BOARD MEETING DATE: February 2, 2007
AGENDA NO. 36

California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting

SYNOPSIS:

The California Air Resources Board met on January 25, 2007.  The following is a summary of that meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and File.

Ronald O. Loveridge, Member
SCAQMD Governing Board

The meeting was held was held on January 25 at the Cal/EPA Building in Sacramento.  Key items presented are summarized below.

Regulatory Item:  Amendments to the Dry Cleaning ATCM

The Board unanimously approved amendments to the Dry Cleaning Air Toxics Control Measure (ATCM). The changes phase out the use of perchloroethylene (Perc) dry cleaning machines by 2023, impose earlier compliance dates for co-residential facilities and older machines, and require tighter reporting and recordkeeping requirements on manufacturers and distributors of these machines.  The amendments also ban the installation of new Perc machines after January 1, 2008.  The revised ATCM will reduce health risk to near zero by 2008 at new dry cleaning facilities to near zero, by 2010 at co-residential facilities, and by 2023 at existing facilities. 

The approved amendments should not impact the dry cleaners in the South Coast AQMD, who are already subject to a Perc rule which requires a complete phase out by December 1, 2020.  In addition, the South Coast District rule requires all existing Perc dry cleaners to use secondary control and comply with the South Coast District air toxic rules.   

Reports to the Board

ARB 2007 Action Plan

Staff updated the Board on key actions for consideration during 2007, including adoption of a State Strategy to achieve the federal ozone standard, greenhouse gas targets and early action measures, a low carbon fuel standard, implementation and funding of goods movement strategies, and regulations to reduce ozone and PM2.5 emissions.

Update on the 2005 ARB & Railroad Statewide Agreement

Staff updated the Board on recent actions to implement the Statewide Railyard Agreement.  Staff reported that California is ahead of the nation in installation of retrofit devices that reduce emissions idling from intra-state locomotives.  Intra- and inter-state locomotives are using low sulfur diesel fuel, and the compliance rate for smoking locomotives is up due to increased inspections.   Health risk assessments for the first nine railyards will be released and community meetings will be held this Spring.  A report on the locomotive remote sensing pilot program will be presented to the State Legislature this summer.

2006 Status Report on the Carl Moyer Program

Staff updated the Board on Carl Moyer Program implementation in the first six years of the program, including the types of projects funded, emission reductions achieved, and program cost-effectiveness.  Staff reported total Statewide reductions to date to be 18 tons per day of NOx and 1 ton per day of particulate matter, at $2,600 per ton of NOx reduced which is very cost-effective.  Emission reductions achieved translate into health-related benefits of 100 fewer premature deaths, 2,800 fewer asthma attacks, and 17,000 fewer lost work days.   

Status Report on Harbor Communities Monitoring Studies

ARB is using multiple monitoring techniques to gauge the air quality impacts of port-related operations and other industrial activities in the region surrounding the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.  As a result of these studies, ARB is able to better evaluate where and when localized high concentrations are occurring, and identify the primary sources.  Air monitoring in the harbor communities also provides better information on the regional, community, and fence-line source emission contributions to residents in Wilmington, San Pedro, and West Long Beach.  Staff reported that they will be testing low-cost, easy-to-use monitors for future deployment in other air pollution impacted communities. These results will establish a baseline from which to judge the success of potential mitigation methods and regulations.  

Report to the Board on Recent Scientific Findings from Climate Change Studies

Staff updated the Board on recent work in the field of climate change.  These studies show stronger evidence of changes to global climate and observed impacts on the earth's ecosystems.

Attachment (DOC 87kb)
CARB January 25, 2007 Meeting Agenda