BOARD MEETING DATE: June 5, 2009
AGENDA NO. 15

PROPOSAL:

Appoint Members to AQMD Hearing Board

SYNOPSIS:

The terms of office for the Hearing Board Attorney and Engineer Members, and their Alternates, expire June 30, 2009. An Advisory Committee was appointed as required by law. The Advisory Committee reviewed the candidates' resumes and made its recommendation to the Administrative Committee. The Administrative Committee interviewed candidates at a special meeting on May 1, 2009, and made a final recommendation. This action is to appoint members to fill the expiring terms.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, May 1, 2009, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Appoint/reappoint the following individuals to the AQMD Hearing Board, effective July 1, 2009 with terms ending June 30, 2012:

Edward Camarena, Engineer Member Alternate: Tom Browne
Julie Masters, Attorney Member
 

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Health and Safety Code Section 40501.1(b) requires the AQMD to appoint a Hearing Board Advisory Committee composed of one representative appointed by each of the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino, and the City of Los Angeles. The following individuals, with a variety of professional experience, served on the Advisory Committee for this recruitment. They are:

The current Engineer Member, Edward Camarena, and his alternate, Hong Xu,
requested reappointment, as did the current Attorney Member, Laurine Tuleja.

At the request of the Advisory Committee, selected AQMD staff (the Senior Policy Advisor, a Community Relations Manager, a Senior Engineering Manager, and a Program Supervisor in Technology Advancement) evaluated the resumes of 11 attorneys and 11 engineers, based on the attached criteria approved by the Committee; and the individuals were ranked according to their scores. Based on the ranking, the Committee then narrowed the candidates to the following short list of candidates who, at the recommendation of the Executive Officer and with the concurrence of the Governing Board Chair, were invited for interviews by the Administrative Committee.

Proposal

After interviewing each of the seven candidates, the Administrative Committee recommended that the Board reappoint Edward Camarena as Engineer Member and appoint Tom Browne as Alternate Engineer Member, Julie Masters as Attorney Member, and Laurine Tuleja as Alternate Attorney Member, for terms commencing July 1, 2009 and ending June 30, 2012. The individuals recommended for appointment were subsequently contacted, and each indicated their willingness to serve, with the exception of Laurine Tuleja who declined to serve as Alternate Attorney Member. The Alternate Attorney Member position will be reconsidered by the Administrative Committee at its June 12, 2009 meeting, with a recommendation to the Board at its July 10, 2009 meeting. A summary of the qualifications of each of the other three candidates is set forth below.
 

Engineer Member

Edward Camarena – Mr. Camarena brings nearly five decades of air pollution experience to the Hearing Board.  Prior to beginning his service on the Hearing Board in July 1994, he was Deputy Executive Officer of Operations for the AQMD where his responsibilities at various times included the engineering, permitting, enforcement, technical services, information systems, technology development and human resource programs.  In addition to his service on the Hearing Board, Mr. Camarena also serves on the AQMD's  Budget Advisory Committee and has previously served on the AQMD’s BACT/Scientific Review Committee.  After thirty-three years with the AQMD,
Mr. Camarena served as an air quality policy and technical consultant to the staff of the World Bank in Latin America, the Mexico City Commission for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution and the Mexico City Transportation and Roads Commission.  Current affiliations include the National Association of Administrative Law Judges and the National Association of Hearing Officials.   Past affiliations included the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association, National Society of Professional Engineers, California Society of Professional Engineers, American Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemists, and Orange County Engineering Council.  Mr. Camarena holds a B.A. in Chemistry from Occidental College, Los Angeles and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.
 

Alternate Engineer Member

Tom Browne, Ph.D. – Dr. Browne has 15 years of experience in a wide range of environmental engineering, air quality permitting, risk assessment, health & safety management, and process design. His professional registrations include Professional Engineer, both Chemical and Civil, State of California; Certified Permitting Professional, SCAQMD; and past Certified Drinking Water Plant Operator, California Department of Health Services. Dr. Browne holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from California State University at San Jose, as well as a Certificate in Pharmaceutical Engineering from California State University at Fullerton.
 

Attorney Member

Julie Masters – Ms. Masters currently works as a Board Consultant to AQMD Governing Board Member Joseph Lyou. She has ten years of experience as a litigating attorney, most recently serving as a Senior Attorney and the Director of the Southern California Clean Air Program of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). While at the NRDC, she served as lead counsel on lawsuits brought against air polluters and government agencies, as well as a lawsuit defending important SCAQMD rules. She also served on a variety of working groups and committees at the AQMD during this time and is therefore very familiar with the District’s rulemaking process. Ms. Masters left her position with the NRDC in 2006 to become a full-time mother. Since 2007, she has served as a part-time Board Consultant to Dr. Lyou, and has, thus, kept current on air quality issues. Ms. Masters holds a B.S. in Accounting from the State University of New York at Albany and received her Juris Doctorate from the New York University School of Law, New York.
 

Fiscal Impacts

Sufficient funds are budgeted each year to compensate those who serve on the Hearing Board.
 

Attachment (EXE, ~48k)

Criteria for Attorney Member Position

Critieria for Engineer Member Position