BOARD MEETING DATE: December 24, 2005
AGENDA NO. 7

Execute Contract to Conduct Emissions Testing for Advanced Locomotive Aftertreatment Technology

SYNPOSIS:

Placer County Air Pollution Control District, along with other partners including the U.S. EPA, the Sacramento Municipal Air Quality Management District, Union Pacific Railroad, and Advance Cleanup Technologies, has initiated a project to implement selective catalytic reduction on locomotives at the Roseville railyard. This action is to cofund the emissions testing for this project in an amount not to exceed $50,000 from the Advanced Technology, Outreach, and Education Fund.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, November 18, 2005, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Authorize the Executive Officer to execute a contract with Engine Fuels and Emissions Engineering to conduct locomotive emissions testing in an amount not to exceed $50,000 from the Advanced Technology, Outreach, and Education Fund (Fund 17).

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

The Placer County Air Pollution Control District has initiated a project to demonstrate an Advanced Locomotive Emission Control System (ALECS) at the Roseville railyard in order to mitigate the emissions from locomotives. The project is an outgrowth of CARB’s health risk assessment of the J. R. Davis railyard located in Roseville, CA and the subsequent agreement between Placer County Air Pollution Control District and Union Pacific Railroad Company, which includes a mitigation plan for reducing diesel particulate emissions from the railyard. Part of the mitigation plan is to consider stationary air pollution control equipment to capture and treat emissions from stationary locomotives that are idling or undergoing engine load tests. This project will demonstrate the effectiveness of stationary air pollution control equipment in treating PM, NOx, SOx, and VOC emissions from locomotives. The project partners include the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, Union Pacific Railroad, Advanced Cleanup Technologies, and U.S. EPA. CARB may also provide technical staff participation.

Proposal

The project is to demonstrate a stationary emissions control technology on locomotives. The project will develop locomotive-specific interfaces, implement the ALECS, and test stationary and slow-moving locomotives to determine the effectiveness of the control equipment. The test results and project findings are to be documented in a final report. The technology provider is Advanced Cleanup Technologies, Incorporated (ACTI).

The project is structured in two phases. The first phase initiated in September 2005 with the development of the locomotive interface design, test location definition and design, development of the test protocol, and acquisition of the locomotive interface hardware. The second phase, which is anticipated to begin in March 2006, will ship the ALECS to the Roseville railyard, erect the ALECS on the test site, startup the ALECS equipment, test two different locomotive types to the test protocol, and prepare the final report. The testing is anticipated to be complete by June, 2006, with the final report issued in September 2006.

The AQMD is requested to partner by providing emissions testing of the locomotives using an experienced contractor, Engine, Fuel and Emissions Engineering (EF&EE) who has assisted the AQMD in collecting emissions data for a variety of mobile emissions sources, most notably switcher locomotives at Metrolink. EF&EE’s president and principal investigator, Christopher Weaver, has extensive experience with locomotives and was one of the principal authors who conducted a comprehensive study for CARB regarding locomotive emissions control in California (1993). Mr. Weaver has also developed a mobile emissions monitoring system, the “Ride-Along Vehicle Emissions Measurement Sys-tem” (RAVEM) for gaseous and particulate emissions, which enables in-use emissions measurements of PM, NOx, CO, CO2, and VOCs. Staff recommends funding EF&EE to conduct the emissions testing for the ALECS project.

Benefits to AQMD

The proposed project is included in the March 2005 update of the Technology Advancement Plan for the Clean Fuels Program under, “Perform Emissions Studies for Locomotives, Port & Ocean-going Vessels.” This project will identify the emissions reduction potential of stationary control technologies to off-road sources, specifically to diesel loco-motives. Studies have shown that there are elevated concentrations of diesel particulate matter and associated cancer risk impacting areas in near proximity to diesel emission sources such as rail yards.

Resource Impacts

The total amount of AQMD funding for the proposed project will not exceed $50,000 from the Advanced Technology, Outreach, and Education Fund. The total project cost is expected to be around $1,414,000, as shown below.

* Estimated for design, and resource allocation to include site/facility
  preparation and locomotive allocation and operation.

Sufficient funds are available from the Advanced Technology, Outreach, and Education Fund, established as a special revenue fund resulting from penalties and settlements from violations of air pollution control rules and regulations.

Sole Source Justification

Section VIII.B.2. of the Procurement Policy and Procedure identifies four major provisions under which a sole source award may be justified. This request for a sole source award is made under provision B.2.d.: Other circumstances exist which in the determination of the Executive Officer require such waiver in the best interest of the AQMD. Specifically, these circumstances are B.2.d.(1): Project involving cost sharing by multiple sponsors.

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