles used as taxicabs under Rule 1194. He stated that although the vehicles are gasoline powered, they have electric power trains and the certification emissions are cleaner than that of the natural gas Crown Victorias. Mr. Saito was asked by Chairperson Carney as to his response to the request for funding of the Hybrids versus CNG under this rule. Mr. Saito indicated that under the current rule, funding for hybrid vehicles is not allowed for and staff would have to evaluate the option of providing funding for hybrids under Rule 1194. He indicated that even though the hybrid Prius is cleaner than the current natural gas Crown Victoria, the demand is so great for the vehicles the incentive funding for such vehicles would have to be evaluated. Staff will have to reassess the benefits of modifying the rule to allow funding of hybrid vehicles. Committee Member Jan Perry asked whether other taxi cab organizations had expressed an interest in purchasing Toyota Prius vehicles. Staff responded the taxicab associations operating out of LAX have not expressed an interest in purchasing hybrid vehicles. Committee Member Perry asked staff why this was the case, and staff responded that at LAX the luggage space in a taxicab has always been an issue. They complained that even with natural gas vehicles, extended range vehicles have an extra tank in the trunk that takes up luggage space. Henry Hogo, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, indicated that the Los Angeles Department of Transportation has specific regulations for taxi cabs which specify a certain size vehicle, and this may be another reason as to the lack of interest in hybrid vehicles at LAX. Committee Member Craycraft made a motion for staff recommendations and to explore other options, including costs of other alternative-fuel emission vehicles and emission reduction benefits of each. Roy Wilson seconded the motion and it was approved by all present.

2)

December Mobile Source Committee Meeting Elaine Chang, Deputy Executive Officer, Planning, Rule Development, and Area Sources, recommends that the Mobile Source Committee not schedule a December meeting due to the holidays and there are no present matters before the committee. The motion was approved by all present.

INFORMATION ITEMS:
 

3)	Guidance Document for Addressing Air Quality Issues in General Plans and Local Planning Carol Gomez, Transportation Programs Planning and Rules Manager, made a brief presentation regarding air quality issues in general plans and local planning. In 2002, the Governing Board introduced the development of a model air quality element as part of its enhanced environmental justice work plan to encourage local agencies to address air quality concerns in their general plans, particularly those associated with land use decisions. The document was developed in coordination with the Western Riverside Council of Governments and the Orange County Council of Governments. Consultation meetings were held in 2003 and 2004 to solicit comments. The model air quality element was revised in November of this year to incorporate key public comments. To be consistent with State Guidelines for General Plans, the document was reorganized in a three-tiered format that describes air quality goals, objectives and policies. The document is intended to be used as a framework for informed decision making and it highlights the importance of incorporating air quality considerations early in the planning process. The primary users will likely be local government Planners in the cities and four counties within the district. The ideas, technical issues and references presented are also intended for private developers, residents and community organizations. Therefore the document was renamed from Model Air Quality Element to Guidance Document for Addressing Air Quality Issues in General Plans and Local Planning. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the Guidance Document is voluntary and that the information is being made available to assist local jurisdictions as a reference tool to be used as they consider air quality issues in local planning decisions and as they update polices in their General Plans. The appropriate mix of pertinent air quality policies and the level of detail used from the document would be at the discretion of local jurisdictions. The document will be updated and revised periodically to make the most current information available. Additional policies (e.g., fugitive dust) were added as well. Also, additional background information was provided on criteria air pollutants, toxic air contaminants. Appendix A of the document includes a listing of local jurisdictions that currently have approved air quality elements. Committee Member Crayraft suggested conducting future workshops at senior centers to inform and solicit their participation. He also recommended reaching out to planning commissioners. Staff will conduct a second round of consultation meetings in December and January and plans to take the Guidance Document before the Governing Board in the spring of 2005. Once approved, staff will continue the local government outreach program to encourage local jurisdictions to (1) update or adopt an air quality elements in their general plan, (2) consider and address air quality issues in general plans and local planning decisions, and (3) coordinate with AQMD to enhance and update the Guidance Document.
4)	Status Report on 2007 AQMP Laki Tisopulos, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, Planning, Rule Development, and Area Sources, provided a status report on the development of the 2007 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP). The South Coast Air Basin (Basin) has recently been classified as non-attainment for both the federal PM2.5 and 8-hour Ozone ambient air quality emission standards. The Basin is required to meet these standards by 2015 and 2021 for the PM2.5 and 8-hour standard, respectively. Under current EPA guidelines, AQMD will have to submit an attainment demonstration for the 8-hour Ozone standard by June 2007, while the PM2.5 SIP is due February 2008. The 2007 AQMP will focus on demonstrating attainment for both the 8-hour Ozone and PM2.5 standards. An integrated approach will be used in developing the 2007 AQMP strategies since reductions from ozone precursors will be needed to show attainment with both the PM2.5 and ozone standards. Significant efforts are currently underway to update the emissions inventories (i.e., on-road and off-road mobile sources, area sources, and point sources) and modeling (i.e., modeling tools, episodes) by CARB and AQMD. Growth projections in the 2007 AQMP will be based on the 2004 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). Extensive coordination between CARB, SCAG, AQMD, and other non-attainment areas is being conducted in order to ensure the 2007 SIP process goes smoothly. However, there are some key challenges facing the District in developing the 2007 AQMP including timely receipt of new CARB on-road mobile source inventories as well as new mobile source strategies and incorporation of the most accurate growth projections. More important, is whether the District will be able to incorporate 182 (e)(5) measures ("black box") into the SIP. If not, the District may consider using the bump up procedures to reclassify the Basin to "Extreme" from the current classification of "Severe-17".
5)	Rule 2202 Activity Report Written report submitted. No comments.
6)	Monthly Report on Environmental Justice Initiatives – CEQA Document Commenting Update Written report submitted. No comments.
7)	Other Business Committee Member Carney requested that staff report back to the Mobile Source Committee on air quality efforts relating to the ports. Staff acknowledged that there are efforts on several fronts to tackle the air quality issues presented by the ports and agreed to report back to the Committee with a summary of these efforts early next year.
8)	Public Comment None.

The meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m.

Attachment

Attendance Roster

SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
MOBILE SOURCE COMMITTEE
NOVEMBER 19, 2004
 
ATTENDANCE ROSTER
 

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