BOARD MEETING DATE: May 6, 2005
AGENDA NO. 31
Stationary Source Committee
SYNOPSIS:
The Stationary Source Committee met Friday, April 22, 2005. Following is a summary of that meeting. The next meeting will be May 27, at 10:30 a.m., in Conference Room CC8.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive and file.
Ronald Loveridge, Chair
Stationary Source Committee
Attendance
The meeting began at 10:35a.m. Present were Chairman Ronald Loveridge, Jane Carney, and Dennis Yates. Absent was Gary Ovitt.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
- Pre-Hearing for PR 1401.1 – New Source Review of Toxic Air Contaminants for New and Relocated Facilities Near Schools; Summary of Key Issues
- Notification of Finalized Chronic Value for Respirable Crystalline Silica
- Rule 1110.1 – Emissions from Stationary Internal Combustion Engines
- Rule 1162 – Polyester Resin Operations
- Reg. III - Fees
- Rule 461 – Gasoline Transfer and Dispensing
- Rule 403 – Fugitive Dust
- Rule 1157 Implementation Status Report
Susan Nakamura, Planning and Rules Manager, summarized key issues on the Pre-Hearing for PR 1401.1. This item was carried over from the April Board meeting. At the April Board meeting, there were approximately 25 speaker cards submitted. Based on the written comments from the speaker cards, there were no additional issues raised. There are two key issues: the need for Proposed Rule 1401.1 and the appropriate distance between the school and the new or relocated source. Comments were received that the proposal should be very clear that only new and relocated sources would be affected, modifications to existing sources are not included. During public comments on this item, Greg Adams had commented that district staff time and money may be better spent on reducing toxic emissions directly at schools located adjacent to freeways and high traffic roads. In addition, because there are so many schools, a distance of 1,000 feet around a zoning tract for school could leave limited options to site a new facility. Curt Coleman commented that the 1,000 or 500 feet seems to be an arbitrary distance, which may or may not have a direct tie to the toxics impacts. The Committee asked that staff include information about service stations at the May Pre-Hearing.
Susan Nakamura, Planning and Rules Manager, provided an update of OEHHA's February 2005 finalization of a chronic risk value for respirable crystalline silica. The finalized chronic risk value is based upon particulate matter four microns or less (PM4) and no test method is currently available for measuring ambient PM4. Staff recommended postponing amendments that will add crystalline silica to Rule 1401 and postponing the business impact analysis for Rule 1402 until 150 days after an appropriate test method is approved by CARB. There were no comments by Committee members or from the public.
Rule 1110.2 – Emissions from Gaseous- and Liquid-Fueled Engines
Marty Kay, Program Supervisor, Technology Advancement Office described staff’s proposed amendments to Rule 1110.2, which regulates NOx, CO and VOC emissions from internal combustion engines. The primary change being proposed is removal of the exemption of stationary, non-emergency agricultural engines, with the exception of orchard wind machines, as required by SB 700. These engines will have a two-tier compliance schedule, with older engines having to comply by July 1, 2008 and more modern, less polluting engines having until January 1, 2010 to comply. Regulation of agricultural engines is expected to reduce NOx and VOC emissions by 142 and 8 tons per year, respectively. A cost-effectiveness analysis showed that the cost per ton of NOx and VOC reduced was well within the cost effectiveness of other AQMD control measures. Objections raised by the California Farm Bureau Federation and staff’s responses were reviewed.
Staff is also recommending: (1) minor changes to update and clarify the rule and make it more consistent with other AQMD rules, (2) implementation in the rule of CARB’s 2001 directive restricting the use of portable generators, and (3) rescission of Rule 1110.1, which is now totally superseded by Rule 1110.2. There were no comments by the public.
Larry Bowen, Planning and Rules Manager, presented this item. Rule 1162 has a requirement for non-atomizing spray application of gel coat that goes into effect July 1, 2005. Staff, with the cooperation of industry conducted testing to better define those techniques. The non-atomizing technology was compared with the conventional air assisted airless spray and the test samples were also analyzed for acceptable surface quality. The testing revealed there was no significant VOC emission reduction from the non-atomizing application compared to air assisted airless and the surface quality of both methods was comparable. Therefore, staff is proposing to amend the rule to remove the requirement for non-atomizing spray application technique for gel coats and restore the gel coat application techniques previously required in the rule. There will be no cost impact but there will be forgone emission reductions of 0.4 tons per day of VOC. Staff is investigating other potential low-emission technologies to mitigate the emission impact. There were no comments by the public.
The Committee waived this item due to a Special Governing Board Budget Workshop being held on April 29th.
Larry Bowen, Planning and Rules Manager, presented this item. The proposed amendments implement the BARCT requirements of SB 700 by phasing out the gasoline storage and dispensing requirements for agricultural operations. Staff believes to ensure compliance with the rule requirements written permits are necessary and is also requesting the Board make the findings necessary to require permits for this equipment at agricultural sources regardless of their size. In addition, the proposal includes amendments to improve enforceability and rule effectiveness. Finally, an exemption from Phase II vapor recovery requirements is proposed for the limited operation of fueling Tournament of Roses parade floats.
It is expected that no more than ten of the estimated one hundred agricultural sources that currently dispense gasoline will install the required CARB-certified vapor recovery systems and the remainder will either use existing retail stations or small tanks that are not subject to the rule. A small emission reduction of 2.41 tons of VOC a year at a cost of $11,836 is expected. The agriculture industry believes that this is a small source of emissions that does not require regulation or permits but if they are regulated, they need more time to comply. They also want the Board to commit to an outreach and education program for the farmers. Other comments at the workshop resulted in clarification of language in the staff proposal.
Lee Lockie, Director of Area Sources, provided a summary presentation of the two key amendments proposed for Ruled 403. First, the amendments will implement SB 700 requirements for confined animal (livestock) facilities to implement best available control measures (BACM) to reduce fugitive dust. Second, the amendments address an implementation issue concerning weed abatement activities. The BACM livestock requirements are contained in a new Table 4 of Rule 403 and are applicable to 49 facilities, excluding dairies that are presently subject to BACM requirements under Rule 1127 and 1186. An outreach program is planned following Rule adoption and prior to the January 1, 2006 effective date. The proposed weed abatement amendments would still encourage mowing for brush clearance but would allow discing without the use of water provided that feasible controls were implemented.
One comment letter by the California Farm Bureau has been received in support of the proposed BACM livestock requirements. Agencies have expressed support for the proposed revisions to weed abatement provisions but two letters were received encouraging mowing instead of discing for weed abatement. District staff has proposed to work with these groups to provide information on the option to mow for weed abatement and the benefits of mowing versus discing for weed abatement. In total the proposed Rule 403 amendments are estimated to reduce PM10 emissions by approximately 0.1 ton per day. There were no public comments.
Rule 1157 – PM10 Emission Reductions from Aggregate and Related Operations, Implementation Status Reports have been suspended on advice of District Counsel.
WRITTEN REPORTS
All written reports were acknowledged by the Committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.
April 22, 2005 Committee Agenda (without its attachments)
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