The regular meeting of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board was called to order September 17, 2003, at at 9:08 a.m. in the Board Room of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, by Board Member Lee Howard. Lewis Hammond, Barbara Sexton Smith, Sandra Withers, and Nadir Al-Shami were present. A quorum was present.
The following Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District (District) staff members were present: Art Williams, Jon Trout, Jesse Goldsmith, Mitzi Powell, Terri Phelps, Cynthia Lee, Diane Hazellief, Eva Addison, Martha Gammons, Arthur Chang, Bruce Gaylord, Rebecca Stutsman, Marty Layman, Chuck Shannon, Bob Dorzback, Dee Lynch, Sam Bate, and Irene Stephenson.
The following guests were present: Jonathan D. Miller, DuPont Dow Elastomers, L.L.C.; Marsha Jenkins, Saeed Assef, and Sharon Worley, Metropolitan Sewer District; Tim Corrigan, Greater Louisville, Inc., Bob Ehrler, Frost, Brown, Todd L.L.C.; Dave Newman, Kentucky Motorcycle Association; Sarah Scheetz, Louisville Gas & Electric Company; Pat Moran, Stites & Harbison; Don Haynes, ERM-SE; Kraig Humbaugh, Louisville Metro Health Department; Brad Dillon, Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald; Robert Gioffre, Gordon-Darby; and Carolyn Embry, American Lung Association of Kentucky.
Mr. Howard explained that, with the absence of both a Chairman and Vice-Chairman, the first order of business is for the Board members to elect a Chairman Pro-Tem for the meeting.
| ACTION: | Mr. Hammond nominated Mr. Howard as Chairman Pro-Tem for today’s
Board meeting. There was no other nomination.
Mr. Howard was elected as Chairman Pro-Tem unanimously. |
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Chairman Pro-Tem Howard noted that Mr. Vibbert had announced at the August 20, 2003, Board meeting that his appointment had expired and the August Board meeting was his last meeting as Board member and Chairman. Pursuant to the Bylaws of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board, the Vice-Chair shall become Chair for the remainder of the term of the Chair, which ends at the July 2004 Board meeting. Therefore, Dr. Cassidy now assumes the duties of the office of Chair.
Chairman Pro-Tem Howard welcomed Dr. Nadir Al-Shami as the newest member of the Air Pollution Control Board. Mr. Williams introduced and welcomed Dr. Al-Shami to the Board. Mayor Abramson had nominated Dr. Al-Shami and the Metro Council approved the nomination
last week. Dr. Al-Shami has been a physician in the Louisville community for 17 years. He is in private practice with appointments at several local hospitals.
| ACTION: | Mr. Hammond nominated Mr. Howard for the office of
Vice-Chairman for the term ending with the July 2004 Board meeting. There was no other nomination.
Mr. Howard was elected as Vice-Chairman unanimously. |
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Mr. Trout noted that, with the presence of an elected Vice-Chairman, Mr. Howard is now chairing the meeting as Vice-Chairman rather than as Chairman Pro-Tem.
The minutes of the Public Hearing and Regular Meeting of August 20, 2003, were approved and filed as distributed.
Ms. Lee provided an update of the Focus 2003 emission reduction measures. Highlights include the following:
Out of the 150 responses received by the District from companies regarding voluntary emission reductions, 87% are planning to do some type of voluntary emission reductions. The voluntary emission reduction reports and the frequently asked questions to help facilities answer some of the basic questions they might have are now posted on the District’s website, www.apcd.org. District staff members are working with many of the companies to quantify these emission reductions. Ms. Lee announced that the District had received signed Citizen’s Clean Air Commitment forms from 255 employees of the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant. She noted that most of the employees committed, among other measures, to maintain their vehicles.
Ms. Smith commented that she was intrigued by the 255 Ford Kentucky Truck Plant employees who volunteered to take actions to reduce emissions. She asked whether there were other organizations that had submitted Citizen’s Clean Air Commitment forms from their employees. Mr. Trout responded that no other organization had submitted Citizen’s Clean Air Commitment forms from their employees. Ms. Smith suggested a more organized approach, such as picking the top 10 largest employers and finding a way to distribute the voluntary forms. Education is the key.
Mr. Williams responded that this approach has merit. In the future, the District will focus more on the opportunity for voluntary participation throughout the community. The District will plan over the next few weeks to determine how best to implement that type of approach to engage the broader sector of the community in voluntary activities. It can be as simple as engaging one key person in an organization.
Mr. Williams stated that the designation process is proceeding for both the new 8-hour ozone standard and the fine particulate standards, and it remains likely that the Louisville area will be designated as nonattainment for both of these new ambient air quality standards. He said that the community needs to gear up for a significant planning process to look at how this community would meet these ambient air quality standards. The District believes that it is appropriate to have a multi-stakeholder group to review and recommend strategies, proposals, and plans that could be implemented locally. The District will be working closely with the Board over the next two to four months to develop the approach for developing attainment plans to address these two new standards.
Ms. Smith, noting the successful distribution of 300-400 tire gauges at the West Louisville Appreciation Celebration Festival, asked whether there were any plans for other similar activities. Mr. Williams responded that, given the success the District has had at this event, the District will consider participation in other events. He said that this is a good opportunity to interact with the public about the benefits of vehicle maintenance and maintaining correct tire pressure.
Ms. Phelps said that the District recommends adoption of the proposed Agreed Board Order with Metropolitan Sewer District.
| Motion: | Mr. Hammond moved to adopt the proposed Agreed Board Order
with Metropolitan Sewer District as presented today.
The motion passed unanimously. |
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Mr. Williams noted that the 2003 ozone season, which formally ends October 31, is effectively over because historically the Louisville area has not experienced ozone exceedances after the middle of September. Eleven exceedances of the 8-hour ozone standard, occurring on seven different days, have been monitored in the Louisville area. This is the lowest number of exceedances in the Louisville area since the District has tracked 8-hour average ozone concentrations. However, despite the low number of exceedances this year, the design value for the Louisville area, which is used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine attainment status, will likely increase from 90 parts per billion (ppb) for the 2000-2002 three-year period to 92 ppb for the 2001-2003 three-year period, once the data have undergone the appropriate quality assurance procedures. If the EPA were to follow the nonattainment area classification scheme contained in Subpart 2 of Part D of Title 1 of the Clean Air Act, which was one of the alternatives proposed by the EPA, then a 92 ppb design value would likely result in a Marginal nonattainment classification. Given that a design value of 93 ppb, just 1 ppb higher than the area’s likely design value, could, under this proposed alternative classification scheme, cause an area to be classified as Moderate nonattainment, it is clear that air quality benefits resulting from even small emission reductions could make a significant change in the federally-mandated control requirements for the Louisville area.
Mr. Williams said that it is still uncertain what approach the EPA will use for establishing the requirements for areas that are not meeting the 8-hour ozone standard. However, this community will need to develop a long-range strategy for identifying the additional emission reduction measures that should be implemented locally to come into attainment as soon as possible so as to benefit both public health and economic viability.
Vice-Chairman Lee asked whether the one exceedance of the 1-hour ozone standard occurred on an Ozone Action Day. Mr. Williams responded that an Ozone Action Day was not called for the day on which the 1-hour ozone standard exceedance occurred. With respect to the 8-hour ozone standard, of the seven Ozone Action Days called, there was at least one exceedance monitored on four of those days.
Mr. Williams said that last week Tom FitzGerald of the Kentucky Resources Council, Inc., (KRC) sent to the EPA and the Commonwealth of Kentucky a 60-day notice of intent to file a lawsuit in federal court regarding the closure of the Vehicle Emissions Testing (VET) program. The KRC contends that, because the VET program is a part of the federally-approved State Implementation Plan (SIP), the VET program may not be ended until the EPA has approved a revision to the SIP to remove the VET program.
Mr. Williams said that the SIP revision request package was forwarded to the Commonwealth on August 27. To date, the Commonwealth has not submitted the SIP revision package to the EPA. During the Public Comment period on the proposed repeal of the VET program regulations, the EPA had filed a comment with the Board stating that a SIP revision to remove the VET program could not be approved unless a demonstration is made that closure of the VET program would not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the other ambient air quality standards, including the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 standards. On August 28, the District sent a letter to the EPA requesting specific guidance on how the term "interfere" is being defined relative to this issue and what would constitute an approvable demonstration of no interference.
Mr. Williams said that the District is encouraging the EPA to make a quick decision on these issues. The District has been implementing its plan to close the VET program by October 31 as intended by state law. Layoff notices have been delivered to most of the District’s VET program employees; several of the District’s VET program employees will "bump" other District employees. It would be very disruptive and costly to change direction at this time.
Mr. Hammond asked whether a response from the EPA prior to the end of the 60-day period could delay the closing of the VET program. He also wondered whether Mr. FitzGerald could go to a court to get an injunction against the closing of the VET program. Mr. Williams responded that it is unclear whether the EPA will fully agree with the KRC’s position that ending the VET program at this time is a violation of the SIP, or what the legal ramifications of that agreement would be. Mr. Williams said that it would be unusual for the EPA to take a position on an issue raised in a 60-day notice of intent to file a lawsuit before the actual lawsuit is filed. He said that the KRC could file with the appropriate court a request for an injunction against closing the VET program. The October 31 closing of the VET program would occur several days before the end of the 60-day period.
Ms. Smith asked whether the closure of the VET program could be delayed because it would be better for all parties involved to continue a program than to completely stop and then re-start the program. Mr. Williams responded that the intent of the state law is clear that VET testing is to end by no later than October 31.
Mr. Williams said that the PM2.5 design value continues to be 17.3 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3), with the national ambient air quality standard being 15 μg/m3. He said that the May through August 2003 monitored PM2.5 concentrations were lower than in the preceding years. The lower fine particle readings suggest that there is a relationship with the mild summer.
Mr. Williams said that following a visit to Louisville, Beverly Bannister, EPA Region 4 Air Director, and her staff began to evaluate what additional actions the EPA could take to help ensure that the major air toxics-emitting facilities in Louisville are operating in compliance with all applicable standards and that the programs that the District administers are being run effectively. The EPA is in the process of developing a work plan that would be implemented by the EPA over the next year to increase industrial source compliance, the effectiveness of the District’s programs, and the level of understanding of these programs by the citizens in Louisville and the role of the federal government. Mr. Williams said that the District expects to receive a proposed work plan within the next few days and will forward a copy to the Board members. This plan will focus on the concerns from the community about industrial air pollution in the Rubbertown area and will include a number of workshops conducted by the EPA.
Mr. Williams mentioned the article in The Courier-Journal several weeks ago addressing cancer incidence in the community. The story, written by Jim Bruggers, focused on work done by Dr. Tim Aldrich, Epidemiologist and Professor at the University of Louisville, and the Kentucky Cancer Registry. A $200,000 grant was awarded to review the Kentucky Cancer Registry data from 1996-2000 to determine whether there is a correlation between certain demographic characteristics and the incidence in the community of various types of cancer, including lung, bladder, prostrate, breast, kidney, and liver cancer. The study concluded that there appears to be a strong correlation between areas where there is a high incidence of lung cancer and areas where there is a high percentage of people who smoke.
Mr. Williams proposed to invite Dr. Aldrich to the October Board meeting to make a presentation to the Board. One of the elements of this study is whether there is a relationship between the high incidence of any cancer and environmental exposure, in particular air pollution exposure. The Board agreed that this would be appropriate and asked Mr. Williams to make arrangements for that presentation.
Mr. Williams said that he was pleased to announce that the District has a new attorney, Lauren Anderson. While she will formally be an employee of the County Attorney’s Office, she will have an office in the 850 Building. Among her duties will be to serve as Board parliamentarian and advisor to the Board on legal issues. Ms. Anderson comes to us with a lengthy resume of environmental activity and experience. She has spent a number of years with the Kentucky Environmental Cabinet, the private sector, and most recently with the Legislative Research Commission.
Mr. Williams announced that Bruce Gaylord is retiring, with his last day in the office being the last day of next week. He has made numerous, important contributions to the District and will be missed. He has served the highest ideals of public service for the community and the District. Mr. Williams said that the District appreciates the great service he has given and wish him luck in his new ventures. Mr. Gaylord said that the last 13 years have been an education and has enjoyed working at the District and with the Board, industry, and the public. Vice-Chairman Howard thanked Mr. Gaylord for his many years of service.
The list of this month’s Lawn Care for Cleaner Air Award recipients was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.
The air quality monitoring reports were submitted for filing. A copy of each report 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 09/09/2003 report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.
The meeting adjourned at 10:07 a.m.
_______/signed/_______
Lee Howard
Vice-Chairman
_______/signed/_______
Jonathan L. Trout
Secretary-Treasurer