BOARD MEETING DATE: December 1, 2006
AGENDA NO. 29

Stationary Source Committee

SYNOPSIS: 

The Stationary Source Committee met Friday, November 17, 2006.  Following is a summary of that meeting.  The next meeting will be January 26, at 10:30 a.m., in Conference Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

Dennis Yates, Chair 
Stationary Source Committee

Attendance

The meeting began at 10:30 a.m.  Present were Committee Chair Dennis Yates and Committee Member Jane Carney.  Absent were Committee Members Ronald Loveridge and Gary Ovitt.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

Committee Member Jane Carney left the meeting for agenda #1 due to a possible conflict of interest.  Ms. Carney announced that Inland Concrete Enterprises, Inc., Delilah Properties and Maruhachi Ceramics of America, Inc. are sources of income for her.

1.          Status Report on Rule 1157 – Emissions Inventory

Dr. Laki Tisopulos, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, Planning, Rule Development, and Area Sources, gave the staff presentation.  Rule 1157 was adopted in January 2005.  At the time of adoption, industry challenged the assumptions and emission factors.  Settlement of a subsequent lawsuit was reached in September 2005.  Staff held numerous meetings and substantial progress was made.  Even though there were a few remaining areas of disagreement, concurrence on the revised emission inventory was reached on October 17, 2006.  Overall, the revised emissions inventory reflects a 50% decrease from the adopted pre- and post-rule emission inventories.  However, the revised inventories are significantly higher than that of the 2003 AQMP control measure (BCM-08).  Staff will use the data and assumptions used in the revised emissions inventory in the 2007 AQMP and all future evaluations (e.g., CEQA, permitting, and annual emissions reporting).  At its December 2006 meeting staff will seek Board ratification of the revised inventory and, upon approval, send an open letter to the industry regarding the revised inventory and future uses.

Mr. John Hecht of West Coast Environmental, on behalf of the California Mining Association (CMA), expressed appreciation to staff and stated that although CMA believes the inventory is overstated, they support the revised inventory and will support ratification at the Governing Board meeting.

Mayor Yates commented that this process was a good example of how beneficial such cooperative efforts can be, particularly in light of ongoing pressures from the state and federal agencies on the upcoming AQMP.

2.          Status Report on Public Notification Procedures During Flare Events

Edwin Pupka, Senior Enforcement Manager, presented this item.  On February 13, 1998, Rule 1118 – Control of Emissions from Refinery Flares, was adopted to establish monitoring, recording and reporting requirements of data on petroleum refinery flaring events and related activities.  Analysis of the flare data collected October 1999 through December 2003, illustrated emission reductions but also confirmed the need for enhanced emission control.  On November 4, 2005, Rule 1118 was amended to continue allowing flares to operate as safety devices while minimizing emissions releases from flaring events and to improve previous monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting provisions.  Further, Board Resolution No. 2005-32 formalized the ongoing commitment of staff, working with industry, local communities, and local government agencies, to recommend strategies for implementing community notification requirements set forth in the amended rule.  Staff formed a Stakeholders Working Group and explored options for implementing appropriate public notification procedures for flare events. Mr. Pupka outlined the discussions to date and summarized on-going efforts.  This action will include:  (1) issuance of an RFP, not to exceed $10,000, to design a survey of representative South Bay communities as a basis for developing a sub-regional community flare event notification system;   (2) development of a work plan to improve existing sub-regional notification systems; (3) maintaining monitoring and sampling equipment at AQMD Long Beach field office; (4) preparation of a final staff report of Working Group findings, survey results and recommended sub-regional community notification systems;   (5) continuing to convene quarterly Working Group meetings; and, (6)  reporting milestones semi-annually to the Board.

Committee Chair Dennis Yates related city experience with surveys and urged staff to consider engaging a professional to design and conduct an effective survey.  He suggested that the survey be conducted through other means than a mailing.  He expressed concern that most households that receive such mail surveys typically discard them without ever reviewing the enclosed materials and therefore never respond.  Board member Jane Carney inquired about existing community alert notification systems in the South Bay area and questioned whether they are effective in providing pubic information regarding refinery flaring events and releases.  Carol Coy, Deputy Executive Officer, Engineering & Compliance, explained that although there are various individual and collective alert systems already in place in the South Bay area that effectively provide notification to the community, the Working Group and various Community Awareness Emergency Response (CAER) subcommittees that have been recently formed are looking at ways to develop consistency in the information provided and how the it is disseminated sub-regionally across cross-jurisdictional boundaries.

3.          Rule 1118 Pilot Projects Progress Report

Larry Bowen, Planning and Rules Manager gave a status report on the Rule 1118 continuous monitoring pilot programs required by the adopting resolution.  BP West Coast Products is conducting the total sulfur monitoring pilot. Their unit was installed and began operating in April.  This is the first of it’s kind installation and AQMD staff has been working with BP West Coast Products staff to complete the testing certification.  This was completed in October and testing of the unit will commence again in February.  If everything goes as planned the final monitor certification will occur in April.

Chevron volunteered for a HHV analyzer pilot program and actually elected to test two separate technologies, a calorimeter and a mass spectrometer in parallel to see which was best for them.  Their equipment is currently being delivered and if everything goes as planned the certification should be complete in March and testing will begin.

With the available manufacturers and delivery lead times, installation and operation into the 23 affected flares by the current rule deadline of July 1, 2007 is not expected to be met although the actual time to achieve final compliance will vary by refinery.  For this reason staff is recommending a variance approach whereas WSPA is recommending a blanket rule amendment.  Staff will continue to work with the refineries on their individual variance requests.

Miles Heller of BP West Coast Products spoke to express his appreciation for the cooperative effort by staff on this project and would like it to continue.  He did want to emphasize their agreement with the staff presentation that the deadlines could not be met and that since all refineries will be ordering the equipment at the same time it will lengthen the actual delivery schedules.

Ron Wilkniss of WSPA spoke to thank the Board for the opportunity to first complete pilot projects before full installation.  He also said that in addition to monitor certification that it was his belief that at least six month of operation was necessary before the conclusion of the pilot program to also demonstrate the equipment can be maintained to operate reliably.  He also expressed that it was desirable to install the calorimeters and sulfur analyzers concurrently rather than consecutively.

Board Member Carney wanted an explanation of the variance process and the cost.  Each refinery will have to file individually but then the entire group will be bundled together for the hearing.  The cost is about $1000 per application.

Board Member Yates questioned why the variance recommendation instead of a rule change.  Staff responded that the overall cost is less, compliance dates can be tailored to the needs of each individual refinery and any required future changes in schedule are much less cumbersome than a rule change.

Board Member Carney expressed concern that sufficient time should be allowed to complete the pilot programs and study the results before requiring that significant sums of money be spent for the installation for all flares.

4.          Rule 1173 – Atmospheric Pressure Relief Devices (PRD) Update

Larry Bowen gave a status report on Rule 1173 as it applies to pressure relief devices (PRDs). The rule requires monitoring of PRDs and reporting of releases to the atmosphere from PRDs.  If there are significant releases the refinery is required to vent the PRD to a control device or opt to pay mitigation fees that are used for air quality improvement projects in the affected areas.  Since implementation in 2003 there were three releases in 2003, two in 2004 and none in 2005 and 2006.  Four releases resulted in the payment of mitigation fees and one resulted in additional control.  In addition, some refineries have begun to voluntarily connect some PRDs to vapor recovery control systems.  Staff will continue to monitor and analyze the releases and recommend a rule amendment in the future, if necessary.

One refinery has opted to use wireless continuous monitors for it’s required PRD monitoring.  This is an emerging technology that is very promising.  Staff will continue to investigate its potential applications, work with the refineries and likely return with a proposed rule amendment further requiring its use.

Ron Wilkniss of WSPA wanted to emphasize that although there were initially some releases, the data presented shows very positive trends that the number of releases are not only much fewer but that the emissions from the releases were much less.  This was a result of the diligence of the refiners.

Board Member Carney questioned if the mitigation funds have been spent.  RFP’s have been released to spend the funds from one PRD release and the process is underway to identify air quality improvement projects for the other three.

5.   Status Report on Draft 2007 AQMP

Dr. Laki Tisopulos, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources gave a brief summary of the key public comments received during the six public workshops held for the draft 2007 AQMP.  The public is generally supportive and appreciative for the hard work that went into developing the plan and the control strategy.  However, concern was expressed relative to the availability of funding to support the implementation of the proposed control strategy.  Staff received comments advocating better enforcement of the smog check, vehicle idling and other mobile source regulations since they are critical to reducing emissions from these sources.  Representatives of the Building Industry Association and realtor interests expressed their concern regarding the control measure that seeks to mitigate the emission impact of development projects.  While they are not objecting the use of the CEQA process as a means of mitigating emissions, they are opposed to the mitigation fee option included in the control measure.  Staff received comments in support of stricter controls to reduce emissions from wood burning fireplaces, stoves and fireworks.  The public commented in support of the ultra-fine particles discussion in the draft AQMP and the global warming gas control measure and recommended staff to set more aggressive goals and prioritization of the control measures based on their global warming gas reduction potential.  While some participants commented on the stringency of the control measure for the space heaters, another individual commented on the need for solar powered technologies to reduce criteria and global warming gas emissions.  A concern was expressed relative to the use of pesticides at schools and AQMD was asked to take a more aggressive role in regulating these substances rather than relying on other governmental organizations.

Mayor Yates reiterated his concern he expressed in previous meetings regarding the additional emission reduction commitments being made for stationary sources while the bulk of the air pollution originates is caused by mobile sources.

Staff will continue providing the Stationary Source Committee with its regular updates on the draft AQMP.

WRITTEN REPORTS

All written reports were acknowledged by the Committee.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments at this meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 a.m.

Attachment(s) (DOC 56kb)
November 17, 2006 Committee Agenda (without its attachments)