BOARD MEETING DATE: July 9, 2010
AGENDA NO. 37

REPORT:

California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting

SYNOPSIS:

The California Air Resources Board met on June 24, 2010. 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) June meeting was held in Sacramento. Key meeting items are summarized below.

1. Approval of the Coso Junction PM10 Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan.

The Board concurred with the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District request that Coso Junction Planning Area be redesignated to attainment for the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for respirable particulate matter (PM10), and approved the submittal of the PM10 maintenance plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as a proposed revision to California’s State Implementation Plan. The Coso Junction Planning Area is in south-west Inyo County.

2. Adoption of Amendments to the Regulation to Reduce Emissions from Diesel Engines on Commercial Harbor Craft Operated Within California Waters and 24 Nautical Miles of the California Coastline.

The Board approved amendments to the Commercial Harbor Craft (CHC) regulation to add provisions requiring the use of cleaner engines in diesel-fueled crew and supply, barge, and dredge vessels operating near California’s coastline. Harbor craft are responsible for about ten percent of all goods movement emissions. The amendments are expected to prevent the release of 275 tons of diesel particulate matter and over 3,400 tons of oxides of nitrogen from 2011 through 2025. The barge and dredge standards largely consolidate requirements imposed by other State and local programs. The crew and supply boat requirements will provide new emission reductions, particularly in the Ventura, Santa Barbara, and South Coast air districts.

The amendment includes compliance schedules that are based on engine model years and hours of operation, and are designed to remove the oldest, dirtiest engines first. The replacement engines must meet the U.S. EPA Tier 2 and Tier 3 emission standards for new engines that are in effect when the engine is replaced. The CHC regulation generally applies to vessels operating on inland and estuarine waters, and waters within 24 nautical miles of the California coastline.

3. Consideration of Commitments between ARB and UP and BNSF Railroads to Provide Further Diesel PM Emission Reductions at Four High Priority Railyards in the South Coast Air Basin

The Board acted on a staff proposal to further reduce diesel particulate matter (diesel PM) emissions and the related health risk at four high-priority railyards in Southern California, and directed the Executive Officer to consider several items and then transmit the commitments to the railroads for acceptance and immediate implementation. The four railyards are BNSF San Bernardino, BNSF Hobart and UP Commerce (City of Commerce) and the UP Intermodal Container Transfer Facility/Dolores (Long Beach).

For the four high-priority railyards, the Board’s commitments will:

• Establish a hard cap that requires emissions to decline according to a specified schedule;

• Require a 10 - 20 percent larger reduction than would occur by 2015 if only existing measures were used, and about a 30 - 50 percent larger reduction by 2020;

• Ensure that emissions will continue to decline regardless of growth or increased activity;

• Establish a schedule for ARB to routinely prepare estimates of future health risks at each high priority railyard through 2020;

• Provide for independent ARB verification of railyard activity to ensure that all obligations are met;

• Lead to ARB installation and operation of a new air quality monitor in the community near the San Bernardino railyard and another near the Commerce/Hobart railyards;

• Trigger specific and prompt actions by ARB if the emission reductions are not achieved; and,

• Create a process for ongoing public participation for the duration of the commitments.

The Board also added several provisions to strengthen the initial staff proposal. These call for: responding in writing to environmental issues raised by the public; considering the use of an independent third party auditor to assess implementation progress; focusing a future technology symposium on Tier 4 clean locomotive technology; and ensuring that data related to the agreement is easily available for the public to access for independent evaluation. The Board also directed the Executive Officer to include in the resolution the equivalent of third party beneficiary language, which would allow affected local communities to compel enforcement of the ARB commitments.

As a result of a previous agreement with the railroads in 1998, Southern California is now home to the cleanest fleet of locomotives in the nation. The new commitments along with previous agreements and regulations are expected to achieve an 85 percent reduction in emissions from a 2005 baseline.

4. Report on Target Setting Efforts under Senate Bill 375 

ARB staff summarized its proposal for draft regional targets for reducing passenger vehicle 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.

For the State’s four largest MPOs (Bay Area, Sacramento, San Diego, and Southern California), staff set a draft target range of 5-10 percent emissions reduction per capita for 2020. For 2035, staff set individual placeholder targets for the four regions based on data received from the MPOs:

• Bay Area Region 3–12 percent

• Sacramento Area Region 13–17 percent

• San Diego Region 5–19 percent

• Southern California Region 3–12 percent

For the San Joaquin Valley’s 8 MPOs the preliminary target range is a 1-7 percent reduction in per capita emissions for 2020 and 2035. For the remaining 6 MPOs in the State the draft targets are the individual regions’ projected emission reductions for 2020 and 2035. The draft targets are considered placeholders, and subject to reevaluation based on new growth scenarios and data received by the MPOs in the coming months.

In July ARB staff is hosting seven public workshops throughout the state in order to ensure opportunity for public feedback and discussion. In August staff will release their proposed final targets and in September the Board will consider adopting final regional targets. 

5. Adoption of Proposition 1B Grants to Reduce Emissions from Goods Movement

The Board awarded $475 million in grants to local and state agencies to reduce emissions from freight transport in the State’s four priority trade corridors. Spring 2010 sales of bonds authorized by Proposition 1B (2006) generated $200 million for this grant program. ARB anticipates that spring 2011 bond sales will generate an additional $275 million for grants and has tentatively awarded that amount as well. Seven local agencies in the four trade corridors and ARB submitted 15 project proposals, requesting over $1.1 billion to upgrade more than 16,000 pieces of equipment, and ARB has reserved $25 million for program administration. The past two State Budgets appropriated a total of $500 million from Proposition 1B funds to ARB for this program.

In Phase II of the grant funding ARB will use $50 million to provide direct loans and loan guarantees for trucking fleets with 20 trucks or fewer. ARB’s Truck Loan Assistance Program will be available to truck owners in all the trade corridors; the remaining funds were allocated among the four major trade corridors as follows:

6. AB 118 Air Quality Improvement Funding Plan for Fiscal Year 2010-2011

The Board approved an Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) funding plan for Fiscal Year 2010/2011. ARB’s portion of the program established by Assembly Bill 118 (AB 118, Nunez, 2007) is designed to provide financial support for low emission vehicle and equipment purchases that are not eligible for funding support under the Carl Moyer, Proposition 1B Goods Movement Emission Reduction, or Lower Emission School Bus Programs. The program employs different combinations of voucher programs, loan guarantees, and air district management to implement programs directed to different vehicle and equipment categories. This year’s Funding Plan distributes funds among the project categories in proportions comparable to the allocation used in last year’s successful plan.

The Board approved the following allocations for FY 2010-2011.

Attachment (DOC, 61K)

CARB June 24, 2010 Meeting Agenda