CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD
State Building
Auditorium, Room 1138
107 South Broadway
Los Angeles, CA
June 19, 1986
9:00 a.m.
AGENDA
Page
86-7-1 Discussion of General Motors' Request to Relax
the NOx Emission Standard for Certain Heavy-Duty
Engines Certified in Medium-Duty Trucks.
86-7-2 Public Meeting to Consider the Technological 001
Feasibility, Availability, and Economic
Reasonableness of Continuous Emission Monitoring
Devices for Refinery Flares.
86-7-3 Consideration of Proposed Benzene Control Plan. 079
Other Business
a. Closed Session
1. Personnel (as authorized by State Agency Open Meeting
Act, Govt. Code Sec. 11126(a).).
2. Litigation (Pursuant to the attorney-client privilege,
Evidence Code Sec. 950-962, and Govt. Code Sec.
11126(q).).
b. Research Proposals
c. Delegations to Executive Officer
ITEM NO.: 86-7-2
Public Meeting to Consider the Technological Feasibility,
Availability, and Economic Reasonableness of Continuous Emission
Monitoring Devices for Refinery Flares.
RECOMMENDATION
The staff recommends that the Board determine that devices which
monitor the on/off status of refinery flares are technologically
feasible, available, and economically reasonable. Examples of
devices currently in use serving this function at refineries
include pressure sensors, optical radiation sensors, and hot wire
thermistors.
The staff further recommends that the Board (1) encourage local
air pollution control districts in which refinery flares are
located to adopt rules requiring refiners to install refinery
flare on/off monitors, (2) direct the staff to work, as
necessary, with industry and the district to develop rules
requiring the use of these devices with workable but standardized
definitions of "on" and "off", (3) encourage the districts under
their authority in Health and Safety Code (H&SC) 42303, to
request grab sample composition analyses of flare feed stream
gases, (4) direct the staff, after sufficient on/off data and
coordinated composition data have been collected, to evaluate
such data and make recommendations to the TRG regarding the
development of a SCM for the control of refinery flare emissions
if the staff's evaluation indicates that such control is
reasonable. If such a SCM is developed and approved by the TRG,
it will be forwarded to the Board for its consideration for
approval.
DISCUSSION
On July 26, 1984, the Air Resources Board ("ARB" or "Board")
granted Citizens for a Better Environment's ("CBE") petition
requesting a determination of the technological feasibility,
availability, and economic reasonableness of devices to monitor
continuously the emissions from oil refinery flares, and directed
the ARB staff to evaluate such monitoring devices and to report
to the Board every six months on the status of the evaluation
until such time as sufficient information is developed for the
Board to make its determination. Under H&SC Section 42701 the
Board is directed to determine the technological feasibility,
availability, and economic reasonableness of monitoring devices
to measure and record continuously emissions from larger
stationary sources.
To expedite its work, the staff contracted the engineering firm
of CH2M Hill, Inc., to aid in this evaluation. CH2M Hill's final
report was summarized by the ARB staff, in its February 1986
status report to the Board.
Based on the study by CH2M Hill, information received by the ARB
staff at its workshop on this report, refinery visits, and its
own investigations, the staff finds that devices which
continuously monitor the on/off status of refinery flares are
practicable, ready to use, and relatively inexpensive. The staff
knows of no other in-use devices for continuously monitoring
refinery flares which are currently sufficiently developed to
provide reliable information about emissions. The staff knows of
no refinery which has done any remote monitoring of air pollution
from its flares. If the Board makes the recommended
determination, staff believes that this will satisfy the terms it
granted on CBE's petition and provide a better data base which
can serve as a screening process pointing the way to informed
decisions about further work. At this time, the staff believes
that pursuing research and development of new monitoring devices
would inappropriately draw budgetary and staff resources away
from gathering emission data with the existing technology of
on/off status monitors and grab sample composition analyses.
ITEM NO.: 86-7-3
Consideration of Proposed Benzene Control Plan.
RECOMMENDATION
The ARB staff recommends approval of the proposed action plan for
controlling benzene emissions.
DISCUSSION
State law (H&SC Section 39665) requires that once a substance is
identified as a toxic air contaminant (TAC), the ARB Executive
Officer, with the participation of the air pollution control
districts, prepare a report on the need for and appropriate
degree of control for the substance. In response to the
requirements of State law, the staff has developed a proposed
overall course of action for the control of benzene emissions
which is described in the report "Proposed Benzene Control Plan"
(The "Plan").
The Plan addresses the following issues: benzene emissions and
exposure; the physical and chemical characteristics of benzene in
the ambient air; potential benzene control measures and estimated
effects of implementing the measures on benzene exposure and
benzene risk; and the costs and general environmental impacts
from implementation of the benzene control measures.
The recommended course of action to control benzene emissions
consists of hydrocarbon control measures which will also result
in reduced benzene emissions and benzene specific control
measures. The proposed plan includes development of both
vehicular and non-vehicular measures.
The Technical Review Group (TRG) reviewed the Plan and formulated
recommendations for prioritizing development of non-vehicular
benzene control measures. The TRG's recommendations are
incorporated in the Plan.
The staff estimates that benzene emissions will decrease 16
percent from 1984 levels by the year 2000 without further
emission controls. However, due to projected population growth,
the 1984 statewide risk from ambient benzene exposure of 1,900 to
14,500 excess lifetime cancers is not expected to change
significantly by 2000.
The staff believes that these risks from ambient benzene exposure
are significant and that the proposed Plan is consistent with the
requirement of state law that these risks be reduced through the
development and implementation of certain benzene control
measures.
If the Board approves the Plan, the staff will develop the
benzene control measures recommended in the Plan and will present
them to the Board for its consideration on a case by case basis
at future dates. Approval of the Plan by the Board does not
mandate or propose for adoption any specific control measures.
SUMMARY AND IMPACTS OF PROPOSED BOARD ACTION
Approving further development of benzene control measures may
result in the following adverse environmental or economic impacts
if specific control measures are later adopted: 1) a slight
increase in NOx emissions from incinerating emissions from vapor
recovery units at gasoline transfer facilities; 2) a slight
change in the chemistries of exhaust effluent and evaporated
gasoline from limiting the benzene content of gasoline; and 3)
additional sources of benzene emissions from refineries resulting
from limiting the benzene content of gasoline. The environmental
impacts will be addressed in greater detail during the
development of each benzene control measure.