BOARD MEETING DATE: September 7, 2007
AGENDA NO. 35
REPORT:
California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting
SYNOPSIS:
The California Air Resources Board met on July 26 and 27, 2007. The following is a summary of that meeting.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive and file.
Ronald O. Loveridge, Member
SCAQMD Governing Board
The July meeting was held in Sacramento. Key items presented are summarized below.
- Adoption of an Emission Reduction Rule for In-Use, Off-Road Diesel Vehicles (Construction Equipment Rule)
The Board approved a staff proposal to regulate emissions from existing diesel-powered, off-road vehicles 25 horsepower or more. Construction equipment such as bulldozers and scrapers make up most of the equipment in this class, which also includes mining equipment and diesel-powered forklifts. The rule is designed to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. It requires construction fleets to replace eight to ten percent of their equipment each year with new equipment, beginning in 2010 for large fleets, and to install particulate filters on 20 percent of their horsepower each year. Compliance begins in 2013 and 2015, respectively, for medium and small fleets.
The rule provides fleet operators with the option of meeting fleet average emission requirements, by buying newer vehicles, retrofitting or repowering engines, or retiring older, more polluting equipment. The rule provides extensions or exemptions for low-use equipment and for vehicles for which no safe alternatives are available. Special provisions for newer equipment will help protect investments in new equipment and technologies. The rule applies to all fleets that have over 2,500 combined horsepower, and to out-of state vehicles that operate in California. It is expected to reduce NOx emissions from the off-road fleet by 13 percent, or 30 tons statewide, in 2015. It will reduce PM emissions by 7 tons per day, or 60 percent, statewide.
An opt-in provision developed by South Coast District staff and approved by ARB will give local districts the option of requiring older, larger fleets to meet a higher level of control when incentives such as Moyer program funds are available to help offset the cost of control. Fleets that utilize this provision would be required to keep vehicles that are retrofitted with the use of incentive funds in the district that provided the funds for 75 percent of their operating hours over the life of the incentive funding contract. District staff estimated that it would be possible to achieve 12 tons per day of additional reductions by 2014 in the South Coast from this provision.
- Climate Change: Recommendations from the Market Advisory Committee
The Board also heard an update from the climate change Market Advisory Committee at its July meeting. ARB established the Market Advisory Committee to advise the Board on the role and design of market-based programs as part of the global warming gas reduction plan the Board is developing under State law (SB 32, 206). The Committee is made up of fifteen individuals, experts from non-governmental organizations, governments that are operating emission trading programs, academia, and private industry. The Committee’s report recommends a combination of direct emission reductions controls and market-based strategies, such as a cap-and-trade program, that can achieve cost-effective emission reductions from all economic sectors.
In January 2008, ARB must approve a plan for reducing California’s global warming gasses to 1990 levels by 2020. The plan must evaluate all possible measures and tools that can be used to reduce California’s contribution to global warming gases. The Market Advisory Committee report will help the Board evaluate the role a cap-and-trade option might play. ARB staff expects to hold workshops on scoping plan options in the November-December, 2007 timeframe and to release a draft Scoping Plan in Summer, 2008. The Board is expected to consider adoption of the Plan in November, 2008.
- Update on State Railroad Memorandum of Agreement
ARB staff presented an update on the implementation of the June, 2005 statewide railroad pollution reduction agreement (Agreement) with Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway. This Agreement was developed to implement near term measures to reduce diesel particulate matter (PM) emissions in and around railyards by approximately 20 percent. The staff’s review covered a period of twenty four months, with an emphasis on the implementation efforts that have occurred over the past six months.
ARB staff reported that both railroads have met and exceeded the requirement to install idle reduction devices on 70 percent of the unequipped intrastate locomotives by
June 30, 2007. The railroads are also ahead of schedule needed to complete the installation of idle reduction devices on 99 percent of the unequipped intrastate locomotives by June 30, 2008 as required by the Agreement. Both railroads comply with the CARB diesel fuel regulation for intrastate locomotives that became effective January 1, 2007, and continue to fuel interstate locomotives with low sulfur diesel fuel in levels greater than the 80 percent minimum required under the Agreement.
ARB staff observed 960 locomotives during enforcement inspections in the first half of 2007: approximately 96 percent of the locomotives observed were in compliance with idle reduction requirements.
ARB staff also reported that health risk assessments (HRAs or assessments) required under the Agreement have been completed for 16 major rail yards in the State. The draft assessments included a detailed evaluation of all of the emissions sources at the rail yard, including locomotives, trucks, and cargo handling equipment. Each assessment was released at a public meeting held in the affected community. The initial meeting was followed about one month later by a second meeting to allow for questions and public comments and to discuss possible mitigation.
The draft health risk assessments show that the diesel PM emissions from the rail yards result in significantly higher pollution risks in nearby communities, with the largest impacts associated with the four rail yards in the City of Commerce.
The draft assessments for the other yards have shown potential cancer risk levels that are lower, but still significant. The risk assessments will be completed after considering the public comments. ARB staff will also begin a public process to more fully address the non-cancer impacts around the rail yards, and to identify and evaluate options for further emissions mitigation and risk reduction.
Attachment
CARB July 26 & 27, 2007 Meeting Agenda