BOARD MEETING DATE: October 2, 2009
AGENDA NO. 39

REPORT:

California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting

SYNOPSIS:

The California Air Resources Board met on September 24 and 25, 2009. The following is a summary of this meeting.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and File.
 

Ronald O. Loveridge, Member
SCAQMD Governing Board

The Air Resources Board’s (ARB or Board) September meeting was held in Diamond Bar at the South Coast Air Quality Management District Auditorium. Key meeting items are summarized below.

1. Recommended Area Designations for the 2008 Federal Lead Standard
   
   ARB staff presented recommendations to the Board for areas to be designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as nonattainment for the 2008 federal ambient air quality standard for lead. The new standard, 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) averaged over three consecutive months, is more than 90 percent more stringent than the prior standard of 1.5 μg/m3, averaged by calendar quarter.
   
   Staff proposed that U.S. EPA designate the Los Angeles County portion of the South Coast Air Basin as nonattainment and Imperial County as attainment for the 2008 standard.  Staff also recommended designating the remaining areas in the State as unclassifiable since monitoring data is either incomplete or not available. The unclassifiable designations will be resolved as the lead monitoring network is expanded over the next two years. This informational item did not require Board action.
    
2. Appointment of Replacement Member to AB 32 ETAAC
   
   The Board appointed Mr. Marc Burgat, Vice President for Governmental Affairs for the California Chamber of Commerce, to fill an Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee (ETAAC) vacancy for a representative of the business community. The ETAAC was established pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to advise ARB on research, advanced technology investment, and incentive opportunities that will assist in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
    
3. Draft Planned Air Pollution Research for Fiscal Year 2009-2010
   
   The Board approved a conceptual research plan for Fiscal Year 2009-2010 that allocates $5.3 million to fund 21 projects. The research projects support Board priorities related to health effects and exposure, climate change, and State Implementation Plan development. Recognizing the air quality challenges posed by a changing climate, several projects also investigate the nexus of climate and air quality. These projects will help ARB reduce conventional air pollutants in a warmer climate while meeting climate change emissions reductions goals. Several projects in the proposed portfolio also address issues related to agriculture and environmental justice.
    
4. Amendments to the California Consumer Products Regulation and Test Method 310
   
   The Board adopted amendments to the California Consumer Products Regulation and Test Method 310, a laboratory method for measuring the volatile organic compound (VOC) content of commercial products. The amendments impose staged reductions in the allowable VOC content in multi-purpose solvent and paint thinner products, and reduce the VOC content of certain aerosol air fresheners. The inclusion of designated toxic compounds and compounds with high greenhouse gas potential will now be prohibited in multi-purpose solvents and paint thinner products. The change to Test Method 310 specifies analytical procedures to be used when measuring VOC contents of less than one percent. The Board’s action also included a delegation to staff to adopt further amendments clarifying the definition of multi-purpose solvent, specifying warning label details on paint thinner containers, and giving manufacturers 30 days to report formulation data. These amendments are part of a continuing effort to reduce VOC emissions from the broad and diverse range of consumer products that in 2009 became the largest sector of the VOC emission inventory in the State.
    
5. Amendments to Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for New Passenger Motor Vehicle
   
   The Board adopted changes to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for new passenger vehicles, adopted in September 2004, pursuant to AB 1493 (Pavley, 2002), in response to recent U.S. EPA actions that align federal standards with those in ARB’s “Pavley” regulation. The approved amendments represent the first step in implementing a three-way agreement between U.S. EPA, ARB, and the automobile manufacturers; the Board will consider additional amendments at its December meeting. The agreement required U.S. EPA to adopt GHG emission standards that are very similar to ARB’s Pavley requirements, and to approve ARB’s 2005 request for a Clean Air Act waiver to enforce Pavley standards. In exchange, ARB will deem new cars that comply with the U.S. EPA GHG emission standards as being compliant with Pavley requirements, and will allow manufacturers to use emissions from that larger pool of vehicles to satisfy California fleet requirements. Finally, the automobile industry will drop all litigation against ARB’s Pavley regulation and not oppose the federal waiver.
    
6. Updated Forest Project Protocols for Greenhouse Gas Accounting
   
   The Board adopted revisions to the non-regulatory Forest Project Protocol for calculating greenhouse gas (GHG) credits for voluntary forestry projects. Forests actively remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, a process known as “forest carbon sequestration.” This occurs when trees absorb carbon dioxide during photosynthesis storing the carbon as wood. Other elements of the forest’s life cycle, such as the decomposing plant material on the forest floor, also give off GHG gases. The protocol provides scientifically rigorous approaches for quantifying net GHG emission reductions in reforestation, improved forest management, and avoided conversion projects.  All projects must maintain or increase live tree biomass in the forest to be eligible for credit. 
   
   The Board’s initial October 2007 protocol approval action included direction to staff to develop additional approaches to forest carbon accounting to increase participation, especially by public lands and privately-owned working forests. In addition to clarifying and incorporating new findings into the quantification methods, the update reduces barriers to participation, allows for the development of voluntary projects in other states, and establishes a buffer pool to replace carbon lost as a result of forest fire or other calamity.  Board adoption recognizes the updated protocol as a rigorous quantification methodology that will encourage voluntary early action projects. Both the original protocol and the revisions were developed by the Climate Action Reserve (formerly known as the California Climate Action Registry) with the participation of environmental organizations, public and private landowners, scientists, and government agencies. The conditions and criteria for the use of protocols in complying with the AB 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan are still being developed as part of California’s cap-and-trade program regulation.
    
7. Enforcement Program Workshop
   
   ARB staff informed the Board of an upcoming public workshop to discuss ARB’s enforcement program and policies. The workshop will give members of the public, including the regulated community, an opportunity to discuss a broad range of enforcement policies, procedures and goals. The workshop, which was requested by the Board in response to comments received at a recent Board meeting, will be held in the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA)’s Sacramento headquarters on October 12, 2009.
    
8. Fees on Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Support AB 32 Implementation
   
   The Board adopted regulations that impose fees on sources of GHG emissions beginning in 2010 to support the implementation of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). The Board first considered the fee regulation at its June 2009 Board meeting, but postponed action and requested staff to return with amendments that treat locally generated electricity and electricity imported from out of state equally. Under the new regulation, fees will be applied at points where fossil fuels are introduced to intrastate distribution networks, at the first delivery of electricity to the California grid, and where industrial non-fossil fuel combustion GHG emissions are released to the atmosphere. Fee rates are designed to raise approximately $36.2 million per year to support ongoing State agency costs. For the first four years, fee revenues will also be used to pay back startup loans. ARB will repay $26.9 million of these loans in 2010. The fees will be charged to approximately 350 large facilities and corporations. ARB staff believes that the fees will be passed on, and estimates that the average household will see a $0.77 per year increase in its utility bill, and a $0.80 per year increase in gasoline costs for each car. Additional revisions require fee payers and emission reporters to use ARB’s online emission reporting system or an alternative tool, approved by ARB’s Executive Officer, that provides the information required by the Fee Regulation and Mandatory Reporting Regulation.
    
9. Recommendations for Further Locomotive and Railyard Emission and Risk Reductions
   
   ARB staff reported to the Board on recommended measures to further reduce emissions of diesel particulate matter (DPM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from locomotives and railyards. ARB and U.S. EPA measures already in place will reduce emissions around railyards by more than 50 percent by 2015. However, the remaining risk around railyards is still too high. The ARB staff recommendations were designed to address the significant remaining public health risks associated with DPM emissions from California’s railyards and contributions of DPM and NOx to regional ozone and fine particulate matter. 
   
   Based on an assessment of technical options, ARB staff identified five measures for reducing emissions from locomotives as the most cost-effective approach for reducing emissions both from a railyard and regional basis. The highest priority measures were to repower existing switch and medium horsepower locomotives with cleaner engines, retrofit these locomotives with DPM and NOx exhaust treatment devices, and accelerate the replacement of existing line haul locomotives with locomotives that meet U.S. EPA’s Tier 4 standards. New Tier 4 interstate line haul locomotives require the use of very clean locomotives with both NOx and DPM aftertreatment devices beginning in 2015. ARB’s authority to directly regulate locomotive emissions is limited. Therefore, the staff proposal relied heavily on the use of incentive funding.
   
   ARB staff estimated that these measures would reduce statewide locomotive NOx and DPM emissions by about 30 percent by 2014 and by about 70 percent by 2020.  The staff also recommended ten other actions including the continued investigation and implementation of railyard-specific measures at high risk railyards, and working with a coalition of stakeholders to seek changes in federal law that would give states greater authority to reduce emissions from this source.
   
   In over three hours of testimony, the Board heard from many individuals who live adjacent to large railyards.  These residents, together with the representatives of community environmental groups, urged the Board expand its use of regulatory authority to the extent possible rather than relying so heavily on incentive programs.

   After considering the public testimony, the Board directed staff to return within 120 days with a report on the following:

   • a requirement for railroads to prepare and implement risk reduction plans for high-risk facilities, starting with BNSF San Bernardino as a template, that would include measures not otherwise preempted by federal law;
   • an assessment of a potential regulatory element that would serve as a backstop to the use of incentive funds for reducing emissions and for the risk reduction plans; and
   • the use of South Coast AQMD authority to enact an indirect source rule to reduce emissions and risk around railyards.

   In developing the report, the Board directed the staff to collaborate with representatives from the railroads, local community groups, local governments, local air districts, and other stakeholders, as appropriate.

Attachment (DOC, 59k)

CARB September 24 & 25, 2009 Meeting Agenda