BOARD MEETING DATE: November 3, 2006
AGENDA NO. 22
Stationary Source Committee
SYNOPSIS:
The Stationary Source Committee met Friday, October 27, 2006. Following is a summary of that meeting. The next meeting will be November 17, 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 Dennis Yates, Gary Ovitt, and Dr. Burke (attended by videoteleconference). Absent were Jane Carney and Ron Loveridge.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
1. Holiday Month Meeting Schedule
Carol Coy, Deputy Executive Officer, Engineering & Compliance, brought to the Committee’s attention that the Stationary Source Committee would be meeting one week early in November on the 17th, due to the regular meeting schedule falling on the Thanksgiving holiday Friday, November 24. She requested Committee guidance on whether the members wished to meet in December or try to agendize both January and February Board meeting items for November and reminded them that last year most Committees chose not to meet in December. Committee Chair, Mayor Yates requested staff attempt to agendize items for the November meeting in a manner that would allow them to forgo a December meeting, and it was decided the Committee would make a final decision during the November meeting, considering the status of items before them.
2. Report on Draft 2007 AQMP Stationary Source Control Strategy
Elaine Chang, Deputy Executive Officer for the Planning, Rules Development and Area Sources Division provided a report on the District’s proposed stationary source control measures in the Draft 2007 AQMP. The main objective of the Draft 2007 AQMP is to demonstrate attainment of the federal PM2.5 and 8-hour ozone standards by 2015 and 2021/2024, respectively (2024 attainment date will apply if AQMD submits a bump-up request to U.S. EPA for an “extreme” classification). The overall reduction targets and percent reductions for PM2.5 attainment are: 239 t/d of NOx (36%), 142 t/d of VOC (24%), 49 t/d of SOx (70%), and 14 t/d of directly-emitted PM2.5 (14%) in 2014, and 50% reductions in VOC and NOx each by 2020 for the 8-hour ozone attainment, representing a significant challenge for this Air Basin. In terms of emissions responsibility by agency, CARB and U.S. EPA have primary jurisdiction over 89% of NOx emissions and 76% of SOx emissions in 2014 (two primary precursors for PM2.5) while the AQMD is responsible for the remaining emissions. Similarly, CARB and U.S. EPA account for 87% of NOx and 73% of VOC emissions in 2020. Top stationary sources in the Basin include architectural coatings, petroleum marketing, industrial coatings/solvents and chemical processes accounting for about 76% of the stationary source VOC emissions under the AQMD’s jurisdiction. Top NOx sources include the RECLAIM Program and residential, commercial, and industrial fuel combustion sources representing approximately 85% of the stationary source NOx emissions.
For the Draft 2007 AQMP, the District is proposing 28 short-term and mid-term stationary source control measures based on the remaining control measures from the 2003 AQMP as well as the development of new control measures. A long-term strategy is also proposed for achieving further reductions from stationary sources for the 8-hour ozone attainment. The estimated reductions from AQMD’s stationary sources are 10% NOx, 5% VOC, 18% SOx, and 2% directly-emitted PM2.5 by 2014 and 25% NOx, 30% VOC, 17% SOx, and 5% PM2.5 by 2020.
AQMD’s stationary source control measures are presented under seven control approaches. Staff highlighted a few new control measures. Under the Facility Modernization Approach, a new control measure is proposed to modernize the existing equipment and coatings/solvent use in permitted facilities based on the application of BACT and super-compliant products.
Because of the significant contribution of consumer products, a new measure is proposed for labeling such products as a means of encouraging the manufacture and use of ultra-low-VOC cleaners in conjunction with use restrictions for commercial and institutional facilities. Chairman Burke commented that local governments can take voluntary action to use zero-emission cleaners without waiting for a mandatory labeling rule. Under the Emission Growth Management Approach, a new measure is introduced in order to mitigate the impact of emissions from new developments or re-development projects. AQMD staff will convene a working group to evaluate various control approaches for implementing this measure. Other measures under this approach are related to general conformity projects and federally-permitted projects. The AQMD’s long-term control strategy is based on lower reactivity for solvents and coatings and achieving further reductions from fugitive VOC sources and NOx RECLAIM Program.
Following the release of the Draft 2007 AQMP on October 10th, AQMD staff has been conducting a number of public workshops and briefings for COGs and various associations and organizations which will continue throughout the October/November timeframe. The Final Draft AQMP will be released in January 2007 for Board consideration.
Mayor Yates expressed concern over the significant contribution of mobile sources which are under the jurisdiction of CARB and U.S. EPA and indicated that these agencies should be asked to do their fair share of reductions. With respect to the proposed stationary source control measures, Mayor Yates also expressed concern over the additional burden put on these sources which have already been regulated. Staff stated that they will continue to solicit input during the public process in further refining these control measures.
As part of the public comments on this item, Greg Adams of LA County Sanitation District, encouraged AQMD to consider energy efficiency and global warming as part of BACT measures for the proposed Facility Modernization Approach. AQMD staff indicated that they are open to consider such approaches. Also, Bill Lamar of California Business Alliance, indicated that he believes that U.S. EPA and CARB need to step up to the plate and do their share, rather than expect small businesses do more than their share. Ron Wilkniss, representing Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), commented that WSPA is concerned that many of the control measures proposed appear to have an impact on the petroleum industry but the amount of targeted emissions reductions or the costs are “To Be Determined” (TBD). Mr. Wilkniss said WSPA is concerned of any future commitments that AQMD may be forced to deliver. In response, staff informed him that the next version of AQMP should have some more information on the amounts of anticipated reductions and costs, but some may still stay as TBD.
3. Guidelines for Implementing Public Noticing Requirements for Permits
Mohsen Nazemi, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, Engineering & Compliance provided a brief presentation on this item. He explained that over the years the engineering staff had experienced a number of unique situations regarding public notice requirements and the Permit Streamlining Task Force had also suggested the need for consistent implementation of the public notice requirements under Rule 212 – Standards for Approving Permits. Therefore, a guidance document has been prepared to help ensure consistent implementation of Rule 212 public notice requirements. Mr. Nazemi provided an overview of the public notice requirements for Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs), Title V permits and all other permits. He discussed the types of applications that are subject to the public notice requirements, the criteria that trigger a public notice, and the public notice distribution requirements. The standard contents of a Rule 212 public notice and the costs associated with the preparation and distribution of the public notice were also outlined. In summation, Mr. Nazemi explained that the public notice provisions are an important element of the AQMD Rules and Regulations, state law, the community’s right to know and the AQMD’s environmental justice initiatives.
Board Members Dennis Yates and Gary Ovitt asked how the notice requirements impacted potential future school sites. Staff responded that since there are no existing students at the potential school site, the AQMD has no effective method to distribute a notice to the future student population. There was also a discussion on the possible use of e-mail to distribute public notices but it was explained that presently there was no available method or source for obtaining all of the e-mails for people within the notice area. Mr. Bill LaMar of the California Business Alliance asked if posting a public notice on the AQMD website would suffice for the distribution of a public notice in order to minimize distribution costs. Staff responded that both AQMD rules and state law were specific regarding the distribution and publication of the public notice to each specific address within the distribution area or in newspapers, respectively. Therefore, posting notices on AQMD website alone would not meet and cannot be substituted for the current requirements. Public notices are posted on the AQMD’s website as an enhancement to public participation in permitting decisions and are intended to further allow interested individuals easier access to review the public notice and proposed permits.
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 11:30 a.m.
Attachment(s)
(DOC 53 kb)
October 27, 2006 Committee Agenda (without its attachments)