BOARD MEETING DATE: February 4, 2005
AGENDA NO. 10

Revise Date to Implement OEHHA Health Risk Assessment Procedures and CARB Application Software Program by April 2005

SYNOPSIS:

At the April 2, 2004 Board meeting, staff outlined a planned schedule for AQMD’s implementation of the recent Health Risk Assessment Procedures approved by the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and its application software program subsequently issued by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). These new procedures affect businesses applying for AQMD permits or conducting health risk assessment under the Toxics Hot Spots program. In response to comments made at the November 2004 Stationary Source Committee meeting, the schedule was extended to allow additional time to incorporate suggestions from affected parties. This action recommends a revised milestone date of April 2005 to incorporate revised calculation procedures in AQMD permit processing software. This additional time is necessary to minimize the potential impacts on permitting activities.

COMMITTEE:

Stationary Source, November 19 and December 17, 2004, Reviewed

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Approve revised date to implement OEHHA Health Risk Assessment Procedures and CARB Application Software Program by April 2005.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

At the April 2, 2004 Board meeting, the Board received and filed a report on Notification of Recent State-Approved Health Risk Assessment Procedures (Agenda No. 22) adopted by the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), California Air Resource Board (CARB) Interim Policy for the implementation of OEHHA guidance, and subsequent issuance of CARB’s application software program. Staff outlined a planned schedule to implement these OEHHA and CARB guidelines and procedures two months following a report to the Stationary Source Committee. The changes would affect the risk assessment procedures for Rule 1402 - Control of Toxic Air Contaminants from Existing Sources, Rule 1401 - New Source Review for Toxic Air Contaminants, and the public notice requirements under Rule 212 – Standards for Approving Permits and Issuing Public Notice.

At the Stationary Source Committee meetings on November 19, 2004, and subsequently on December 17, 2004, staff presented information on the revised health risk assessment procedures and discussed their potential impacts on permitting of affected businesses. During the December 17, 2004 Stationary Source Committee meeting, staff discussed the implementation issues and indicated that staff would request approval from the Board to extend the lead time for implementation by two months at the February 2005 Board meeting. This additional time is necessary to minimize the potential impacts on permitting activities since the following items must be completed to ensure a smooth transition:

• Modification of a fully automated permit processing program for gasoline dispensing equipment permits;
• Development of new software programs to replace the existing spreadsheet programs that were previously developed by staff to implement and streamline permit processing applications for Tier I, Tier II and Tier III risk assessment procedures; and
• Training of AQMD permitting staff on the changes and on the new programs.

Staff expects that the work necessary as listed above should be completed and the new procedures implemented by April 2005.

Proposal

Staff recommends that the Board approve the revised date to implement OEHHA health risk assessment procedures and CARB application software program by April 2005. In addition, staff will monitor permitting impacts and provide an implementation status report to the Board in January 2006.

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