Chairman Bruce Traughber opened the March meeting of the Louisville Metro Air Quality Task Force (Task Force). Twelve Task Force Members were present; additionally, Kate Hanratty attended for Representative Reginald Meeks, Amy Schofield attended for Dr. Larry Palmer, and Sharon Dodson attended for George Siemens. A quorum of the Task Force was present. Chairman Traughber welcomed Oldham County Judge Mary Ellen Kinser who had recently been appointed to the Task Force.
A brief update on the Vehicle Emissions Testing (VET) Program court issue was given; the next hearing before Federal Judge Heyburn is scheduled for April 22. Voluntary agreements for reductions of 1,3-butadiene and chloroprene by four Rubbertown companies are being reviewed by the Air Pollution Control Board.
The April Task Force meeting will focus on ozone and the sources of the ozone precursor emissions. The May and June Task Force meetings will focus on the health effects of ozone and fine particulate matter.
Janet McCabe, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Air Quality, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, made a presentation on the 8-hour ozone and fine particulate matter monitoring data, emissions inventory, and recommended designations for Floyd and Clark Counties, Indiana (available from the District’s web page - see below). Both Clark and Floyd Counties were recommended to be nonattainment for the 8-hour ozone standard; only Clark County was recommended to be nonattainment for the PM2.5 standard. The Indiana Legislature passed a bill last year that requires the Clark and Floyd County Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program to end by 2006 unless it is determined that ending the I/M program would result in the loss of federal highway funds. While a bill to expand the current I/M program four-model-year exemption to six model years did not pass the Indiana Legislature, a commitment was made to discuss the approvability of a six-model-year exemption with the EPA. Indiana does not use growth factors developed by the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA) for developing emissions inventories for source categories that have population-based emission factors.
Tables listing the Jefferson County volatile organic compound (VOC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and VOC plus NOx emissions, by source category (point, area, mobile, and nonroad) for 1990, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, and 2012 were distributed (available from the District’s web page - see below). It was requested that the emissions by source category be presented in pie chart format.
John Lyons, Director, Kentucky Division for Air Quality (DAQ), said that, like Indiana, Kentucky recommended the minimum required counties to be nonattainment for the PM2.5 standard because of the lack of guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on implementation of this standard; only Jefferson and Fayette Counties were recommended to be nonattainment (the Kentucky recommendation letter, information on the Louisville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), and the DAQ presentation Overview of the National Fine Particulate Standard are available from the District’s web page - see below).
Mr. Lyons indicated that the bill in the Kentucky Legislature to end the Northern Kentucky I/M program is likely to pass during this session; the bill would include a provision that the program not end until approved by the EPA. With regards to ozone nonattainment areas, the states were not required to use new/expanded MSAs, but were required to consider the inclusion of the additional counties in light of the boundary criteria established by the EPA. The percent of ozone precursor emissions from outlying counties of the new Louisville MSA is not large in comparison to the emissions from Jefferson County.
The issue of the significance of biogenic emissions in the formation of ozone was briefly discussed. It was asked whether the development of green space increases emissions due to driving and other activities from the biogenic emissions that would otherwise occur.
Jon Trout, Assistant Director of the District, made a presentation on the new ozone and fine particulate standards and the State Implementation Plan (SIP) process (available from the District’s web page - see below).
The next Task Force meeting will be Friday, April 23, 2004, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., in the District's Board Room, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville.
See documents distributed at the meeting.