BOARD MEETING DATE: December 7, 2007
AGENDA NO. 29

PROPOSAL:

Report on 2007 Southern California Wildfires, Proposed Actions to Enhance Future Response Capabilities, and Issue Sole Source Purchase Orders for Additional Continuous Monitoring Equipment for Fine Particle Matter

SYNOPSIS:

Southern California continues to experience wildfires and this year’s fires were the most severe in recent history. Staff will provide an update on the air quality impacts and the AQMD response to the 2007 Southern California wildfires. Staff will also propose a series of actions to enhance future response capabilities, including enhanced communications to the public through the AQMD website and interactive voice response system, releasing information to the media and local jurisdictions, and enhancing measurement capabilities to capture real-time pollutant concentrations during wildfire events.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, November 16, 2007. There being no quorum, Chairman Roy Wilson heard the agenda items as a committee of one. Chairman Wilson communicated his approval of staff recommendations and directed that the item be forwarded for Board consideration.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

1. Transfer $75,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to the Professional and Services Account in the Information Management FY 2007-08 Budget for wildfire event enhancements to the AQMD air quality website and interactive voice response system.
2. Transfer $150,000 from existing funds in the Rule 1309.1 Priority Reserve Fund to the Capital Outlay Account in the Science and Technology Advancement FY 2007-08 Budget for additional, real-time particulate monitors to address wildfire events.
3. Add an Air Quality Instrument Specialist II position in Science and Technology Advancement.
4. Authorize the Procurement Manager to:
1. Execute a sole-source purchase order with Martin Container, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $18,000 for the purchase of one Station Shelter, including tax and shipping, for a new air monitoring Station in the Temecula area; and
2.  Execute a sole-source purchase order with Met One Instruments for an amount not to exceed $132,000 for four (4) fixed and four (4) portable beta attenuation continuous PM2.5 monitors.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

On October 21, the first of many wildfires to impact the region broke out in Malibu. As the AQMD air monitoring network began to report unhealthful levels of ambient PM, Public Affairs staff was quickly organized to notify local cities, school districts, hospitals, and other sensitive areas about the wildfire and related dangers to health, due to particulate matter impacts. Staff also distributed Fire Safety Alert Fact Sheets to cities and school districts throughout the region to assist them in understanding the unhealthful air quality impacts from the smoke and ash and take appropriate precautions.

The Communications Center was staffed with extra personnel to respond to calls from the public who were advised to exercise caution, particularly with outdoor activities. Schools and childcare centers were urged to not allow children to exercise, whether outdoors or inside, during unhealthful air quality conditions. Staff responded to thousands of calls and hundreds of web inquiries from concerned residents.

Special fire alert information was highlighted on the web site and subsequent information on AQMD Executive Orders, temporarily suspending requirements and waiving fees to aid in the wildfire recovery process, were distributed at fire evacuation centers and to cities impacted by the wild fires.

The AQMD Media Office responded on the first day of the wildfires by issuing a smoke advisory statement to nearly 80 news outlets in the four-county region. In consultation with Meteorology staff, the Media Office revised and issued daily smoke advisories to the media, including during weekends. These advisories also were posted to AQMD’s website. Statements to the media urged all residents to protect themselves from the adverse impacts of wildfire smoke by heeding air quality advisories. During the wildfires, AQMD Media Office staff responded to nearly 100 requests from news media for information and interviews.

In assessing the effectiveness of the AQMD response to this recent as well as previous wildfire events, several key areas were identified that would enhance Staff’s capabilities to provide more timely and clear information to the public and media. The current AQMD website automatically displays calculated Air Quality Index (AQI) values based on real-time measurements of criteria pollutants provided by the AQMD monitoring network. AQI values, as defined by the U.S. EPA, are associated with different levels of public health notices, i.e. good, moderate, unhealthy, etc. Similar information is provided to the public via the dial-up Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. Both systems allow for geographically specific inquiries and information.

A limitation of the current website and IVR systems derives from the lack of a real-time PM measurements in every monitoring area. Twenty-four hour filter based PM measurements do not provide the timeliness necessary during wildfire events. Currently, 14 of the 35 air monitoring stations have either continuous PM2.5 or continuous PM10 monitors. In monitoring areas without a continuous PM monitor, the AQI is calculated based on the other measured pollutants (ozone, NOx, CO, SO2). This may result in confusing public information if good or moderate AQI levels in an area based on other pollutants do not reflect unmeasured, but potentially unhealthful, PM levels in the air. Furthermore, PM AQI values are currently based on 24-hour averages to correspond to the National and State Ambient Air Quality Standards. During the short-term changes in air quality from a wildfire, these averages may not respond quickly enough to quick changes in air quality. Therefore, providing public information based on real-time hourly data would be more appropriate for fire events.

Proposal

Enhanced Website and Interactive Voice Response System for Wildfire Events

More clear and accurate public information on air quality levels during wildfires can be provided through a series of enhancements to the AQMD website and IVR systems. First, in monitoring areas without a continuous PM monitor, PM levels can be estimated via an automatic interpolation method. These new estimates will be provided to the web-site and IVR systems and avoid any possibility of misleading reporting of air quality in areas without real-time PM data. Second, using hourly PM data, rather than moving averages, to assess the current air quality and corresponding health warnings will provide more timely and up-to-date information to the public. Finally, an enhanced, color-coded, clickable website display reporting the regional air quality levels and associated health warnings will help to simplify the dissemination of wildfire information to the public, and thus reduce the numbers of incoming phone calls and web inquiries during these events. Therefore, this action is to transfer $75,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to the Professional and Services Account in the Information Management FY 2007-08 Budget for enhancements to the AQMD air quality website and interactive voice response system to better address public information needs during wildfire events.

Enhanced Particulate Monitoring Capabilities for Wildfire Events

The current AQMD monitoring network includes fourteen stations with real-time PM monitors capable of providing hourly data. In order to better measure the air quality effects from wildfires, and improve the accuracy of the interpolation method mentioned above, additional continuous PM monitors are needed in the network. Staff proposes four new fixed-site continuous PM2.5 monitors to improve the current spatial coverage of real-time PM measurements. Three new monitors will be placed at existing stations in Santa Clarita, Mission Viejo, and Crestline, and a fourth monitor will be placed at a new station to be established in Temecula. These new monitors will also benefit our current air quality modeling, planning, and reporting capabilities at times other than wildfire events.

Since the location of wildfires is not predictable, staff also proposes the acquisition of four mobile continuous PM2.5 monitors for rapid deployment during wildfire events. These units can be placed in the most affected communities and provide real-time PM2.5 data to the website and IVR systems within a few hours of deployment. Potential locations will be pre-arranged in areas without fixed site monitors. This mobile monitor deployment program will also improve the accuracy of the interpolation method mentioned above by providing additional spatial coverage. Implementation and of this program will be integrated into existing emergency response capabilities and will include staff from Atmospheric Measurements, the Laboratory, Public Affairs, Planning, and the Media Office. The program will require one additional staff position at the Air Quality Instrument Specialist II level to operate and maintain the mobile monitors.

Therefore, these actions are to transfer $150,000 from the Rule 1309.1 Priority Reserve Fund to the Capital Outlay Account in the Science and Technology Advancement FY 2007-08 Budget, issue sole-source purchase orders for real-time particulate monitors and a station shelter, and add a staff position to operate the new equipment for the wildfire response program.

Sole Source Justifications

A sole-source award is authorized under Sections IV.B. of the Procurement Policy and Procedure when a purchase does not lend itself to substitution. Section VIII, (B) (2) of the Procurement Policy and Procedure identifies four major provisions under which a sole-source award may be justified.

The requests for sole-source purchases of the replacement station shelters and the continuous PM2.5 monitors are made under Section VIII, B.2.c of the Procurement Policy and Procedure: The desired services are available from only the sole-source based upon the unique experience and capabilities of the proposed contractor or contractor team; (2) The project involves the use of proprietary technology; and (3) The contractor has ownership of key assets required for project performance.

All of the new station shelters have been purchased from Martin Container, Inc. as a result of an RFQ issued in 2003. Only two bids were received at that time, and one was disqualified for lack of relevant experience. Therefore, this single vendor is the only known vendor with the unique expertise and capabilities required.

All of the existing continuous PM2.5 monitors in the AQMD network use beta attenuation technology from one manufacturer. This is the only manufacturer using this technology that is expected to be approved as a Federal Equivalent Method by U.S. EPA for PM2.5. It is important for the technology to be consistent between existing and new monitors as biases are known to exist. The portable PM2.5 beta attenuation monitors need to be compact, self-powered, easily and rapidly deployable, and also comparable to the existing fixed continuous PM measurements currently deployed in the AQMD network. There is only one portable beta attenuation monitor on the market that meets the portability requirements of this application. Therefore, the request for the sole-source purchase of the portable and fixed-site PM2.5 monitors is made under Section VI.A.4.a of the Procurement Policy and Procedure; the items are available from only one source.

Resource Impacts

Implementing these enhancements will cost $225,000 in FY2007-08, $150,000 of which comes from the Rule 1309.1 Priority Reserve Fund. Savings from current vacancies at the AQIS II level for the first half of FY2007-08 will provide funding for the new AQIS II position within the current fiscal year Science and Technology Advancement budget. Ongoing costs beyond FY2007-08 to maintain the program will be approximately $130,000 per year in salaries, benefits, and additional maintenance costs.