BOARD MEETING DATE: December 4, 2009
AGENDA NO. 34
REPORT:
California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting
SYNOPSIS:
The California Air Resources Board met on November 19, 2009. The following is a summary of this meeting.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
Receive and file.
Ronald O. Loveridge, Member
SCAQMD Governing Board
Background
The Air Resources Board’s (ARB or Board) November meeting was held in Sacramento. Key meeting items are summarized below.
1. Repeal of 2007 Amendments to the California Emission Warranty Information Reporting and Recall Regulations and Emission Testing Procedures and Adoption of Prior Regulations and Emission Test Procedures
The Board repealed vehicle recall regulations adopted in 2007 and reinstated regulations previously adopted in 1998, together with appropriate emission test procedures. This action, a consent agenda item, was taken in response to a court decision that invalidated the 2007 amendments.
2. Update on Health Effects of Diesel Particulate Matter Emissions
The methodology ARB staff uses to estimate the levels of risk associated with differing ambient concentrations of diesel particulate matter (PM) was recently reviewed by a panel of independent experts. ARB staff provided the Board with an overview of these procedures and of the panel’s findings, which supported the staff analysis. As part of this presentation, the Board also heard from Professor Jonathan Samet, who chairs both the University of Southern California’s Department of Preventative Medicine and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (U.S. EPA) Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee.
ARB staff’s estimates of the risk of premature death associated with exposure to elevated levels of ambient PM was derived from findings in 78 published epidemiological studies, including all relevant studies conducted in the U.S. through August 2008. ARB staff has also developed estimates of the incidences of hospitalization for respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, work loss, and other health effects associated with exposure to diesel PM from published studies. Diesel PM’s link to other health effects, such as non-fatal heart attacks and low birth weights, have been demonstrated but not quantified. Professor Samet discussed a U. S. EPA report that evaluated the strength of evidence relating diesel PM to adverse health effects. The report concludes that evidence strongly supports a causal link between PM and both short-term and long-term cardiovascular illness, and that a likely causal link exists between PM and respiratory illness.
Staff noted that ambient concentrations of fine particulates are dropping steadily in many areas of California, and cited recently adopted ARB regulations that should continue this downward trend.
3. Overview of New Drive Clean Website
ARB staff presented the Board with an overview of ARB’s revised Drive Clean website. The website was originally launched in 2002 as a resource to help consumers find clean technology vehicles. The new Drive Clean website allows users to search and explore for vehicles by make, model, technology and fuel type, and smog and global warming scores. It also allows users to calculate savings by incentives, by driving habits and fuel costs, and by side-by-side vehicle comparison charts. The website shows that clean technology vehicles are available in a wide variety of makes and models, and provides information about clean technology vehicles and fuels technologies and trends.
4. Report on Regional Targets Advisory Committee Recommendations on Factors and Methodologies for Setting Targets Under Senate Bill 375
ARB staff summarized the Regional Targets Advisory Committee’s (RTAC) report on suggested factors and methodologies for setting regional targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through land use and transportation strategies. Senate Bill 375 (SB 375, Steinberg, 2008) requires ARB to adopt GHG reduction targets for eighteen transportation planning areas in the state by September 2010 and established the RTAC to advise the Board’s target setting process. The RTAC report recommends that 2020 targets be framed as percent per-capita GHG reductions from baseline levels. Because the Board resolution adopting the Global Warming Scoping Plan requires reductions to be “ambitious but achievable,” the RTAC recommended that a statewide target be identified as a starting point, and then adjusted on a regional basis subject to a “reasonably tough test.” The report also recommends use of transportation modeling to set targets and use of a best-practices list with ranges of reductions to facilitate public understanding and local selection of strategies to achieve desired targets. In receiving the report, the Board requested that staff undertake an aggressive outreach effort to educate the public and local governments on the needs and benefits related to attainment of reduction targets.
5. Update on 2009 Air Quality Legislation
ARB staff presented highlights of the 2009 California legislative session related to air quality issues. Much of the Legislature’s work this year was colored by state budget problems and the economy. A few bills sought to eliminate or delay several ARB regulatory efforts in recognition of economic impacts, but only one of these was enacted – AB2X 2 (Nestande) which required a limited delay of some aspects of the off-road equipment rule. ARB’s responsibilities in the energy arena were expanded by two major actions. The Governor’s Executive Order S-21-09 requires ARB, in consultation with California’s Energy Commission, Public Utilities Commission, and Independent System Operator, to adopt regulations by July 1, 2010 to require that 33 percent of the power delivery by public and inventor-owned utilities come from renewable energy sources by 2020. Assembly Bill 1318 (AB1318, Perez) addresses the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s use of banked internal emission reduction credits to meet permitting requirements at electrical generation facilities. It requires ARB, in consultation with specified agencies, to evaluate the electrical system reliability needs of the South Coast Air Basin and recommend the most effective and efficient means of meeting those needs while ensuring compliance with state and federal law.
6. Update on Implementation of California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32) and the Climate Change Scoping Plan
ARB staff provided an update to the Board on the implementation of AB 32 (California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) and the Climate Change Scoping Plan. The review included an assessment of adopted measures, a preview of upcoming measures scheduled for consideration by the Board, and reports of federal and international GHG reduction activities. Staff reported that adopted measures will produce 40 percent of the GHG reductions called for by 2020 in the Scoping Plan. Although the calendar for adoption of the remaining measures extends through 2014, the vast majority of measures will be up for consideration by the end of 2010. The proposed GHG cap-and-trade measure is the most significant of the remaining measures; it is forecast to produce 20 percent of reductions needed in 2020. An Economic and Allocation Advisory Committee has been established to advise the Board on the allocation of emissions allowances and the use of allowance revenues and is expected to release its report in January 2010. ARB staff is also working with staff of the California Department of Public Health to assess the health benefits of the cap-and-trade measure and evaluate impacts on disadvantaged communities. Upcoming measures affecting energy use, including implementation of the new renewal energy standards directed by the Governor’s Executive Order S-21-09 will also contribute significantly toward the 2020 reduction target.
ARB staff also summarized activities being undertaken by other state agencies, the bills now being debated in the U.S. Congress, and the negotiations leading up to the Copenhagen meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Attachment (DOC, 53k)
CARB November 19, 2009 Meeting Agenda