December 19, 2001
The regular meeting of the Air Pollution Control Board of Jefferson County was called to order December 19, 2001, at 9:17 a.m. in the Board Room of the Air Pollution Control District, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, by Vice-Chair Karen Cassidy. Lewis Hammond, Dr. Wayne Tuckson, Lee Howard, and Michael Hesse were present. A quorum was present.
The following staff were present: Art Williams, Jon Trout, Gayle Ballard, Jesse Goldsmith, Art Chang, Bruce Gaylord, Terri Phelps, Tom Pinto, Chuck Shannon, Deborah Donaldson, Marty Layman, Doug Spillman, Bob Dorzback, T.J. Jessie, Cynthia Lee, Phyllis Fitzgerald, Stephen Taylor, Martha Gammons, and Donna Anthony.
The following guests were present: Amy Cubbage, Frost Brown Todd; Brad Dillon, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald; Robert Gioffre, Gordon-Darby; Pat Moran, Rohm and Haas; Charles Huff, CR Huff Environmental; Malcolm Winsper and Dave Newman, KY Motorcycle Association; Steve Marks, General Electric; and Marlene Zeckner Pardee, LG&E.
Recognition of Retirements, Promotion, and EPA Guest.
Mr. Trout announced the retirements of Kenneth Irwin, Scientific Programmer/Analyst, and Helen Harman, Executive Secretary. Mr. Irwin has been with the District since 1970 and Ms. Harman has been with the District since 1974. Mr. Trout announced the promotion of Marty Layman from Air Pollution Technical Specialist II to the Quality Assurance/Quality Control position. Mr. Trout also recognized in absentia Susan Bullard, Director of Outreach for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Transportation and Air Quality. She is a native of Louisville and is currently “telecommuting” from a District office to her Washington, D.C. office, gaining perspective about getting things done at the local level.
Public Comments
None
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the Public Hearing and Board meeting of November 17, 2001, were approved as mailed.
Unfinished Business
A. Update of Borden Chemical Board Order.
Ms. Phelps said that on August 15, 2001, the Board adopted an enforcement order requiring Borden Chemical Company (Borden) to pay $45,200 of a penalty that was assessed at $180,800. The order also allowed Borden 120 days to propose to the District one or more supplemental environmental projects (SEPs) with a value of at least $135,600 which is the balance of the assessment. The order stated that if the District had not approved Borden’s proposed SEPs with a total value of $135,600 in capital expenditures within the 120 days, then Borden shall pay the balance of the administrative settlement within 30 days. Borden did submit a proposal for a SEP on November 30, 2001, a VOC emission reduction project with a total cost in excess of $135,600. However, the total VOC emission reduction was only about eleven hundred pounds per year. The District considered the proposal and determined that the project has benefit to the environment, but the monetary value of the reduction was only $35,000.
Ms. Phelps asked the Board to confirm whether the intent of the August 15, 2001, Board Order was to allow the District to approve an amount less than $135,600 in SEP credits and have Borden pay the difference between the cost of the approved SEPs and $135,600. If so, the District intends to approve $35,0000 in SEP credits for the recently-submitted proposal, and Borden would then be obligated under the Board Order to pay the balance of the administrative penalty, $100,600, by January 12, 2002.
Further, Ms. Phelps asked the Board for an extension, through March 31, 2002, for the District to consider one or more additional SEP proposals from Borden. The District is specifically requesting additional time to allow Borden to have an independent pollution prevention (P2) assessment of their Louisville facility conducted by the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center. If, after the P2 assessment, Borden wishes to present one or more proposals for SEP credit, then the District would consider the proposal, but any approvals must occur by March 31, 2002. A draft addendum to the August Board Order was provided for consideration by the Board.
Dr. Tuckson asked whether the discrepancy on the value of the proposed SEP was due to a good-faith overestimation by Borden of the cost of the project or an error in calculating the costs. Ms. Phelps stated that the District did not detect any errors in their calculations. She said that the District had no reason to disagree with the $500,000 to $600,000 cost of the project. However, because of the small amount of VOC emission reduction that will be realized, and consistent with approval of a SEP by a different company, the District believes that the credit allowed for the Borden SEP should not exceed $45,000.
Dr. Tuckson asked what difference would it make to allow the extra time. Ms. Phelps replied that if Borden agrees to have the independent P2 assessment conducted and if additional pollution reduction projects are identified, proposed, approved, and implemented, then the environment has benefited from the extension.
ACTION: Mr. Hesse moved to accept the addendum as proposed by the District for Borden Chemical Company.
The motion passed unanimously.
New Business
A. Amendment to Regulation 1.02 Definitions, Version #10, Draft #2 - Proposed, October 8, 2001.
Mr. Trout said that the District recommends that the Board adopt the amendment to Regulation 1.02 Definitions as proposed, Version #10, Draft #2 - Proposed, October 8, 2001, with the exception to line 15, section 1.1, that “7401-7626” be replaced by “7401 et seq.”
ACTION: Mr. Hammond moved to adopt the amendment to Regulation 1.02, Version #10, Draft #2 - Proposed, October 8, 2001, as proposed with the change in section 1.1 recommended today by the District.
The motion passed unanimously.
B. SIP Advisory Panel Report
Mr. Moran said that the SIP Advisory Panel met on December 11, 2001, but did not have a quorum. The District provided updates on the redesignation of the Louisville area to attainment for the 1-hour ozone standard, 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 ambient air monitoring, and the 2001 Transit Authority of River City (TARC) Ozone BUSter program. The District also discussed the National Academies of Sciences report on inspection/maintenance programs and the District’s Lawn Care for Cleaner Air program.
There was a discussion of whether it would be appropriate for the SIP Advisory Panel to develop recommendations to the Board on abatement strategies for addressing the 8-hour ozone standard and the PM2.5 standard. The conclusion was that the SIP Advisory Panel could pursue this as the Panel deems appropriate. At this point, there is no scheduled SIP Advisory Panel meeting; the Chairman will schedule meetings as needed.
Staff Reports
A. Director
Mr. Williams said that on the national level it will probably be 2003 or 2004 before the EPA establishes an implementation process mechanism for the 8-hour ozone standard. Until then, areas will not be designated as attainment or nonattainment for the 8-hour ozone standard. The situation for the PM2.5 standard is similar; it is likely to be in the 2004-2005 time frame before the EPA makes designations and develops an implementation process. During the next two or three years, the District will continue to implement the maintenance plan for the 1-hour ozone standard. The SIP Advisory Panel will be available to analyze whether additional local control strategies would be beneficial in abating the current levels of ozone and fine particulate.
Mr. Williams said that the routine monthly reports have been included in the Board mailing. The District has now completed 35 months of monitoring for PM2.5. The monthly average for November 2001 was 15.8 µg/m3, slightly above the federal annual average standard of 15 µg/m3. The Jefferson County PM2.5 average for the first 35 months of monitoring is 17.4 µg/m3, about 2.4 µg/m3 above the federal standard. Even though the District will be completing three-years of PM2.5 monitoring this month, the District’s understanding is that the EPA will continue to fund local agencies, including ours, to continue the PM2.5 monitoring.
Mr. Howard asked when data will be available from the PM2.5 speciation monitors. Ms. Lee indicated that the speciation monitoring began last month and the first set of samples have been sent to the lab for analysis. However, laboratory reporting is on a ninety-day cycle, so no results have been returned to the District. Mr. Chang stated that the speciation monitor quality assurance plan calls for a five-year program. Obtaining speciation monitoring results will assist the District in understanding the chemical nature of the fine particulate that is being captured on the PM2.5 monitor filters.
Mr. Williams said that the 2002 General Assembly session begins January 8, 2002. It is anticipated that there will be several bills regarding the Vehicle Emissions Testing (VET) program. There has been one bill prefiled by State Representative Paul Marcotte of Northern Kentucky that proposes to exempt the first four model years from testing. Representative Marcotte had introduced a similar bill in the 2001 session. The District will report to the Board regularly during the upcoming session regarding any bills related to the VET program or other air pollution control programs.
Mr. Williams reported on the Lawn Care for Cleaner Air Program. The District has issued a number of certificates to members of the community through this program. The District is in the process of quantifying the emission benefits to the community of this program and will report the quantified benefits to the Board in the future.
The Chair acknowledged Pat Moran, Chairman of the SIP Advisory Panel, for graduating from law school and passing the bar exam.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 10:20 a.m.
/signed/
Karen A. Cassidy
Vice-Chair
/signed/
Jonathan L. Trout
Secretary-Treasurer