BOARD MEETING DATE: September 8, 2006
AGENDA NO. 32
Stationary Source Committee
SYNOPSIS:
The Stationary Source Committee met Friday, July 28, 2006. Following is a summary of that meeting. The next meeting will be September 22, 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 10:40 a.m. Present were Dennis Yates and Jane Carney. Absent were Ron Loveridge and Gary Ovitt.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
- Update on Proposed Rule 410 – Odor Abatement for Solid Waste Transfer Stations
Susan Nakamura, Planning and Rules Manager, provided a status update for Proposed Rule 410. Since the May proposal, staff has worked with the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) to develop a Draft Enforcement Protocol to address concerns of dual enforcement and potential double jeopardy issues raised by stakeholders. For facilities submitting an Alternative Odor Management Plan (OMP), the LEA would be the sole enforcement agency. The SCAQMD would notify the LEA of any Rule 402 enforcement actions or any observed Rule 410 compliance issues. Proposed Rule 410 would serve as a backstop if an LEA requires a facility to modify their Alternative OMP, if the modifications are not completed in a specified time period.
Representatives from industry commented that they are concerned about the successful implementation of PR 410 with potential agency overlaps. In addition, another industry representative expressed concern regarding the need for the rule and the difficulty for new facilities to site based on Proposed Rule 410 requirements for new facilities. Another industry representative commented that PR 410 should be implemented solely by CIWMB. Rosalie Mule′ from the CIWMB thanked the committee for the extension and stated the proposal is now more consistent with their concepts.
1a. Proposed Amended Rule 1470 – Requirements for Stationary Diesel-Fueled
Internal Combustion and Other Compression Ignition Engines
Susan Nakamura, Planning and Rules Manager, presented proposed amendments to Rule 1470. Rule 1470 applies to new and existing diesel stationary internal combustion engines and implements the state Air Toxics Control Measure (ATCM). In May 2005, CARB amended the state ATCM, which is the impetus for proposed amendments for Rule 1470. PAR 1470 will allow health facilities with engines with PM emissions > 0.4 g/bhp-hr up to 30 hours for testing and maintenance. This is more stringent than the state ATCM which allows 40 hours for engines with PM emissions > 0.15 g/bhp-hr.
One comment was raised regarding an inconsistency with testing hours allowed for engines with PM emissions < 0.01 g/bhp-hr. Rule 1470 allows 100 hours of testing while BACT limits hours to 50 hours. Staff responded that they would research the comment.
- Update on Rule 1302 – Definitions and Rule 1309.1 – Priority Reserve
Dr. Laki Tisopulos, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, gave the staff presentation on proposed amendments to Rules 1309.1 and 1302. In response to projected shortages in power supply through 2010 and expanding energy needs of the region, staff is proposing to amend Rule 1309.1 to facilitate the siting of certain energy projects in the region by allowing them temporary access to the District’s Priority Reserve account, to procure emission reduction credits needed to offset their emissions. Offsetting emissions from new or modified facilities is one of the cornerstone requirements of the New Source Review (NSR) program. Facilities typically procure their offset credits in the open market. However, the availability of these credits in the open market with respect to certain pollutants (PM, SOx, and CO) is very limited in the Basin. Downwind agencies are experiencing even more serious credit shortages, including shortages in VOC credits. To address the power crisis in 2000-01, the District had amended Rule 1309.1 to allow certain electrical generating facilities (EGFs) temporary access to the Priority Reserve; similarly, the proposed amendments would re-open the Priority Reserve through 2008 to in-Basin electrical generating facilities. To address additional demand for credits from other energy projects, the proposed amendments would also allow EGFs located in downwind Basins (for VOCs only), energy projects of regional significance and bio-solids processing facilities to access the Priority Reserve subject to certain conditions. Except for the publicly owned and operated bio-solid facilities, the proposed amendments would require facilities accessing the Priority Reserve to pay a pollutant-specific mitigation fees for each pound of credits procured. The mitigation fee rates are based on past transactions. Partial refund of mitigation fees submitted for project cancellation is allowed under certain conditions.
The environmental community is opposed to the re-opening of the Priority Reserve and at a minimum would like to see a postponement of the amendment to December 2006 to allow the community more time to study the proposal. Industry is generally supportive of the proposal.
Several industry representatives spoke to remind the Committee about the power supply shortages the region has been experiencing this year and urged against any further delays since such delays would adversely impact several pending projects. Several industry representatives commented against the staff proposal requiring natural gas projects accessing the Priority Reserve to meet minimum gas quality standards (WOBBE Index-BTU value), arguing that the District should not be in the business of regulating natural gas quality and that establishing such standards should be deferred to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which has recently initiated such an effort to ensure uniform implementation of such standards throughout the State. Staff responded that the proposed provision is not applicable to all natural gas distributed in the Basin but rather to the import gas at the specific project(s) that are requesting access to the District’s Priority Reserve account and that the project proponent has already agreed to the condition. In the absence of a CPUC standard or in the event CPUC comes up with a new standard that is less protective for air quality, the proposed provision would serve as a backstop for those projects accessing the Priority Reserve. Chairman Yates recommended that the staff proposal include language directing staff to come back to the Stationary Source Committee with an assessment in the event CPUC adopts a standard and seek further Committee direction.
A comment was also received on the differentiation between publicly and privately held bio-solids facilities. Staff responded that privately held, for-profit, bio-solid facilities as a matter of equity should be subject to mitigation fees but staff was open to allowing public facilities to privatize their operations as a cost saving practice, provided they maintain control of their operations. Ms. Carney expressed concern about potential circumvention and given the scarcity of these credits she questioned whether such credits should be made available for free even to the publicly owned and operated bio-solid processing facilities.
- Proposed Rule 1171- Solvent Cleaning Operations
Due to time constraints, the Committee requested this item be delayed to the next meeting as the Board had referred this to the Committee for review.
- Proposed Rule 1315 – New Source Review Tracking System
Mohsen Nazemi, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, gave a brief presentation on Proposed Rule 1315. The rule is scheduled for the September 2006 Board Hearing. The proposed rule formalizes the method which the District uses to demonstrate that the AQMD provides adequate offsets from its offset bank for sources which are exempt from offsets under AQMD’s NSR Rules (e.g. essential public services) but are not exempt from offset requirements under federal NSR. The new rule has provisions to project trends to assure that our offset bank has sufficient credits to meet federal requirements and, for the first time, authorizes the executive officer to institute back stopmeasures if the demonstration or these projections show a deficiency.
WRITTEN REPORTS
All written reports were acknowledged by the Committee.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were no public comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.
Attachments (DOC 58kb)
July 28, 2006 Committee Agenda (without its attachments)
