BOARD MEETING DATE: December 7, 2007
AGENDA NO. 25

REPORT:

Stationary Source Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Stationary Source Committee met Friday, November 16, 2007. Following is a summary of that meeting. The next meeting will be January 18, 2008, 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 was Dennis Yates. Absent were Dr. Joseph Lyou, Jane Carney, Ron Loveridge and Gary Ovitt.

There being no quorum, Dennis Yates heard the agenda items as a committee of one.  All items were for information only.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

1. Agenda Item #4 - Rule 445 – PM Emissions from Wood Burning Fireplaces and Wood Stoves

Jill Whynot, Director of Strategic Initiatives, gave a brief update of staff efforts concerning Proposed Rule 445 - Wood Burning Devices.  In her presentation, Ms. Whynot explained that state law requires the SCAQMD to adopt all feasible measures.  The 2007 Air Quality Management Plan includes a State Implementation Plan commitment to reduce one ton per day PM2.5 emissions from residential wood combustion.  She also noted that wood smoke reduction programs have been implemented in many other California air districts.

The main elements of the proposed rule include requirements for new construction, wood sellers, and a mandatory curtailment program.  There are several exemptions proposed.  The draft rule language was presented to a working group on November 15, 2007 and staff is recommending changes to the proposal in response to the comments made.  Ms. Whynot concluded her presentation by stating that education and outreach will be a very important part of the program and that staff was considering an incentive program to encourage the public to switch to cleaner technologies.

Tracy Goss, Program Supervisor, then provided a brief demonstration with a wood moisture meter and explained that the devices are readably available and affordable. 

Chairman Dennis Yates had a few follow up questions concerning the requirement to implement a wood smoke reduction program.  Specifically, the need to adopt the rule, to which Deputy Executive Officer Elaine Chang explained that the California Health and Safety code requires implementation of a wood smoke reduction program in South Coast due to the severity of the PM2.5 problem.  Mr. Yates also had questions on how the proposed rule would address backyard open pits, how the mandatory curtailment notifications would be provided to the public, and how the program would be enforced.  Staff explained their current thinking and will continue to work with stakeholders on the rule and implementation elements.  There were no public comments.

2. Agenda Item #1 - Proposed Amended Rule 1171 – Solvent Cleaning Operations

Lee Lockie, Director of Area Sources/PM Control Strategies summarized the current status of the proposed amendments to Rule 1171, Solvent Cleaning Operations.  The proposed amendments will provide additional time for several ink cleaning categories where additional testing is necessary to assure successful conversion to the new formulations at 100 g/l VOC. She also outlined new proposed requirements for suppliers of all cleaning materials subject to Rule 1171.  In closing, she stated that staff was hopeful of resolving several issues raised by the affected industry at the recent public workshop and added that staff will be holding another workshop on December 4.  The public hearing on this proposal has been tentatively scheduled for February 1, 2008. 

3. Agenda Item #3 - Rule 407.1 – Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Permit Units

Larry Bowen, Planning and Rules Manager, presented this item. Proposed Rule 407.1 is a new rule that will require BACT for CO for all new or modified permit units. With the re-designation to attainment for CO, the requirements of Regulation XIII, including BACT, no longer apply for CO sources although they do apply to Major sources under Regulation XVII. The effect of this rule is to continue the CO BACT requirement for minor sources as well as major sources, and is consistent with our CO maintenance and ozone non-attainment plans. The public workshop is scheduled for December 5 and we propose the public hearing for February 1.

Two commenters requested clarifications during public comment. First, Greg Adams – L.A. Co. Sanitation District asked if the rule would apply PSD BACT to all sources. The staff response was yes, but the BACT process established by the AQMD is a little different for major sources than it is for minor sources. Second, Michael Wang – WSPA asked if the staff schedule allows sufficient time for the public input process. Staff responded, yes the notice for workshop has been published and the schedule does allow for the public comments to be included in the public hearing package.

4. Agenda Item #5 - Rule 1401 – New Source Review of Toxic Air Contaminants, Rule 1402 – Control of Toxic Air Contaminants from Existing Sources and Rule 1472 – Risk Requirements for Stationary Diesel-Fueled Internal Combustion and other Compression Ignition Engines

Susan Nakamura, Planning and Rules Manager, provided an overview of Proposed Rule 1472 and Proposed Amended Rule 1401.  Proposed Rule 1472 would apply to emergency back-up engines.  Proposed Rule 1472 is in addition to Rule 1470.  The proposed Rule addresses facilities with multiple diesel back-up engines that whose combined emissions may pose a significant health risk.  Proposed Rule 1472 applies to facilities with three or more emergency back-up engines and requires facilities to submit a compliance plan.  Facilities would then calculate a Group Engine Index that accounts for each engine’s mass emissions and distance to receptors.  A higher Engine Group Index indicates a higher exposure to diesel particulate matter.  Facilities with a Facility Group Index >1 will be required to reduce emissions.  Proposed Rule 1472 includes specific exemptions for facilities with a buffer zone greater than 150 meters, direct drive fire pump engines, and facilities with severe physical constraints for installing controls or replacing their engines.  In addition to Proposed Rule 1472, Rule 1401 is proposed to be amended to add diesel particulate from internal combustion engines to the list of toxic air contaminants (TACs).  Since the list of TACs in Rule 1401 are used for compliance with Rule 1402, staff discussed the potential implications of adding diesel particulate to the list of TACs. 

Mayor Yates asked if compliance problems have been observed with engines where diesel particulate filters have been added to engines and then not maintained properly.  SCAQMD staff responded that there is very little experience with DPFs on emergency back-up engines, and this issue will be looked into during the rule development process.  A refinery representative asked how will Proposed Rule 1472 would affect diesel-fueled fire pumps at refineries which are used for training fire fighting crews and which operate 40 to 50 hours per year.  District staff will work with the refineries to address this issue.

Due to time constraints, this item will be heard at the January 18, 2008 Committee meeting.

WRITTEN REPORTS

All written reports were acknowledged by the Committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.

Attachments (DOC 60kb)
November 16, 2007 Committee Agenda (without its attachments)