CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD
Lincoln Plaza
Auditorium, First Floor
400 "P" Street
Sacramento, CA
April 11, 1991
8:30 a.m.
AGENDA
Page
91-3-1 Public Meeting to Consider a Proposed Report to 001
the Legislature -- Prospects for Attaining the
State Ambient Air Quality Standards for Suspended
Particulate Matter (PM10), Visibility Reducing
Particles, Sulfates, Lead, and Hydrogen Sulfide.
91-3-2 Public Meeting to Consider Planned Air Pollution 135
Research -- 1991 Update.
91-3-3 Joint Meeting of the Research Screening Committee ---
and the Air Resources Board.
91-3-4 Consideration of Research Proposals. 225
91-3-5 Public Meeting to Consider the Annual Report to 266
the Legislature on the Atmospheric Acidity
Protection Program.
91-3-6 Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Permit 458
Fee Regulations for Nonvehicular Sources Pursuant
to the California Clean Air Act.
91-3-7 Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of 512
Regulations Pursuant to the Atmospheric Acidity
Protection Act Fees.
ITEM NO.: 91-3-2
Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of a Report Planned Air
Pollution Research: 1991 Update, dated April, 1991.
RECOMMENDATION
The Air Resources Board staff recommends that the Board approve
the report Planned Air Pollution Research: 1991 Update.
DISCUSSION
In establishing the State's approach to achieving clean air, the
Legislature: has declared that an effective research program is
an integral part of the board-based statewide effort to combat
air pollution in California; has directed the Air Resources Board
to administer and coordinate all air pollution research funded,
in whole or in part, with state funds; has directed the Air
Resources Board to establish objectives for air pollution
research; and has directed the Air Resources Board to appoint a
Research Screening Committee to give advise and recommendations
with respect to air pollution research projects funded by the
State.
In order to comply with these mandates from the legislature, the
Board meets each year with its Research Screening Committee to
review the Board's research program, as outlined in the Planned
Air Pollution Research: 1991 Update. This Plan is prepared by
the staff, with guidance from the Research Screening Committee.
SUMMARY AND IMPACTS OF ACTION
The report describes major ongoing research projects and new
projects to be funded in Fiscal Year 1991-92. More detailed
descriptions of the projects, a summary of recently completed
projects, and the Air Resources Board's research budget for
Fiscal Year 1991-92 are shown in the Appendices.
Board approval of the report Planned Air Pollution Research: 1991
Update will authorize ARB staff to proceed with the research
program outlined in the report.
ITEM NO.: 91-3-5
Public Hearing to Consider the Approval of the Draft Annual
Report to the Governor and the Legislature of the Atmospheric
Acidity Protection Program.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff is recommending approval of the draft report and
transmittal to the Governor and the Legislature.
DISCUSSION
The Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act of 1988 (Stats. 1988, ch.
1518, Health and Safety Code sections 39900-39911) requires that
the Board conduct a research and monitoring program to determine
the nature and extent of acid deposition and atmospheric acidity
in California and the potential effects on human health and
natural ecosystems. Health and Safety Code Section 39909
requires the Board to prepare and submit to the Governor and the
Legislature an annual report describing the activities of the
research and monitoring program and the findings to date. The
staff has prepared a draft report to fulfill the requirements of
the statute.
The draft report outlines the progress made in 1990, along with
plans for the balance of the five-year program. Findings are
summarized in the subject areas of (1) acid deposition monitoring
and atmospheric processes research, (2) effects on lakes,
streams, and watersheds, (3) effects on forests, (4) effects on
human health, and (5) effects on materials. Data from the
California Acid Deposition Monitoring Program are included in the
report. The five-year plan update focuses on investigation of
long-term health effects of acidic species, field studies to
determine the impact of acidic episodes on lakes and streams of
the Sierra Nevada, long-term monitoring of forests in southern
California and the Sierra Nevada, and evaluation of the effects
of emission control strategies on acid deposition levels.
ITEM NO.: 91-3-6
Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Permit Fee Regulations
for Nonvehicular Sources Pursuant to the California Clean Air
Act.
RECOMMENDATION
The staff recommends that the Board adopt the proposed
regulations for recovery of costs incurred by the Air Resources
Board (ARB) during fiscal year 1991-92 to implement those
provisions of the California Clean Air Act related to
nonvehicular sources.
DISCUSSION
The California Clean Air Act requires the ARB to develop new
programs and to expand existing programs to address the problem
of air pollution in California. To defray the additional costs
to the ARB of implementing programs and activities related to
nonvehicular sources pursuant to the Act, section 39612 of the
Health and Safety Code authorizes the ARB to require districts to
collect fees from the holders of permits for sources which are
located in nonattainment areas and which emit 500 tons or more
per year of any nonattainment pollutant or precursor. The
staff's proposal would implement section 39612 for the third year
of the program by requiring districts to collect the fees
authorized by the Act and to transmit the fees to the ARB for
deposit into the Air Pollution Control Fund. Districts would be
required to assess each qualifying facility a fee of $12.02 per
ton of emissions of nonattainment pollutants and precursors.
The staff has developed the proposed fee regulations in
consultation with affected districts. Also, the staff held a
public consultation meeting to which representatives of affected
facilities and districts as well as members of the public were
invited.
SUMMARY AND IMPACTS OF PROPOSED BOARD ACTION
Adoption of the proposed regulations is not expected to result in
any adverse health, safety or environmental impacts.
The cost to individual companies ranges from approximately $6,000
for the smallest facility subject to the regulations to
approximately $417,100 for a multi-facility business. No small
businesses have been identified that would be subject to the
fees.
ITEM NO.: 91-3-7
Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Regulations Pursuant
to the Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act Fees.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff is recommending adoption of emissions fee regulations for
fiscal year 1991-92.
DISCUSSION
The Legislature, in adopting the Atmospheric Acidity Protection
Act of 1988 (Stats. 1988, ch. 1518, Health and Safety Code
sections 39900-39911), made a finding that the deposition of
atmospheric acidity resulting from other than natural sources is
occurring in various regions of California. The Legislature also
found that the continued deposition of acidity, alone or in
combination with other man-made pollutants and naturally
occurring phenomena, could have potentially significant adverse
effects on public health, the environment and the economy.
The Legislature directed the Board to adopt and implement the
Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act program to determine the
nature and extent of potential damage to public health and the
State's ecosystems which may be expected to result from
atmospheric acidity. The Legislature also directed the Board to
develop measures that may be needed for the protection of public
health and sensitive ecosystems within the state. To enable the
Board to carry out these activities, the Act authorized the Board
to require the districts, beginning July 1, 1988, to impose
additional variance and permit fees on nonvehicular sources
authorized by permit to emit 500 tons per year or more of either
sulfur oxides or nitrogen oxides. The total amount of funds
collected by additional fees, exclusive of district costs, shall
not exceed $1,500,000 for any fiscal year or the amount
appropriated from State funds by the Legislature for the
Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act program, whichever is less.
To assure collection of $1,500,000, the fee rate would be
adjusted upward by ten percent to avoid under collection for
reasons such as unanticipated closings of businesses.
Proposed amendment of Article 1 and section 90620, Subchapter
3.6, Chapter 1, Part III, Title 17, California Code of
Regulations, would involve a minor modification. Proposed
adoption of a new section 90621.2, would specify fees applicable
for Fiscal Year 1991-92. A proposed amendment of a new section
90621.2, would specify fees applicable for Fiscal Year 1991-92.
A proposed amendment of section 90622 would impose additional
fees on facilities that do not pay in a timely manner. The
proposed regulations provide for the collection of fees by the
districts and forwarding of the fees to the Air Resources Board.
The regulations would specify that compliance with the fee
requirements shall be based on the amounts of emissions as
determined by the Board's Executive Officer on January 31, 1991
and that fees shall be collected from permitted sources
identified, after adoption of the regulations, as having emitted
500 tons or more per year of sulfur oxides or nitrogen oxides in
1989. The regulations would also require that collection of fees
from permitted sources that have emitted 500 or more tons of the
specified pollutants that are identified after January 31, 1991.
The fees to be collected by districts are based upon estimated
emissions data of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides from
permitted sources emitting 500 tons or more per year of either of
the two pollutants for calendar year 1989. As of the Public
Hearing Notice date, the proposed fee rate is $7.21 per ton.
No significant adverse impacts are anticipated by the Board's
adoption of the proposed emissions fee regulations.