BOARD MEETING DATE: October 5, 2007
AGENDA NO. 35

REPORT:

California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting

SYNOPSIS:

The California Air Resources Board met on September 27, 2007.
The following is a summary of that meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

Ronald O. Loveridge, Member
SCAQMD Governing Board

The September meeting was held in Diamond Bar at the SCAQMD Headquarters. Key items presented are summarized below.

1. Adoption of a Regulation to Limit Ozone Emissions from Indoor Air Cleaning Devices

The Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) adopted a regulation to limit the sale of indoor air cleaning devices (IACD) that emit ozone. Under this regulation, air cleaners sold after a 12-month grace period following the effective date must not emit ozone in concentrations greater than 0.050 ppm. Air cleaners manufactured prior to the effective date can be offered for sale for up to 21 months after the effective date, provided that there is no evidence that units were stockpiled to avoid compliance with the regulation. The regulation also specifies the American National Standards Institute/Underwriters Laboratory (ANSI/UL) ozone measurement and safety standards to be used in certification.

Development of this regulation follows ARB investigations into the use IACDs and personal air purifiers in California. In January 2005, the ARB staff reported on the ozone emissions from directly- and indirectly-emitting air purifiers. ARB researchers found that ozone generators can produce levels of over 300 ppb of ozone in a test home within an hour or two of operation – well over the state ambient air quality standard of 0.070 ppm (70 ppb). ARB staff also issued advisories on the use of ozone-emitting devices, which are also sold as portable personal models designed to be worn near the user’s face. They also estimated that well over 500,000 Californians are routinely exposed to ozone concentrations above the State ozone standard due to the use of an ozone generator. These studies led to enactment of AB 2276 (Pavley, 2006) which gave ARB the authority to regulate the sale of IADCs that produce ozone within California, and directed ARB to adopt appropriate regulations.

2. Public Meeting to Consider Approval of the Proposed State Strategy for California's State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Federal 8-Hour Ozone and PM2.5 Standards (Continued)

The Board adopted the proposed State Strategy for attaining the federal 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 standards, incorporating revisions developed to meet Southern California Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) PM 2.5 emission targets. The proposed State Strategy was first considered by the Board on June 22, 2007. At the conclusion of this meeting, the Board encouraged staff to work with the staffs of the SCAQMD and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) to add sufficient additional control measures to the State Strategy to meet SCAQMD’s PM2.5 target with NOx reductions, and to advance progress toward 8-hour ozone attainment in the San Joaquin Valley.

The original ARB staff proposal, when considered together with the local measures identified in the SCAQMD’s Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) adopted on June 1, 2007, did not meet the emission reduction target established by the SCAQMD for attaining the national PM2.5 air quality standard by 2015. In acting upon the Board request, SCAQMD, ARB, and SCAG staffs and Board committees identified 76 tons of reductions that were mutually acceptable to the three agencies. These measures represent a mix of regulatory and incentive approaches. The reductions from these measures are shown in the following table:

The new measures require new reductions from the state, SCAQMD, local cities and counties in the air basin, and U.S. EPA. The ARB measures will provide an additional 30 tons per day of NOx reduction by 2014. These reductions result primarily from the proposed requirement to require 2006 and earlier trucks to meet 2007 federal emission standards by 2014. The SCAQMD measures will provide an additional 32 tons per day of NOx reduction, and these reductions derive from a series of measures affecting stationary, on-road, and off-road mobile sources. Local and federal actions will provide an additional 14 tons per day.

To accelerate ozone air quality progress in the San Joaquin Valley, ARB and San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) staff evaluated the benefits of the additional South Coast measures and found support for these measures as applied to the San Joaquin Valley. The ARB added the local option for enhanced off-road equipment controls (the SOON program) and enhanced heavy duty truck measures to the State Strategy, as well as commitments to evaluate controls applicable to agricultural equipment and stationary sources.

The ARB considered and approved the State Strategy, as revised, in conjunction with its approval of the 2007 AQMP for the South Coast.

3. Public Meeting to Consider Approval of the 2007 Air Quality Management Plan for Attaining the Federal 8-Hour Ozone and PM2.5 Standards in the South Coast Air Basin and Coachella Valley

The Board adopted the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 SIPs for the South Coast Air Basin and the Coachella Valley as a proposed revision to the California’s SIP. The revisions included the reclassifications, attainment deadline extensions, and attainment demonstrations included in the SCAQMD’s 2007 AQMP. The adoption of the revised State Strategy (see prior item), together with local measures from the 2007 AQMP, provide 73 percent of the NOx reductions required to demonstrate attainment of the 8-hour ozone standard in 2023. ARB, SCAG and the District staffs also committed to develop a white paper mapping out a process for exploring potential strategies for filling the long-term measures commitment and for meeting future ambient air quality standards. The paper would discuss new or transformative strategies such as state-of-technology zero and near-zero transportation systems, other mechanisms such as fee-based incentives, and availability of public funding.

ARB staff originally recommended that the ports backstop measure (MOB-03) included in the 2007 AQMP not be submitted as a SIP revision. The approved Board resolution includes the submittal of the SCAQMD’s commitment to develop a backstop rule, clarifying that the emission targets in the rule will not be part of the SIP emission reduction commitment.

4. Public Meeting to Consider Approval of a Modification to the Current SIP Commitment for Pesticide Emission Reductions in the Ventura County Nonattainment Area (Continued)

The Board approved staff recommendations to temporarily substitute 1.3 tons per day of ROG emission reduction achieved by the state motor vehicle control program in Ventura County for a previous commitment to reduce ROG emissions from agricultural pesticide use, and to require the phase-down of pesticide use by 2012 to achieve the goal of the original commitment. This phase-down schedule is intended to provide the Department of Pesticide Regulation and agricultural stakeholders with the time necessary to identify and construct additional pesticide measures to achieve the remaining necessary reductions, and will help ensure that reductions are in place by the 2012 “serious” area nonattainment deadline that Ventura County now believes is needed to attain the 8-hour ozone standard.

Attachment 
CARB September 27, 2007 Meeting Agenda