BOARD MEETING DATE: April 1, 2005
AGENDA NO. 20

Mobile Source Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Mobile Source Committee met Friday, March 25, 2005.
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, Committee Vice Chair Roy Wilson and Committee Member Jan Perry (via videoconference), and Committee Member Jim Silva. Absent: Committee Member Ronald Loveridge.

INFORMATION ITEMS:
 

1)	Report on Proposed Regulation XXXV – Railroads and Railroad Operations Ms. Susan Nakamura, Planning and Rules Manager, provided a status report. Proposed Regulation XXXV consists of four proposed rules for recordkeeping, prohibition of long duration idling, emissions inventory and risk assessment, and risk reduction. The Proposed Regulation would affect three freight railroads in the district, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and Pacific Harbor lines. AQMD staff explained that the two key issues that have been raised by the Working Group are AQMD’s legal jurisdiction to regulate railroads, and the recordkeeping requirements. Councilwoman Jan Perry, asked if the requirements for railyards would extend outside of the railyard for sidings. The AQMD staff responded that in addition to Proposed Regulation XXXV, there is state legislation to help address issues outside of the rail yard. Councilwoman Jan Perry requested a separate meeting with Barry Wallerstein to discuss how this regulation may affect areas located in her council jurisdiction, in particular, Slauson.
2)	Report on CTA Comments on Fleet Rule Implementation Mr. Henry Hogo, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, and Dr. Jean Ospital, Health Effects Officer, presented to the Committee comments received from the California Trucking Association (CTA) concerning the AQMD Fleet Rules. Specifically, CTA provided five general comments: AQMD waiver request to CARB; comparisons of engine emissions/technologies; meeting future emission standards; engine emission toxicity; and fleet rule implementation. Mr. Hogo and Dr. Ospital went through each of the general comments providing more detailed information regarding each comment and staff’s response. Staff indicated that the CTA contention that the AQMD is seeking to expand its authority to private fleets not currently subject to the Fleet Rules is incorrect. Ms. Stephanie Williams (from CTA) indicated that staff’s documents indicate that the AQMD is seeking to expand its authority. The Board Committee members reiterated the fact that the AQMD is seeking to reinstate only the current adopted fleet rules through the waiver process. In addition, only refuse fleets, private school bus transportation providers, streetsweepers, and taxicab operations have been subjected to the existing fleet rules. Relative to engine emissions/technologies and meeting future emissions standards, staff indicated that CTA provided only a partial picture of where current emission levels are and what future emission levels will be for diesel and alternative fuel engines with the focus on particulate matter (PM) emissions. Staff pointed to the fact that alternative fueled engines are about 50 percent cleaner than current diesel engines based on engine certification data for NOx and about 70 to 90 percent cleaner than diesel engines (without after-treatment) for PM. There are two diesel engines certified with particulate traps that have PM emission levels similar to the alternative fueled engines. Staff indicated that all natural gas engines certified to date for the current calendar year are equipped with oxidation catalysts and meet the 2007 PM emissions standard of 0.01 g/bhp-hr. Diesel engines must use some form of after-treatment in order to meet the 2007 PM emissions standards. Relative to the 2007 NOx emission standards, manufacturers of diesel engines indicated that they will meet the average NOx emissions standards of about 1.2 g/bhp-hr for the 2007 to 2009 timeframe. Whereas, manufacturers of natural gas engines indicated that they will have engines meeting the 0.2 g/bhp-hr level by 2007. The 0.2 g/bhp-hr engine emissions standard for NOx is not required until 2010, although the 2007 standards provide that 50 percent of the new engines meet this standard. Diesel engine manufacturers are using the averaging, banking, and trading provisions to produce engines at the 1.2 g/bhp-hr level. In summary, PM emissions will be about the same in 2007 for diesel engines and alternative fueled engines since all fuel technologies must meet the same standard. However, alternative fueled engines will be cleaner than diesel engines in 2007 for NOx. Relative to engine emissions toxicity, staff indicated that CTA took some of the slides from a May 2003 staff presentation and presented them out of context and did not provide a full picture of the presentation. Dr. Ospital presented the information from the 2003 presentation showing that relative to toxicity, diesel engines equipped with particulate traps showed toxicity levels that were similar to natural gas engines without exhaust aftertreatment. When natural gas engines are equipped with oxidation catalysts, the toxicity levels go down further. In addition, Dr. Ospital provided clarification on the emissions of ultrafine particles from diesel engines and natural gas engines. Dr. Ospital indicated that the particle count information shows that natural gas engines have similar levels of ultrafine particles compared to the diesel engines with particulate traps, and that oxidation catalysts reduce ultrafine particle emissions even further on natural gas engines. Lastly, relative to fleet rule implementation, staff provided the Committee information regarding the performance of alternative fueled engines in refuse operations. Staff indicated that the City of Los Angeles and Waste Management have had problems with natural gas vehicles. The problems stem from spurious signals that interfered with the electronics of the natural gas vehicle in operation by the City of Los Angeles and to specific engine systems for vehicles operated by Waste Management. These problems related to the City of Los Angeles dual-fuel engines have been resolved. Waste Management and the City of Los Angeles are investigating the future purchase of different natural gas engines for their vehicles at this time. Relative to the Fleet Rules, CTA requested that since PM emissions are the same between natural gas and diesel engines, the AQMD Board should consider a sunset for the Fleet Rules by 2007. Staff indicated that the adopting resolutions accompanying the AQMD Fleet Rules provides a mechanism that recognizes the possibility that future diesel technologies demonstrating equivalency with alternative fueled engine could be rule-compliant. As such, staff has ninety days to bring forward rule amendments to allow for such diesel engines to be rule compliant. In addition, the CARB’s proposed fleet rules for the South Coast Air Basin are performance-based, which should further remove CTA’s concerns on fuel choice. Committee members expressed their appreciation for the comments from CTA regarding the fleet rules and engine technology and committed to continue working closely with them on issues related to their membership.
3)	Report on Particulate Air Quality This item will be continued to April 2005.
4)	Update Status of the Guidance document for Addressing Air Quality Issues in General Plans and Local Planning Staff reported that since presentations had been given at the committee’s two prior meetings, that the purpose of this verbal report was to highlight the current status of the document and stakeholder input. Staff reiterated that the overall intent of the document, as directed by the Board in 2002, is to encourage local agencies to integrate air quality and public health considerations into their local planning process. As such, the document contains voluntary options local governments can use to either develop or update air quality elements in their General Plans, according to their jurisdictional needs. Public comments, received by the January 14, 2005 deadline, focused on several general issues that have mostly been incorporated into the current version of the document. However, there continues to be outstanding comments relating to fugitive dust, land use, and certain policies. Comments were received late yesterday from the Orange County Council of Governments on adding clarifying language to the document that will recognize local government’s discretion in making land use decisions that have to balance many local needs, not limited to air quality. Staff is reviewing them for inclusion in the document. Further, staff will meet with representatives of the Realtors, Building and Construction industries to further discuss additional changes that they are recommending for inclusion in the final document. Staff recommends that the document be considered for approval at the April Board meeting.
5)	Rule 2202 Activity Report Rule 2202 Summary Status Report submitted, no comments.
6)	Monthly Report on Environmental Justice Initiatives – CEQA Document Commenting Update Written report submitted. No comments.
7)	Other Business None.
8)	Public Comment None.

The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

Attachment

Attendance Roster

ATTENDANCE ROSTER
 

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