BOARD MEETING DATE: March 5, 2010
AGENDA NO. 37
REPORT:
California Air Resources Board Monthly Meeting
SYNOPSIS:
The California Air Resources Board met on February 25, 2010.
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) February meeting was held in Sacramento. Key meeting items are summarized below.
1. Approval of Research Proposals
ARB approved 11 research proposals to address research needs identified in the 2009-10 Annual Research Plan. The studies funded to help improve our understanding of health impacts and exposure include a project to characterize emissions near roads that impact low-income communities and a study to characterize the impacts of fleet turnover and ARB regulations on truck emissions. The Board also approved funding for several studies to support the climate change program, including a proposal to study the effects of local government actions on vehicle miles travelled.
2. Approval of the Coachella Valley PM10 Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan
The Board approved a request to redesignate the Coachella Valley to attainment for the 24-hour national ambient air quality standard for particulate matter of 10 microns in diameter or smaller (PM10), and a maintenance plan to keep the area in compliance. Air quality monitoring data show that the Coachella Valley attained the federal ambient air quality standards prior to 2005. The maintenance plan demonstrates that controls now in effect in the Coachella Valley and the upwind South Coast Air Basin will prevent future exceedances of the PM10 standard. The approved maintenance plan also includes new conformity budgets for use in transportation planning. The redesignation request and maintenance plan were prepared by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and will be submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as proposed revisions to California’s State Implementation Plan.
3. Report to the Board on the Office of the Ombudsman
ARB Ombudsman La Ronda Bowen provided an overview of the Office of the Ombudsman’s role and discussed recent actions to increase the Board’s outreach efforts, particularly to small business stakeholders. The Office’s mission is to support the Board’s clean air objectives while ensuring that the perspective of small business owners and other stakeholders are integrated into ARB’s policies. In recent months, the Office of the Ombudsman has increased its participation in public meetings, face-to-face contacts, and complaints hotline operations. It has also reached out to 300 business associations and 80 chambers of commerce with information about the Board’s programs and services offered by the Office of the Ombudsman. The Office is also working to ensure that the small business perspective is considered and represented as ARB staff develops regulations for the Board’s consideration.
4. Report to the Board on Federal Climate Activities
ARB Assistant Executive Officer Brian Turner briefed the Board on current efforts to develop national greenhouse gas reduction programs and on California’s role in national and international climate change policy discussions. Assistant Executive Officer Turner is ARB’s representative for federal climate change policy, and a member of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Washington, D.C. staff. ARB staff and the Governor’s Office are working closely with federal departments and agencies to coordinate policies on GHG reduction in the transportation, energy, and climate change adaptation arenas. They are also working with Congressional staff to ensure that federal climate change legislation enhances and does not interfere with California’s initiatives in this field.
5. Adoption of Regulation for Reducing Sulfur Hexafluoride Emissions from Gas Insulated Switchgear
The Board adopted a regulation to reduce sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) emissions from gas-insulated switchgear used in the electricity transmission and distribution industries. SF6 is a very potent greenhouse gas. Because there are no good substitutes for SF6 in high voltage switchgear, the new regulation focuses on improved leak detection and correction requirements. The approved regulation limits annual SF6 emissions to ten percent of rated equipment capacity in 2011 and gradually reduces the allowable leakage a maximum of one percent of rated capacity in 2020 and later years. The cost of this regulation, if passed on to residential utility customers, is expected to average one to two cents per customer per month.
6. Amendments to New Passenger Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for Model Years 2012-2016 to Compliance Based on Federal Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards
The Board adopted amendments to ARB greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for new passenger cars that it adopted in 2005 pursuant to AB 1493 (Pavley, 2002). The approved amendments revise the GHG emission standards for the 2012 through 2016 model year vehicles such that compliance with federal GHG emission standards would serve as compliance with ARB’s standards. These are the final ARB amendments needed to implement a mutual commitment made between the Obama Administration, the automotive industry, and ARB. The agreement as a whole allows California to continue regulating GHG emissions from new passenger motor vehicles with EPA approval and provides for the withdrawal of industry litigation. The Board’s action is contingent on the U.S. EPA’s adoption of a final rule that preserves the GHG emission benefits of the Pavley regulations.
7. Overview of the Role of Offsets in the Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Program
ARB staff presented a review of the role of offsets in the proposed GHG cap-and-trade program. Many stakeholders have commented on the preliminary draft regulatory proposal released in November 2009. ARB staff is using this feedback to craft positions on the recognition of credit-certifying organizations and the need to review and approve certification systems for use in the cap-and-trade program. Staff is also coordinating with ARB’s Western Climate Initiative partners to help ensure that offset credits approved by other programs for use in California’s program conform to ARB’s policies and protocols.
8. Adoption of Resolution Guiding the ARB Adoption of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Protocols for Compliance Purposes
The Board adopted a resolution guiding the adoption of GHG accounting protocols by ARB. The resolution distinguishes between the offset certification programs that were developed to be used in the voluntary market, and the program that must be developed to certify offsets to be used under ARB’s proposed cap-and-trade rule. The resolution withdraws ARB adoption of voluntary protocols, with the direction that staff prepares an environmental review of these protocols for compliance purposes as part of a cap-and trade program. This action should not impact the use of these protocols for voluntary purposes, and sets ARB on the path towards adoption of protocols as part of the cap-and-trade rulemaking process.
9. Report on Additional Staff Recommendations to Provide Further Locomotive and Railyard Emissions and Risk Reductions
Staff presented recommendations for the further reduction of emissions from locomotives and railyard equipment and the resulting health risks in adjacent communities. The recommendations centered on an exchange of commitments between ARB and the affected major railroads developed in an open public process that would identify emission reduction targets to be achieved at each major rail yard over the next ten years. After agreeing to the commitments, the railroads would be required to release detailed, railyard-specific plans for meeting each commitment. Staff recommended an initial focus on the San Bernardino, Commerce, and Hobart railyards, and the ICTF intermodal facility at the Port of Long Beach. Staff’s next priorities would be the development of commitments and emission reduction plans for the Roseville, Barstow, and Oakland railyards.
In accepting the recommendations, the Board directed ARB staff to include the following provisions:
Commitments between ARB and railroads must be railyard-specific and include an enforceable provision;
The commitments should be developed in a transparent process that includes early community involvement;
Financial incentives are an important component of the commitments;
ARB staff should have regulatory measures and other identified actions available that can be implemented quickly if commitment deadlines are missed;
The railroads should solicit community input on possible operational and facility changes, such as moving truck gates and planting fenceline vegetation; and
ARB should coordinate with air districts and other local governments to identify and maximize use of legal authorities, and to leverage the use of incentive funding and other resources.
Attachment (DOC, 85k)
CARB February 25, 2010 Meeting Agenda