A meeting of the SIP Advisory Panel to the Air Pollution Control Board of Jefferson County was called to order December 11, 2001, at 3:10 p.m. in the Board Room of the Air Pollution Control District, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky, by the Chairman, Pat Moran, Rohm and Haas.
The following members were present: Bill Herron, City Public Works; Bill Sexton, TARC; Steve Marks, G.E.; Judith McCandless, KY Conservation Committee; Marlene Pardee for Caryl Pfeiffer, LG&E; Marlene Ryan, citizen; Don Satterly, KY Gasoline Dealers; Randy Simon, KIPDA; and Malcolm Winsper, Kentucky Motorcycle. There was not a quorum.
The following District staff were present: Jon Trout, Gayle Ballard, Doug Spillman, Cynthia Lee, Phyllis Fitzgerald, Art Chang, Diane Hazellief, Gary Flispart, Bob Dorzback, Martha Gammons, and Helen Harman.
Mr. Trout said that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued final approval of redesignation of the 1-hour ozone standard for the Louisville interstate area in the Federal Register dated October 23, 2001. The redesignation became effective on November 23, 2001, and included Jefferson County and portions of Bullitt and Oldham Counties, Kentucky, and Clark and Floyd Counties, Indiana. The October 23, 2001, Federal Register also contained the update of the current regulations in the State Implementation Plan (SIP), approval of Regulation 6.49 which was needed to comply with the reasonably available control technology (RACT) requirement for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and the control regulations that were included in the 15% VOC reduction plan. Mr. Trout explained that the EPA was not approving the 15% plan itself because the requirement for a 15% plan no longer applied once the area demonstrated attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard.
Copies of the 8-hour and 1-hour Ozone Monitoring Report for 2001 Ozone Season May-November 2001 were distributed and briefly discussed. A copy of this report is attached to the original minutes. For the Louisville metropolitan area during 2001, there was one exceedance of the 1-hour ozone standard and there were thirteen exceedances of the 8-hour ozone standard that occurred on nine separate days.
Copies of the October 2001 PM2.5 Monitoring Update Report were distributed and discussed. A copy is attached to the original minutes. The PM2.5 monitored concentrations in Jefferson County for the month of October averaged 13.8 µg/m3. The annual PM2.5 standard is 15.0 µg/m3. During the past 34 months, the average PM2.5 monitored concentration in Jefferson County was 17.4 µg/m3.
Based upon the reports that the Louisville area is meeting neither the 8-hour standard nor the PM2.5 standard, it was asked what the SIP Advisory Panel should be doing. Mr. Trout explained that areas are not required to develop and submit attainment plans to the EPA until a certain time after the area has been designated nonattainment. The EPA has indicated that it will not make initial designations for the 8-hour ozone standard and the PM2.5 for perhaps several years. Further even though the monitored air quality for the most recent three-year period shows nonattainment, the designations will not be made on those three-year periods.
Mr. Trout said that some of the regional ozone modeling that EPA did for the Ozone Transport Assessment Group (OTAG) showed that many areas in the eastern United States, including the Louisville area, would attain the 8-hour standard with implementation of the NOx SIP call. He also said that there was other modeling that showed that reductions beyond the NOx SIP call reductions would be needed. Mr. Trout said that the ambient ozone concentrations monitored during the last few years showed significant improvement. This period coincided with the NOx reductions made by two of the three units at the TVA Paradise plant and local reductions resulting from implementation of the revised NOx RACT plans. He did acknowledge that there is disagreement as to the local benefit derived from NOx reductions at LG&E, but there was no disagreement that local NOx reductions were beneficial for downwind areas such as Cincinnati.
Mr. Trout indicated that there would be additional VOC and NOx reductions resulting from full implementation of federal measures such as the NOx SIP call, Tier II automobile standards, and reduced sulfur in gasoline and diesel fuel regulations.
With respect to the PM2.5 nonattainment issue, the District began operation of its two speciated PM2.5 monitoring sites in November and should start receiving speciation data within the next month or so. These speciation data would provide the chemical composition of the PM2.5 particles, which will then provide information on the source of the particles, for example, sulfate and nitrate particles from power plants, carbon-based particles from diesel engines, and mineral-based particles from fugitive dust sources. Once the likely sources of PM2.5 particles is established, then an abatement plan to reduce those emissions could be developed. Mr. Trout added that some of the control measures that are on course to be implemented for ozone purposes would also reduce some of the PM2.5 precursor emissions, thus reducing ambient PM2.5 concentrations as well. Mr. Trout concluded that the SIP Advisory Panel could decide for itself as to what planning actions the SIP Advisory Panel should take at this time.
Mr. Mike Kuzmich, Director of Marketing, from TARC distributed and discussed the fixed route ridership analysis for the years 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 during the Ozone BUSter Program. A copy is attached to the original minutes. There has been a slight increase in ridership from October to November, 2001. This is the last year of the three-year Ozone BUSter Program using the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) funds.
Ms. Hazellief discussed the National Academies of Science report Evaluating Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Programs. Louisville was not part of the study. In summary, the report concluded:
Other data show that inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs produce lower benefits than predicted by the EPA’s MOBILE5 model.
A small fraction of the fleet contributes a large portion of the overall emissions; I/M programs should focus on a higher level of inspection for those more-polluting vehicles.
Future I/M programs should increase emphasis on particulate matter and NOx emissions, especially from heavy-duty vehicles.
Remote sensing provides useful in-use emissions data, but is not a substitute for the traditional testing center-based I/M testing programs.
Not enough data were available to fully evaluate on-board diagnostic (OBD) testing.
With respect to the use of MOBILE6, Ms. Hazellief stated that the EPA has not yet released an official version, therefore the District does not know what effect using MOBILE6 will have on the maintenance plan that was developed using MOBILE5b. Mr. Trout said that reports from other agencies that have made preliminary runs with a draft MOBILE6 model indicate that the results are not consistent; in some cases the emissions were greater than those resulting from MOBILE5 and in some cases they were less. With respect to Louisville, the draft MOBILE6 model was not designed to evaluate the test used by the VET program; additional test methods are expected to be accommodated in the final MOBILE6 model. Mr. Trout said that the mobile source emissions in the maintenance plan will be required to be evaluated using the MOBILE6 model within two years of its official release.
Ms. Fitzgerald distributed copies and discussed the District’s Lawn Care for Cleaner Air program. This program has been operating in Jefferson County for the last two months. She stated that one hour of using a typical gasoline-powered lawnmower produces as much smog-forming compounds and carbon monoxide as driving about 200 miles in a late-model compact vehicle. Gasoline-powered string trimmers are actually more polluting than lawn mowers. Lawn Care for Cleaner Air includes various types of landscaping that visually enhances the property with very minimal use of gasoline-powered equipment. It does not mean neglected, weedy, or unkempt properties, but usually requires less maintenance once established than traditional landscaping. In order to encourage more creative green space landscaping of homes, businesses, parks, organizations, and schools that minimize the use of gasoline-powered lawn maintenance equipment, the District recognizes and promotes them with Lawn Care for Cleaner Air awards. Award nominations may be made by anyone. There is a meeting scheduled with Operation Brightside about becoming partners with the District for this program.
Mr. Ballard introduced Susan Bullard, Director of Outreach for the EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality. In that capacity, she provides support to state and local air management and transportation agencies through an annual grant competition and management of a national network of state and local communications practitioners, such as Rebecca Stutsman, T.J. Jessie, and Deborah Donaldson of the District staff, who share ideas, solve problems, and steal effective products from each other. A Louisvillian, Ms. Bullard began her government career during the tornadoes of 1974. She is currently "telecommuting" from an office with the District with her Washington D.C. office, gaining perspective about getting things done at the local level. Ms. Bullard said that, even though attainment status has been reached in Louisville, there are many activities that could be pursued for promoting enhanced public health.
Mr. Trout congratulated SIP Advisory Panel Chairman Pat Moran on graduating from law school and passing the bar exam. He also announced that SIP Advisory Panel member Clark Bledsoe will be retiring from the County Planning Commission and from this Panel effective December 31, 2001. Helen Harman, District Executive Secretary, who has provided clerical service for the SIP Advisory Panel for many years, will be retiring next month. The Chairman thanked her for her many efficient years of service to the District and to the SIP Advisory Panel.
The Chairman recognized the efforts of the many citizens who have served on the SIP Advisory Panel since its beginning and the District staff to achieve attainment of the ozone standard. This success has resulted in cleaner air for everyone in the Louisville area. He thanked and commended everyone on a good job. The Chairman specifically recognized and thanked Carolyn Embry for her dedication while being Chairman of the SIP Advisory Panel and then serving on the District Board.
The Chairman announced that future meetings of the SIP Advisory Panel would be scheduled as needed. There is no need to schedule a meeting at this time.
The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
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Patrick J. Moran
Chairman
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Jonathan L. Trout
Secretary-Treasurer