Minutes
Regular Meeting
of the
Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board

December 17, 2003

The regular meeting of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board was called to order December 17, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. in the Board Room of the Air Pollution Control District, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, by the Chair, Karen Cassidy. Lee Howard, Lewis Hammond, Barbara Sexton Smith, Nadir Al-Shami, and Carolyn Embry were present. A quorum was present.

The following Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District (District) staff members were present: Jon Trout, Lauren Anderson, Jesse Goldsmith, Terri Phelps, Cynthia Lee, Arthur Chang, Marty Layman, Martha Gammons, Barry Zalph, Phyllis Fitzgerald, Bob Dorzback, Tom Pinto, Dee Lynch, and Irene Stephenson. Shannon Tivitt, Assistant Secretary, Cabinet for Community Development, was also present.

The following guests were present: Paige Mosser Theriac, Kentuckiana Engineering Company, Inc.; Don Haynes, ERM-SE; Barbara Hall, Ford Kentucky Truck; Marlene Zeckner Pardee and Sarah Scheetz, Louisville Gas and Electric Company; Pat Moran, Stites & Harbison; Frank Kennedy and Jim Crowley, American Synthetic Rubber Company; Bob Ehrler, Frost, Brown, Todd L.L.C.; David Newman, Kentucky Motorcycle Association; Jonathan D. Miller, DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC; Brad Dillon, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald; Don Satterly, Kentucky Gasoline Dealers Association; Tim Duncan, Winnie Hepler, Roosevelt Roberts, and Dorothy Roberts, Rubbertown Emergency Action (REACT); and Joan Lindop, Sierra Club, Lawn Care for Cleaner Air Awards recipient.

Public Recognition

Ms. Fitzgerald presented Joan Lindop, current chair of the local Sierra Club with a Lawn Care for Cleaner Air Award. Last year, Ms. Lindop converted her lawn into a lower-maintenance landscape. She also helped to lead the Sierra Club’s “We Can Clean up the Air” yard sign project last year. Ms. Lindop said the Sierra Club is very concerned about air issues; she is a member of a mid-west regional task force that is working on air emissions and particularly coal-fired plants.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 19, 2003 were approved and filed.

Public Comment

Tim Duncan, Rubbertown Emergency Action (REACT), said that the chemicals that go into the air in the Rubbertown area smell bad. He said that The Courier-Journal has reported that these chemicals are dangerous to our health and in fact may be deadly to the health of the people living in the community. He noted that the Board has the authority and responsibility to adopt regulations to address this issue.

Old Business

1. Update on Voluntary Emissions Reduction Report

   Mr. Trout noted that the District has received responses from 142 companies detailing the emission reductions accomplished over the summer and what the companies did to accomplish those reductions. The District will follow up with a letter to the remaining 12 companies that did not submit the required response. Out of the 142 companies that responded, 98 indicated that they implemented at least one emission reduction measure; 44 indicated that they did not. The Voluntary Emission Reduction Report  includes the name of each company, the average reduction of emissions in pounds per summer day of volatile organic compound (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and the total reduction of VOC and NOx emissions in tons for the three-month summer period. A number of companies reported that their emissions were lower this year because of decreased production levels. This report also listed the companies with the five largest amounts reductions of VOC reductions and likewise for NOx reductions. These companies included the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant, Carbide Industries, American Synthetic Rubber Company, Reynolds Metals Company, DuPont Dow Elastomers, LG&E - Cane Run Generating Station and Mill Creek Generating Station, Kosmos Cement, and United Parcel Service.

   Mr. Trout recognized Mr. Dorzback for an outstanding job on tracking the companies’ responses and working with the various companies to develop emission reduction estimates for all of the measures employed.

   Ms. Embry commented that the media may have created a misconception that the local industries do not have mandatory emission reduction requirements and that all reductions are voluntary. She indicated that there are many regulations that affect industry and that many of these companies have made substantial emission reductions over the years at a cost of millions of dollars.

   Mr. Trout said that an article in The Courier-Journal focussed on the fact that the hazard quotient reflecting the monitored values of chloroprene had not been included in the draft or final versions of the West Louisville Air Toxics Risk Assessment report. The only company that emits chloroprene in Jefferson County is DuPont Dow Elastomers. Mr. Trout said that the District will be meeting with DuPont Dow Elastomers on January 8 to discuss this issue. The intent is that, similar to the process with the three companies that emit 1,3-butadiene, any voluntary reductions proposed by the company would be included in an enforceable Board Order.

   Chair Cassidy reiterated that when the Board considered the adoption of the 3 percent requirement for the large VOC sources, one of the important factors was whether mandatory reductions were feasible in terms of time to comply. She noted that the voluntary reductions effected by industry this past summer were a very good effort, but would not be the end of the companies’ responsibility.

   Mr. Howard asked how the voluntary emissions reductions compared to what would have been required if proposed Regulation 6.51 had been adopted. Mr. Trout responded that a simple comparison of the total VOC and NOx reductions as reported would appear to be significantly more than the VOC reductions that would have been required by proposed Regulation 6.51. However, the issue is much more complicated because significantly more reductions would have occurred anyway had proposed Regulation 6.51 been adopted. For example, the significant NOx reductions made by LG&E were a result of complying with the federal NOx SIP Call and, for the most part, would not have been creditable towards compliance with Regulation 6.51. Additionally, the changes that resulted in significant NOx reductions at Kosmos Cement and significant VOC reductions at the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant had already taken place or were on course to occur, so the outcome would not have been different with the adoption of Regulation 6.51 or the voluntary reduction approach.

   Ms. Smith commented that the public deserves full disclosure on all of these matters. The public deserves to know the findings of the report Mr. Trout has shared with the Board. She asked how this information could be widely publicized. Mr. Trout responded that this information will be made available on the District’s web page. Ms. Smith said that she believed that it would be appropriate for this information to be included in a story in The Courier-Journal. Mr. Trout agreed to provide a copy of the report to Mr. Bruggers of The Courier-Journal.

New Business

1. Air Quality Task Force

   Mr. Trout said that on December 4 Mayor Jerry Abramson announced the creation of the Air Quality Task Force. In addition to the members that were listed in an article published in The Courier-Journal, Reginald Meeks, State Representative, has been added to the Task Force. Mr. Trout indicated that it is possible that additional members would be appointed by the Mayor prior to the first Task Force meeting, which is expected to occur in January. The District will provide technical resources to the Task Force which will be chaired by Bruce Traughber. The purpose of the Task Force is to identify, evaluate, and recommend solutions for complying with the 8-hour ozone and the PM_2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards. As part of the Task Force, there will be technical work groups formed which will include members of the Task Force and also people from the community who have expertise on various options to reduce emissions.

   Mr. Trout indicated that Mayor Abramson considers the Task Force charge to be a one-year process. The first four months will be spent educating the members of the Task Force as to what the issues are, the history of where the Louisville area has been regarding these pollutants, what programs are currently in place, and what needs to be done. This will be followed by an eight-month process of identifying and evaluating options and recommending a course of action to the Board and to the Mayor.

   Mr. Trout indicated that Mayor Abramson still believes that it is appropriate for the West Jefferson County Community Task Force to be the focal point for reviewing options to address the air toxics issues.

   Ms. Embry commended the Mayor for appointing a stellar group of individuals to work on these issues. She emphasized, though, that she believes that it is important for the Board members to be well briefed on these issues. Mr. Trout said that the District will provide the Board members with the same information that is prepared for the Task Force.

   Ms. Embry recommended that the District begin exploring options for the control of air toxics. She said that she believes that this is an urgent issue and the District has an opportunity to make a major contribution to help our community. She asked the District staff to begin a process of researching what other communities have done beyond the federal programs to address their local air toxics issues. Mr. Trout responded that information on the toxics programs of other states and local agencies could be provided at either Board meetings or meetings of the Strategy Committee.

2. Extension of limited small business amnesty program

   Mr. Trout explained that the Board has approved an amnesty program for small businesses several times. While the first few amnesty programs were not tremendously successful, Martha Gammons, Small Business Ombudsman, has been extremely successful in promoting this program over the last year. Twenty-three companies received a permit or are going through the permitting process using the amnesty program this last year. Mr. Trout said that the District recommends that the Board extend the current amnesty program for another year. A report would be provided to the Board towards the end of the year on what was accomplished during the second year.

   Motion:	Mr. Hammond moved to approve the continuation of this limited small business amnesty program for another year, until December 31, 2004. The motion passed by unanimous consent.

   Mr. Trout congratulated Ms. Gammons on an outstanding job.

Staff Reports

1. Director

   Mr. Trout, reporting for Mr. Williams, explained that the Jefferson County Emissions report reflects the actual VOC and NO_x emissions from 1990, 1996, and 1999 and projects VOC and NOx emissions through 2012 for each source category. In explaining the different source categories, Mr. Trout said that the point sources are the larger industries; mobile sources are the cars, trucks, SUVs and buses that operate on the public roads; nonroad mobile sources are pieces of equipment that have engines that do not operate on public roads, such as boats on the river, airplanes and jets, construction equipment, weed wackers, and lawn mowers; and area sources are the other sources of emissions, including small industries such as small printers and dry cleaners, and personal activities that result in emissions, such as smoking and using consumer products such as underarm deodorants and air fresheners.

   Mr. Trout highlighted that the VOC emissions from all source categories in Jefferson County were approximately 220 tons per day in 1990, were reduced to approximately 97 tons per day in 1999, the level representing attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard, and are predicted to decline to approximately 75 tons per day in 2012, the end of the maintenance plan. The percent of the total emissions for each source category is also included. For example, in 1990, point sources caused 37.8% and mobile sources caused 40.5% of the total Jefferson County VOC emissions; in 2012, the total Jefferson County VOC emissions are expected to be 41.5% from point sources and 18% from mobile sources.

   Mr. Trout mentioned that Melissa Howell of the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition had received an award from the US Department of Interior for her involvement in a project at Mammoth Cave National Park. Ms. Howell has been active in promoting programs to encourage the purchase of alternate fuel vehicles.

   Mr. Howard, noting the success of the lawn mower rebate program, asked whether the District has considered a rebate program for hybrid cars or alternative fuel vehicles. Mr. Trout responded that a funding source would be needed, and said that the District would provide a more thorough response at the next Board meeting.

   Mr. Trout said that, in response to the recommendations for nonattainment areas in Kentucky for the 8-hour ozone standard submitted by the Governor last July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concurred with those recommendations. The EPA intends to propose that the Louisville 8-hour ozone nonattainment area consist of Jefferson, (all of) Bullitt, and (all of) Oldham Counties in Kentucky and Clark and Floyd Counties in Indiana. In total there are eight Kentucky counties that the EPA believes should be nonattainment for the 8-hour ozone standard and 23 counties in Indiana. The EPA expects to have the final designations by April 15, 2004. This sets a three-year process for the states to submit SIP revisions to address the 8-hour ozone standard. Attainment dates may be anywhere from 2007 to 2021. Finalization of the EPA’s implementation rule for the 8-hour ozone standard has been delayed, and is now expected to be in two parts. The first part, to be released in January, would establish the attainment deadlines, and by so doing, would establish whether the EPA would use Part D Subpart I or Subpart II of the Clean Air Act to control the approach for SIP requirements. In the late winter or early spring, the EPA intends to release the actual control requirements.

   Mr. Trout said that supplemental briefs would be filed tomorrow in the litigation in response to ending the Vehicle Emissions Testing (VET) Program. Ms. Anderson is preparing the brief on behalf of the District and the Board. The next hearing is set for January 20.

   Mr. Trout noted that the VET reports for the months of September and October have been corrected. The September report on the percent of newer cars, 1996 and newer with On-Board Diagnostics (OBD), should have indicated that 8.5% of those vehicles failed the OBD test but did pass the tail pipe test. For October, the correct number is 8.9%. Because of the required end of the VET Program, those vehicles were not failed. However, this high failure rate indicates that many of the newer vehicles are not performing perfectly, even though their tailpipe emissions were less than the standards set to identify gross emitters.

   Mr. Trout noted that Sunday’s edition of The Courier-Journal will have several different articles addressing the air toxics issues. At least one article will focus on the District’s enforcement program.

   Mr. Trout said that the District will be meeting Friday with the three companies that emit 1,3-butadiene, American Synthetic Rubber, Rohm and Haas, and Zeon, to discuss the draft Board Orders reflecting the control measures the companies volunteered to implement.

   Mr. Trout said that on December 4, the EPA announced a proposal to require coal-burning power plants to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions. This follows the EPA’s recent proposal to reduce mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants.

2. Lawn Care for Cleaner Air Awards

   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.

3. Air Quality Data

   The air quality monitoring reports were submitted for filing. A copy of each report is attached to the original minutes.

4. VET

   The VET report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.

5. Enforcement Status

   The APCD Enforcement Status 12/8/2003 report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 a.m.