BOARD MEETING DATE: December 11, 1998 AGENDA NO. 23
REPORT:
Stationary Source Committee
SYNOPSIS:
The Stationary Source Committee met Friday, November 20, 1998. Following is a summary
of that meeting. The next meeting will be December 18, 1998, at 11:00 a.m., in Conference
Room CC8.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive and File.
Mee Hae Lee
Chair, Stationary Source Committee
Attendance
The meeting began at 11:30 a.m. Present were Committee chair Mee Hae Lee and Committee
Members Jon Mikels, Paul Woodruff and Leonard Paulitz. Absent were Committee Members
Richard Alarcòn, Ron Loveridge, and James Silva.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Rule 1158 Petroleum Coke, Coal, and Sulfur Handling Update: Alene Taber, Sr.
Manager, SSC Public Facilities Team, presented this item. Samples of the materials being
proposed for regulation were available. The proposed rule will require that coke piles be
enclosed, conveyors be covered or material adequately wet to prevent emissions, that
facility operators only accept these materials from covered trucks, and will establish
standards for housekeeping and truck washing. The staff has observed trucks transporting
these materials between the refineries and storage facilities and found that material was
falling off the truck onto the roads and cars. This is a concern because these materials
are ground up by traffic and re-entrained into the atmosphere.
Staff has visited several operations in the South Coast Air Basin. The site visits have
indicated that the current Rule 1158 compliance plans are not fully effective in
controlling emissions. Several photographs were shown to the committee depicting some
problem areas. Staff also visited a state-of-the-art facility in Pittsburgh, California.
This facility has significantly reduced potential emissions to a greater extent than
facilities in the South Coast Air Basin because it has a fully enclosed conveying system
with three storage domes vented to baghouses. This facility would comply with the proposed
changes to Rule 1158. The committee was shown photographs of this site as well. The staff
believes that this level of control can be achieved in the South Coast Air Basin. Ms. Lee
expressed interest in visiting this facility.
Ms. Taber reported that there have been a number of public workshops and meetings
regarding the proposed rule. The public is concerned about health effects and want the
coke piles enclosed. Industry has expressed concerns about fully enclosing storage piles
and achieving the emissions and housekeeping standards previously purposed in the draft
Rule. Refinery representatives believe they should not be a part of a rule that addresses
port issues. Staff believes that since the refining and storage processes are so closely
linked, both must be controlled to make the rule effective. Industry is also requesting to
be allowed to have 40% outdoor storage of coke for emergency purposes in case of shipping
problems (labor disputes, late ship arrival, etc.) and to speed up ship loading activities
once a ship is at berth. Steve Broiles commented on this issue.
Proposed amendments to Rule 1158 will be before the Board for a set hearing in January and
a public hearing on adoption in February.
Rule 1151 Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Non-Assembly Line Coating Operations
Proposed amended Rule 1151 was set for hearing at the Board meeting last Friday. The
public hearing in December will be to consider providing additional time for manufacturers
to train shop owners in the basin on the use of new compliant materials. There are about
4,000 auto body repair shops in the district. The rule was amended several years ago to
establish a 3.5 lb/gal limit for base coat/clear coat systems. Soon after, manufacturers
sought and were granted a product variance for the base coat/clear coat category. Their
product variance expires in December 1998. Coating manufacturers have requested a
three-month extension. Shop owners feel that three months would not give them sufficient
time to have the painters trained on applying the new compliant clear coats when used in
combination with the base coats. Mee Lee inquired as to the staff proposal and whether the
Board has the discretion to grant up to 12 months extension. Jack Broadbent confirmed that
staff has prepared a CEQA document that does contain an additional 12 months as an option.
If we go beyond the 12 months we would have to open up another rule making. Staff has been
working with the shop owners and manufacturers to develop a compromise proposal. Two
manufacturers that have developed compliant materials this last year will be at the Board
hearing. Councilman Paulitz asked if we were penalizing those companies that developed the
compliant products on time. Jack said there are about six to seven companies supplying
most of the market. One concern is that there isn’t sufficient time and enough
product for all the 4,000 shops. Mee Lee expressed concern that we have both sides equally
represented at the hearing and that we have manufacturers that are producing the products
that do work and manufacturers that aren’t quite there yet to hear both sides of the
discussion.
Mr. Broadbent indicated that there was a concern from the shop owners that the compound
that is used to formulate the compliant material (PCBTF) may present health and safety
problems. The staff has not found any information that suggested that PCBTF is more
hazardous than existing products.
Representatives of manufacturers, California Autobody Association, and individual shop
owners presented their opinions, concerns, and addressed questions to the Committee. A
representative for major coating manufacturers indicated that sufficient supply of the new
2.1 lb/gal clearcoat will be available in the market by February 1999 for shops to train
their personnel. Representatives of autobody shops and some distributors expressed the
need for a training period longer than three months to accommodate the large number of
employees that need to be trained, especially the smaller shops. Staff has been working
with the industry to accommodate this concern. One autobody shop owner, concerned about
the potential negative health impacts of PCBTF, expressed that no respiratory studies have
been done on this compound. Mee Lee asked her and the manufacturer of PCBTF, present at
the meeting, to work together to resolve this issue. One autobody shop owner told the
Committee that he had been using the new 2.1 clearcoats for the last six months without
any problems.
Mee Lee encouraged staff to continue to work with the manufacturers and shop owners to
develop a compromise that addresses all concerns.
Rule 1401 New Source Review of Toxic Air Contaminants Update:
Jill Whynot stated that there would be a set hearing in December for changes to Rule 1401.
There are two key things going on. One is the continuation of the hearing in July
regarding nickel and other compounds used by the nickel platers. Source tests show that
for sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, and certain nickel operations, the previous
emission factors were high and that there would not be problem with a 1401 permit for
those tanks. For the most commonly used type of nickel plating, the previous emission
factor was confirmed. Controls would be needed for Rule 1401 compliance. The nickel
platers are pleased with the source tests, and have no issues with where or how the tests
were done. There is the issue that metal finishers believe the type of nickel they use is
not as strong a carcinogen as the other types of nickel. Metal finishers will ask for more
time to complete peer review of a draft report on this issue. Mee Lee suggested that Ms.
Whynot contact the metal finishers and recommend that they have their report and peer
comments completed for Board review in January.
Ms. Whynot pointed out that when that report is done there is a process to have the report
become an official EPA document with subsequent review by OEHHA, which will take 12 to 18
months. The summary draft report concludes that the soluble types of nickel used in metal
plating are unlikely to be carcinogenic at low concentrations but may be carcinogenic at
higher concentrations. This will be an important issue before the Board.
The second portion of the rule amendment is addition of new carcinogens, consistent with
recent OEHHA action.
The Rule will be set in December for a public hearing at the January Board meeting.
BACT Guideline Update Process:
Pom Pom Ganguli, Senior Manager, summarized the staff proposal to reformat the BACT
Guideline document since a full discussion had been previously presented at the
Administrative Committee with several of the Stationary Source Committee members
participating. Mr. Ganguli also reported that the major public concerns raised in recent
public meetings related to issues outside the BACT proposal including the new source
review rules and EPA policies regarding BACT requirements.
Third Quarter Report on Compliance and Permitting Activity:
Carol Coy, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer, reported that this is the first quarterly
update as discussed during the Board Compliance Study Session in July. The next one, in
February, will include the full annual 1998 statistics. With respect to permitting, in the
third quarter approximately 250 more applications were processed than were received and
there are, between 9,000 and 10,000 applications currently in process at the agency. There
was an increase in the amount of time taken to process the 7-day applications, which may
in part be due to a large number of change of ownership applications handled during the
quarter. Staff will soon be implementing a new tracking system that will speed up
application handling and is intending to shift most pre-screening activities directly to
the processing team. Now that we are coming out of the recession, we are seeing an
increase in change of ownership, new equipment, and equipment modification applications.
Staff is working to reformat the statistical report for the upcoming year to provide a
more effective report that includes a trend analysis so there is a better tool to measure
the success of permit streamlining measure implementation.
Compliance activity has increased over recent years with a renewed emphasis on field
visits and the extensive Rule 461 service station inspection program. During the first
three quarters of 1998 over 18,000 inspections were conducted compared to a total of
14,000, 16,500, and 19,000 annually for 1995, 1996, and 1997 respectively. Over 70% of the
Notices of Violation (NOVs) issued this quarter were for compliance problems at service
stations. Due to the high rate of Rule 461 non-compliance, these inspections resulted in a
much higher than normal rate of notice issuance per inspection conducted.
Update on the CEQA Applicability Form:
Henry Hogo, Planning Manager, provided a status report on the CEQA Permit Applicability
Form. Staff indicated that a pilot program was initiated to determine the usability of the
form and the additional resources that may be required to process the form as part of the
permit application package. Staff indicated that the applicants surveyed did not have any
problems in completing the form and that a significant majority of the returned forms
indicated that no further actions were needed relative to CEQA. The Committee felt that
staff should proceed with implementing the form and should not devote much more time in
minor revisions to the form. Staff indicted that staff will monitor the implementation of
the form and report back on the resources expended to process the form. They also pointed
out that the form is intended to ensure streamlined, consistent application of CEQA to the
AQMD permitting process.
Revisions to the SCAQMD CEQA Implementation Guidelines:
Staff indicated that the SCAQMD CEQA Implementation Guidelines were first adopted in 1987,
were amended in 1988, and have not been revised since that time. However, state CEQA
Guidelines have been revised several times and the AQMD relies on the state CEQA
Guidelines to supplement the 1988 SCAQMD CEQA Implementation Guidelines. Staff will be
requesting the Governing Board to rescind the 1988 SCAQMD CEQA Implementation Guidelines
and adopt the state CEQA Guidelines by reference at its December 1998 meeting. In
addition, staff has released for public comment a set of supplemental CEQA implementation
guidelines and will submit these guidelines for the Governing Board’s consideration
in early 1999.
Approve Environmental Justice Initiative #8: Field Inspection Technology Report and
Recommendations:
Carol Coy explained that this is the final report and recommendation regarding
Environmental Justice Initiative #8. Staff will be requesting the Board to approve, in
concept, some of the recommendations that have come from the consultant, peer review
group, and staff study. Overall, the consultant’s report fell short of proposing
significant new or innovative technology. Ms. Coy pointed out that staff attempts to
maintain current knowledge of state-of-the-art monitoring equipment and techniques, both
in the lab and in the field compliance teams.
In general, the recommendation is to provide some additional sampling equipment to AQMD
inspectors. In addition, staff proposes that TAO pursue projects to expand the technology
used in current occupational health and safety samplers to more sensitive levels for
ambient air concentrations. Additionally, work to expand the electronic nose technology,
currently used in the perfume and food industry, is recommended. Although not currently
applicable to general odor identification, staff could be pro-active and encourage its
adaptation to this advanced application. Of the three major instruments the consultant
highlights, staff believes the most useful would be a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer
(GC/MS). Staff suggests leasing the equipment for field evaluation and sharing it with the
lab before over $100,000 is expended to purchase the equipment. Lastly, it is recommended
that notebook computers be provided to more inspectors so that they can get remote access
to AQMD data offsite. Mee Lee suggested that staff not wait until FY 99 – 2000 to
implement this and instead shift some funds in the current fiscal year budget to get
additional computers to the inspectors. The committee members requested Carol Coy find a
way to accomplish this.
Status of Environmental Justice Initiatives:
The Committee acknowledged the current status reports attached to the agenda regarding
Initiative #2 (Ambient Air Toxic Monitoring) and Initiative #10 (Rules 1401 and 1402).
Notice of Violation Penalty Summary
The Committee acknowledged the summary report attached to the agenda.
Rule Forecast Report
The Committee acknowledged the rule forecast report attached to the agenda.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:50 p.m.
