The regular meeting of the Air Pollution Control Board of Jefferson County was called to order July 17, 2002, at 9:05 a.m. in the Board Room of the Air Pollution Control District, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, by the Chairman, Joseph Vibbert. Karen Cassidy, Lewis Hammond, Lee Howard, and Michael Hesse were present. A quorum was present.
The following District staff members were present: Art Williams, Jon Trout, Gayle Ballard, Mitzi Powell, Jesse Goldsmith, Cynthia Lee, Terri Phelps, Art Chang, Diane Hazellief, George Perkins, Marty Layman, Gary Flispart, Rebecca Stutsman, Tom Pinto, Bob Dorzback, Phyllis Fitzgerald, Doug Spillman, T.J. Jessie, Dee Lynch, Barry Zalph, Martha Gammons, Chris Herron, and Irene Stephenson.
The following guests were present: Jackie Green, Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation; Pat Moran, Stites & Harbison; Malcolm Winsper and Dave Newman, KY Motorcycle Association; Cheryl Fisher, E.I. du Pont de Nemours; Harold Tull, KIPDA; Brad Dillon, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald; and Robert Gioffre, Gordon-Darby.
Mr. Williams introduced Dee Lynch who joins the District as the Kentuckiana Ozone Prevention Coalition (KOPC) Coordinator. Ms. Lynch transferred from Animal Control where she did education outreach. Mr. Williams said that Paul Lanka has joined the District as a Scientific Programmer/Analyst. Mr. Lanka, whose duties involve emissions inventory, will be introduced at next month’s Board meeting.
The minutes of the Public Hearing and Regular Meeting of June 19, 2002, were approved as distributed.
Chairman Vibbert noted that nominations for chairman and vice-chair were made during last month’s meeting.
Mr. Vibbert was reelected Chairman by unanimous consent. Dr. Cassidy was reelected Vice- Chair by unanimous consent.
Mr. Trout said that the District recommends the adoption of amended Regulation 5.14 Version #5, Draft #1 - Proposed, April 18, 2002, with the noted change from “Refractories Manufacturing” to “Refractory Products Manufacturing” in Section 3.1.4.
Motion: Mr. Hammond moved to adopt amended Regulation 5.14 as recommended by the District.
The motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Trout said the Policy Committee gave approval for proposed amended Regulation 6.29 and the proposed repeal of Regulation 7.57 to start the formal Public Review process. These regulations establish reasonably available control technology requirements for graphic arts lines using rotogravure or flexographic printing. The proposed change would allow affected companies to extend the record keeping period from daily up to monthly period. The ink usage, and thus the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, would be prorated to a specific day based on an activity level of a printing press, such as the linear feet of substrate printed during that day. Notice of the Public Comment period will be published tomorrow in The Courier-Journal, followed by a Public Hearing before the August Board meeting. The District anticipates asking the Board to take action on these proposed actions at the August meeting.
The Chairman stated that the Strategy Committee will meet immediately following the Board meeting.
Mr. Williams indicated that, following last month’s Board meeting announcement that there had been no recorded exceedance of either ozone standard, there have been 31 monitored exceedances of the 8-hour standard and an exceedance of the 1-hour ozone standard monitored at the Shepherdsville monitor on July 15th. The Kentucky Division for Air Quality (DAQ) will be performing a quality assurance review of this monitor, which is operated by the DAQ. Mr. Williams explained the July 17, 2002, 8-Hr and 1-Hr Ozone Monitoring Summary Report.
Mr. Perkins demonstrated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Internet ozone maps. The maps shown reflected monitored ozone on Monday, July 15th. The animated map showed 8-hour ozone levels during the day; the static maps showed the peak 8-hour and 1-hour ozone levels. Information is archived on a daily basis on the Internet at “http://www.epa.gov/airnow/”.
Mr. Williams discussed section 7.5 of the Louisville request for redesignation entitled Plan to Maintain Air Quality, which states “In the event that exceedances of the 1-hour ozone standard are measured in any portion of the Louisville 1-hour attainment area, then the Agencies will evaluate existing control measures to see if any further emission reduction measures should be implemented at that time.” The District is coordinating with the DAQ and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to determine whether any further emissions reductions are necessary following the July 15th exceedance of the 1-hour ozone standard. A report will be provided at next month’s Board meeting.
Mr. Williams said that on July 2nd, the Vehicle Emissions Testing (VET) centers began On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) testing for 1996 and newer vehicles. The extensive preparation efforts by both the District and Gordon-Darby, including the several media campaigns to inform the public about the OBD testing program and the significance of lit check engine lights, has allowed this transition to take place smoothly. The arbitration session has taken place concerning the dispute between the District and Gordon-Darby as to whether any compensation is owed to Gordon-Darby because of the legislation enacted by the 2000 General Assembly to exempt 1968 and older vehicles, motorcycles, and buses, and effectively exempt commuters, from VET testing. A ruling is expected from the arbitrator by the end of the month.
Mr. Williams introduced Harold Tull, of the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA), the designated metropolitan planning organization for the nine-county Louisville area. KIPDA’s primary transportation planning responsibility is to develop a long-range transportation plan and transportation improvement plans. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 included a new requirement that conformity of these transportation plans with the State Implementation Plan (SIP)-established mobile source emission budgets be maintained (i.e., transportation conformity). Transportation plans are required by federal regulations to be updated on a 3-year cycle. A new plan for the Louisville area is due November 4, 2002.
Mr. Tull described the transportation conformity process. The elimination of the VET program required a new determination of motor vehicle emission factors. Applying the revised emission factors resulting from the MOBILE5 model to the expected future motor vehicle traffic including the proposed transportation projects, the calculated mobile source emissions would exceed the SIP-approved mobile source budget. Thus, transportation conformity was not demonstrated. An interim plan, including only projects that are exempt from the transportation conformity analysis requirement, was developed and is out for a 30-day public review period. The interim plan is expected to be in place by the November 4th deadline.
Additionally, KIPDA is pursuing development of the full plan, including the non-exempt projects. Using the EPA’s new MOBILE6 model, the District has developed new emission factors. The MOBILE6-derived emission factors, when applied to the conditions in the full plan, are likely to result in future mobile source emissions that are less than the SIP-approved budget, thus demonstrating transportation conformity. However, transportation officials from both Kentucky and Indiana have asked KIPDA to delay the completion of the plan until a decision has been made on the Ohio River Bridges Project. A decision is expected in the month of July.
Mr. Hesse inquired when the Louisville metropolitan area would become out of compliance. Mr. Tull responded that the 2025 horizon year of the plan was the only test run and if that test failed there would not be any point in doing any other analysis year. Mr. Hesse inquired whether the State and Louisville metropolitan area would lose any transportation funding from the federal government during the one- to two-month period between the approval of the interim plan and the full plan. Mr. Tull responded that it is extremely unlikely that any funding be lost, since many of the dollars that are available here are attributable to this area and cannot be spent elsewhere. A one- to two-month delay is minimal and the federal funding system cannot react to something that short term.
Mr. Williams added that discussions have arisen on the need for a comprehensive study of the actual speeds of vehicles in the community. Because a full speed study would be resource intensive and not likely to be completed until next year, the federal agencies have agreed that revised speeds are not required for transportation conformity approval of the full plan. However, revised speeds, based upon a local speed study, may be required for reestablishment of the mobile source budgets using MOBILE6.
Mr. Williams noted that the District has had a substantial media campaign under way that Rebecca Stutsman, T.J. Jessie, and Dee Lynch coordinated using Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) funding. Appearances by the Better Air BAIR at the Brightside Volleyball Tournament and the Louisville Bats baseball game, as well as extensive radio and T.V. public information spots, will raise the community’s awareness of our air quality problems and solutions.
Mr. Williams said a letter from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet dated July 12, 2002, was received regarding the $3 million CMAQ grant that the District received in 1997 with which the Bowman Field VET test center was constructed and enhancements were made to the other VET test centers. The Transportation Cabinet is requesting an accounting and inventory of all equipment and property purchased with the funds. This follows the General Assembly’s legislation intended to terminate operation of the VET program and could cause the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to request reimbursement or return of the property and equipment.
Mr. Williams discussed the monthly readings for PM 2.5. On the national
level, there have not been significant developments in the last month on
the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 standard implementation issues.
The President has not yet released specific legislation to implement the
Clear Skies
initiative, the multi-pollutant legislation.
The EPA is expected to release final and proposed rules affecting the
federal New Source Review (NSR) programs. The West Jefferson County
Community Task Force Air Toxics Monitoring Project has begun the legal
advertisement period for the Request for Proposals to retain a vendor to
do the Risk Assessment on the year’s worth of air toxic data.
Mr. Williams identified the July 2, 2002, letter from the EPA Region 4 that gives preliminary approval to the changes to the Jefferson County ambient air quality monitoring network that the Board approved last month. Region 4 is forwarding the proposal to the EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards for final review and approval. Mr. Williams also identified the updated monitoring network status document that shows where monitors are located and what they monitor.
Mr. Williams said that Barry Zalph and he were invited to be members of the Governor’s Energy Policy Advisory Board Energy Efficiency and Alternative Fuel Subcommittee. The Governor has started a process through this Energy Policy Advisory Board to create a 20-year energy plan for the State.
Mr. Williams noted that a copy of the booklet developed by the Louisville Community Foundation and other agencies was distributed to each Board member. This document identified the key issues that are facing the community after merger. The booklet contains significant references to air quality-type concerns in both the land use chapter and the transportation chapter. Transportation activist Jackie Green with Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation (CART) spoke at the public roll-out and highlighted the report’s findings regarding transportation choices. The booklet covers topics on a wide range of issues such as segregation, housing, education, work force development, land use, and transportation.
Mr. Williams said that Mr. Herron, the law student assisting the District with the backlog of violations, reported resolving $6,000.00 worth of unpaid notices of violation and expects an additional $6,500.00. There was $12,000.00 allotted for the personal service contract with Mr. Herron..
The Chairman announced that the Strategy Committee is meeting next door following the Board meeting. He also said that Mr. Hesse will be moving out of Jefferson County and thus will be resigning from the Board.
The list of Lawn Care for Cleaner Air award recipients was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.
The Air Quality Data Report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.
The VET report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.
The APCD Enforcement Status 07/09/2002 report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.
The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m.
_______/signed/_______
Joseph D. Vibbert
Chairman
_______/signed/_______
Jonathan L. Trout
Secretary-Treasurer