BOARD MEETING DATE: January 5, 2007
AGENDA NO. 24

California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting

SYNOPSIS:

The California Air Resources Board met on December 7, 2006.  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 December 7 in the Kern County Board of Supervisors in Bakersfield.  Key items presented are summarized below.

Amendments to the Chromium Plating Regulation

The Board approved amendments to the Chromium Plating ATCM to reduce the cancer risk posed by hexavalent chromium emissions, a human carcinogen. The amendments phase-in best available control technology to reduce cancer risk from individual facilities by up to 85%.

The amendments also call for buffer zones between new facilities and areas zoned for residential and mixed use (e.g., schools, homes, health care facilities, and day care centers), housekeeping measures to reduce fugitive emissions, and biennial employee training.

About 75% of the State’s metal platers (155) are located in the South Coast and are subject to the District’s chrome plating regulation.  The revised ATCM will strengthen the existing rule.

Amendments to California's Emission Warranty Information Reporting and Recall Regulations and Emission Test Procedures

Staff proposed amendments to the Emission Warranty Information Reporting and Recall regulations to strengthen corrective actions manufacturers must take when vehicle warranty claims exceed a four percent failure rate for emission-related parts. The corrective actions proposed range from extending warranties, or in some cases, recalls for defective emission components.  In all cases, the replacement component would have been an improved part.  

Based on public testimony from industry representatives, the Board directed staff to retain the scope of the regulation, but to work with vehicle manufactures to resolve minor technical issues.  Staff will hold a workshop in February to work through the technical issues and return to the Board in March 2007 for final action on the amendments.

Amendments to the Voluntary Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Regulation

The goal of vehicle scrapping or Voluntary Accelerated Vehicle Retirement (VAVR) programs is to retire older, more polluting vehicles earlier in their expected lifetimes, thereby eliminating the emissions associated with their operation. A vehicle accepted into the program is retired by crushing it so that it and its parts are rendered unusable. VAVR programs are strictly voluntary programs overseen by the ARB and administered by local air districts. In 2005, the ARB provided the SCAQMD the opportunity to develop and test the performance capabilities of remote sensing to identify high emitting vehicles as possible candidates for voluntary retirement.

The ARB Board approved amendments to the VAVR regulation authorizing the optional use of remote sensing devices and other technologies to identify high emitting vehicles. These changes will provide opportunities for all Districts to identify the highest emitting vehicles in the fleet and offer the owners of these vehicles an opportunity to voluntarily retire their vehicles. The proposed changes allow Districts the flexibility of operating a conventional VAVR program while providing opportunities to expand if so desired.

The Board also approved closely related non-regulatory amendments to the Carl Moyer Program to provide light-duty vehicle programs and add project criteria for both VAVR and voluntary repair of vehicle programs.

Emergency Amendments to the Statewide Portable Equipment Registration Program (PERP) Regulation and Airborne Toxic Control Measures (ATCM) for Diesel-Fueled Portable Engines and Compression-Ignition Engines

Owners or operators of portable engines and certain other types of equipment can register their units under the  ARB statewide portable equipment registration program (PERP).  With PERP, these pieces of equipment can operate throughout California without having to obtain individual permits from local air  districts.

The Board adopted emergency changes to the Regulation, and related ATCMs for Diesel Fueled Portable Engines and Stationary Compression-Ignition Engines to expand the universe of engines in the program.  With these amendments, engines operating in the State, but not previously registered, can enter the permit program under specified conditions, including collection of past registration fees and a late penalty.  In addition, the amendments provide limited flexibility for sales and purchases of stationary and portable engines when complying engines cannot be obtained, including a one year compliance extension.

Approximately 10,000 engines will register statewide in the next 3 years under these changes, half of them in the South Coast.

Allocation of $25 million for New Public Agency Low-Emission Construction Equipment

The Transportation and Air Quality Bond, Proposition 1B, approved by the voters in November 2006, provides $200 million for replacing and retrofitting school buses. The Legislature is expected to approve these funds when they reconvene in January, 2007.  Therefore, the $25 million previously allocated for school bus replacement in the 2006-2007 State budget has been diverted to the purchase of low-polluting construction equipment by public agencies, as required by the budget language upon approval of this bond measure.

Under the staff proposal, fully functioning uncontrolled equipment in an agency’s current fleet will be given the first priority for funding.  Public fleet operators participating in the program will have the choice of replacing an older engine with a new purchase, re-powering an uncontrolled engine, or retrofitting a controlled engine with the cleanest engine available for the specific horsepower (i.e., Tier 2 or 3 standard) or its equivalent.  

The projects will also be prioritized by the severity of a region’s ozone and PM2.5 nonattainment status in which the fleet is located.  For high population areas like the South Coast, staff is proposing to limit funding for each agency’s fleet to a maximum of $1 million to ensure that more agencies qualify for funding.

Staff expects to have the request for proposals out in February, will all grants awarded by June 2007 and in operation a year later.

Approval of New Grants under the Innovative Clean Air Technologies (ICAT) Program

The Board approved the use of $2.6 million in grants to support field demonstrations of new beneficial pollution control technologies.  The approved projects include measuring PM emissions from diesel engines, and demonstrating the effectiveness for control technologies affecting marine vessels, paint strippers, liquid propane gas fuel storage tanks, turbine generators, on-road diesel and non-diesel engines.

Attachment
CARB December 7, 2006 Meeting Agenda