Minutes
Regular Meeting
of the
Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board

November 16, 2005

The regular meeting of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board was called to order November 16, 2005, at 9:19 a.m. in the Board Room of the Air Pollution Control District, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, by the Vice-Chairman, Lee Howard. Other Board members present were Lewis Hammond, Carolyn Embry, Dr. Nadir Al-Shami, and Barbara Sexton Smith. A quorum was present.

The following Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District (District) staff members were present: Art Williams, Jesse Goldsmith, Cynthia Lee, Dee Lynch, Terri Phelps, Art Chang, Chris Cunningham, Marty Layman, Steve Taylor, and Vince Tichenor. Also present were Assistant County Attorneys Lauren Anderson, Stacy Fritze, and Ashley May Nash.

The following guests were present: Dennis Conniff and Rachael Hamilton, Frost Brown Todd; Eboni Cochran, Steve Samuels, the Reverend Fred Withers, REACT; Tim Corrigan, GLI; Brad Dillon, Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald; Sarah Lynn Cunningham, Kentucky Resources Council; Tom Herman, Zeon Chemicals; Jonathan Miller, DuPont Performance; and Paige Mosser Theriac, Theriac Environmental Consultants.

Introduction of New Staff

Mr. Williams introduced Vince Tichenor, an Environmental Technician II in the Air Monitoring Unit. He previously served in the Navy working with electronics.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the October 19, 2005, regular meeting were approved as distributed.

Public Comments

Brad Dillon noted that the District’s response to an appeal of the issuance of a Notice of Violation filed by The Courier-Journal was that an administrative appeal of an NOV pursuant to Regulation 1.19 was not available. He said that The Courier-Journal sued the Board, the District, and the Board members. He requested that the Policy Committee review the rights of appeal provided by KRS Chapter 77.

Eboni Cochran said that REACT supports the STAR program and feels that the program fees are appropriate. It is something the companies should do to make up for the harm that their emissions have done to the community. She said that the Metropolitan Sewer District charges all of its customers to pay for projects that may not be in a particular customer’s area; this concept is not new.

Sarah Lynn Cunningham provided information regarding the starting salaries of graduating engineering students, indicating that these salaries are significantly higher than the salaries paid by the District. She said that the District would benefit from being able to attract and retain more engineers and supported the District being allowed to increase salaries for engineers.

New Business

1. Vice-Chairman Howard asked if the litigation by the Courier-Journal against the Board and Board members had been dropped. Ms. Anderson replied that the litigation had been dismissed.

Committee Reports

1. Air Quality Task Force, Health Effects Committee

   Mr. Williams said the Health Effects Committee met on October 25, 2005. The committee reviewed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) second draft report on the ozone standard and the recent action by the California Air Resources Board to adopt a more stringent 8-hour ozone standard.

   Mr. Williams said that the committee agreed to recommend that the full Air Quality Task Force recommend that the Board establish an ongoing review of all sources of ozone precursor emissions and continue progress toward reducing concentrations of ozone and precursor emissions. The recommendation would also encourage the States of Indiana and Kentucky to do likewise.

2. Air Quality Task Force

   Mr. Williams said the Air Quality Task Force met on October 27, 2005. The Task Force discussed ozone issues for recommendation to the Board. The Task Force did not take any action on the Health Effects Committee’s report.

3. STAR Implementation Advisory Group

   Mr. Williams said the STAR Implementation Advisory group met on October 27, 2005, and reviewed the status of key issues on the STAR projects tracking report. The District is considering adding the 2000 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reported Category 2 TACs and Category 1 TACs on the District’s web page.

Staff Reports

1. Director

   Vice-Chairman Howard asked if there had been progress toward a report on the status of the District’s permit program. Mr. Williams responded that the District had received additional comments from Greater Louisville, Inc. and was in the process of reviewing these suggestions. He said the District may be able to have a report at the next meeting.

   Mr. Williams said that on November 9, 2005, the EPA finalized the 8-hour ozone standard Phase II rules. The new rules should have only minor significance to Louisville because of the monitored attainment of the 8-hour ozone standard. He noted that the monitored fine particulate concentrations were higher for September this year than September of last year and that the monitored September and October averages were the highest concentrations for those months since 1999.

   Ms. Embry asked if there was a strategy being developed since the readings have been high. Mr. Williams said that a plan will be developed later on. Once the Air Quality Task Force is finished with ozone issues, Mayor Abramson may have them develop a recommended strategy to address the fine particulate standard or he may appoint a new group. Mr. Williams said that STAPPA/ALAPCO is now developing strategies and options to help states develop plans to reduce fine particulates.

   Ms. Smith asked when the Board should expect to be presented with a control strategy. Mr. Williams explained that the Task Force will probably finish its work on a recommended ozone strategy during the first quarter of next year. He said that a recommended fine particulate strategy would likely be developed by the end of 2006 or early 2007.

   Ms. Embry asked what the deadline was to be in compliance for fine particles. Mr. Williams responded that compliance with the fine particulate standard is required by 2010, although control measures will need to be implemented by the year 2009.

   Mr. Williams said there have been two bids for the risk assessment project; the District is currently evaluating those bids. He said that the first STAR Program workshop was held on November 10, 2005, and was attended by 102 people. Based on this attendance level, the District will, in the near future, repeat this first workshop. At the workshop, the District solicited ideas for additional workshops.

   Ms. Smith asked how many companies were represented at the workshop and whether there had been a written evaluation by the participants. Mr. Williams said that he did not know offhand how many companies were represented; the District has received positive feedback on the success of the first workshop. The District’s workshop presentation has been posted on the District’s web page and has provided a link to facilitate STAR Program questions being sent to the District. Mr. Williams agreed with Ms. Smith that written evaluations of future workshops could be beneficial.

   Mr. Howard asked if the Board could get the data from trials of the new equipment that American Synthetic Rubber has installed by the next meeting. Mr. Williams responded that he believed this could be done.

2. Air Quality Data

   The air quality monitoring reports were submitted for filing. A copy of each report is attached to the original minutes.  Mr. Williams noted that during the recent fire at Fort Knox, the District monitored one-hour levels of fine particulate at levels of approximately 160 µg/m³ and a 24-hour concentration of 54.8 µg/m³. The federal 24-hour fine particulate standard is 65 µg/m³.

3. Enforcement Status

   The APCD Enforcement Status 11/08/2005  report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.

4. Excess Emission Reports

   The Excess Emission Reports Received 10/13/2005 Through 11/3/2005  report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.

5. STAR Program Tracking Report

   The STAR Program Tracking Report was submitted for filing. A copy is attached to the original minutes.

6. 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.

Next Meeting

The Board agreed to reschedule its next meeting to Wednesday, December 14, 2005, because the regular meeting date of December 21 was just a few days before Christmas.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10:06 a.m.