BOARD MEETING DATE: September 11, 2009
AGENDA NO. 27
REPORT:
California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting
SYNOPSIS:
The California Air Resources Board met on July 23, 2009. The following is a summary of this meeting.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
Receive and File.
Ronald O. Loveridge, Member
SCAQMD Governing Board
The Air Resources Board’s (ARB or Board) July meeting was held in San Diego. Key meeting items are summarized below.
- Climate Science Update
ARB staff presented a summary of this year’s Haagen-Smit Symposium, an annual colloquium sponsored by ARB on emerging air quality issues. The 2009 Symposium focused on advances in the understanding of climate change and additional opportunities for reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Symposium presenters reported that GHG emissions are growing faster than anticipated in the 2007 International Panel on Climate Change report, and that fine particles in the atmosphere are reflecting sunlight away from the earth and masking warming trends. Scientists estimate that greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere could cause increases in temperature above critical thresholds in the absence of these particles.
- CALNEX 2010 and Other Major Field Studies in 2010
ARB staff and Dr. David Parrish of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) briefed the Board on a major air quality field study planned for next year that is designed to shed light on the complex interactions between air quality and climate. CalNex 2010 is an intensive monitoring study that will gather air quality and emissions data throughout the state, with a focus on the Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions. Data from the study will be used to improve the inventories and predictive models used in air quality planning and management for both criteria pollutants and climate change programs. NOAA’s contributions account for over $15 million of the $17.5 million total study cost. NOAA and ARB researchers plan to release initial policy-relevant summary reports 12 to 18 months after the completion of the field study.
- Amendments to the Regulation for In-Use Off-Road Diesel Vehicles
The Board approved amendments to the in-use, off-road diesel fleet regulation adopted in December 2008, in response to legislative direction provided in the February 2009 State budget agreement (Assembly Bill 2X 8). The fleet regulation as originally approved by the Board required owners of large fleets to meet declining NOx and diesel PM fleet average emission levels starting in 2010, or to retrofit or replace a portion of each fleet with PM control devices or cleaner engines. The amendments reduce retrofit and repower requirements in 2011 and 2012, and increase requirements correspondingly in 2013. The result is that the cumulative numbers of vehicles controlled by 2014 is unchanged from the levels in the original regulation. The amendments also allow operators to get credits, which can be used toward 2011 and 2012 engine replacement and retrofit requirements, for reduced activity levels or fleet shrinkage resulting from the economic downturn. The amendments will provide relief for fleets impacted by current economic conditions, while maintaining the reductions needed to meet federal Clean Air Act requirements.
- Status Report on the Zero-Emission Bus Regulation
ARB staff presented a progress report on compliance with the zero-emission bus demonstration requirement under the urban bus regulation adopted in 2000. The urban bus regulation requires transit agencies operating more than 200 buses to reduce NOx and diesel PM emissions through compliance with the requirements of either a diesel fuel or an alternative fuel path. Transit agencies pursuing the diesel fuel path are required to undertake two zero-emission bus demonstration projects, to foster the manufacture of zero-emission buses, and assess the in-service performance of different technologies.
In the first demonstration project, six fuel cell and hybrid fuel cell buses were introduced into three bus fleets in the Bay Area and the Coachella Valley. These buses have failed to meet performance benchmarks recommended by ARB staff. The regulation called for a second demonstration project by large transit agencies on the diesel path beginning in 2009, but this rollout has been delayed by funding and bus availability delays. ARB staff recommended that 2012 zero-emission bus purchase requirements be delayed, and that the purchase trigger date be keyed to the attainment of performance benchmarks by the demonstration fleets. The Board directed staff to return in 2010 with a progress report on implementation of the second demonstration project and amendments to the transit bus regulation that would incorporate staff recommendations.
Attachment (DOC, 47k)
CARB July 23, 2009 Meeting Agenda