CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD
Lincoln Plaza
Auditorium, First Floor
400 "P" Street
Sacramento, CA
June 9, 1989
8:30 a.m.
AGENDA
Page
89-11-1 Public Meeting to Consider a Draft Report: 001
The Landfill Gas Testing Program: A Second Report
to the California Legislature.
89-11-2 Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Area 263
Designations Pursuant to the California Clean
Air Act of 1988.
89-11-3 Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of 386
Sections 90620-90623, Title 17, California Code
of Regulations, Regarding the Atmospheric Acidity
Protection Program.
89-11-4 Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Permit 441
Fee Regulations for Nonvehicular Sources Pursuant
to the California Clean Air Act.
89-11-5 Consideration of Research Proposals 507
Proposal 177-28, "Validity of Current Aerosol Models
for Calculating Gas-Aerosol Equilibrium, Water Content
and Size Distributions, and Relative Contributions of
Various Source Types to Visibility Degradation,"
submitted by the California Institute of Technology,
total amount not to exceed $180,00 with co-funding by
the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Proposal 178-29, "Interim Oversight for Materials
Exposure Sites," submitted by C-E Environmental, Inc.,
total amount not to exceed $8,952.
SUMMARY
ITEM #89-11-1
Public Meeting to Consider a Draft Report: The Landfill Gas
Testing Program: A Second Report to the California Legislature.
RECOMMENDATION
To approve the report and direct the staff to transmit it to the
Legislature by July 1, 1989.
DISCUSSION
This is the second report to the California Legislature
summarizing the status and results of testing for toxic gases in
and around solid and hazardous waste disposal sites in
California. The testing was required by AB 3525 (1984) and AB
3374 (1986).
Based on survey information from the districts, more than 1800
landfills were evaluated and 664 sites were found to require
testing. In the 24 months since completion of the testing
guidelines required by AB 3374 (9186), over 75 percent of the
sites 513 sites) have been tested or have testing in progress.
The report summarizes the testing results for the 356 sites that
were submitted to the ARB as of March 1, 1989. Further analysis
of the data is necessary because the large majority of the
information was received during the time the report was being
prepared. Based on a preliminary analysis the staff finds:
(1) Specified contaminants found to be indicators of hazardous
waste are present in the majority of the landfills tested,
regardless of whether the site accepted hazardous or
non-hazardous waste.
(2) Hazardous and non-hazardous sites appear to be similar in
their ability to produce toxic gases with non-hazardous sites in
some instances having higher peak concentrations of many of these
gases within the landfill than hazardous waste sites.
(3) In some cases, toxic gases escape from landfills and disperse
into the ambient air.
(4) Methane at concentrations exceeding 5 percent was found to be
migrating off-site underground at approximately 20 percent of the
sites.
The report contains two recommendations. First, districts should
become more involved in the permitting of landfills. The
districts should consider adopting rules to require gas
collection and disposal systems where appropriate at new or
expanded landfills. Second, for existing sites, the districts
should continue to evaluate the test data and, by the end of
1990, identify sites that need further testing or other remedial
action.
ITEM #89-11-2
Public hearing to Consider the Adoption of Classification of
Areas of the State as Attainment, Nonattainment, and Unclassified
for State Ambient Air Quality Standards for the California Clean
Air Act of 1988.
RECOMMENDATION
The staff recommends that the Board adopt the proposed
designations.
DISCUSSION
The California Clean Air Act of 1988 (the "Act") requires the
Board, in consultation with air pollution control districts, to
designate each area of California as either attainment,
nonattainment, or unclassified for pollutants with state
standards listed in Section 70200, Title 17, California Code of
Regulations. These designations must be made by September 30,
1989. the implications of each type designation are:
1) The designation of an area as attainment indicates that
no state standard for that pollutant is violated in the
area.
2) The designation of an area as nonattainment indicates
that a state standard for that pollutant is violated in
the area. The Board may require districts to collect
fees from holders of permits for sources in
nonattainment areas which emit 500 tons per year or
more of that pollutant or its precursor(s). Also,
proposed new and expanded stationary sources would be
subject to new source review rules. Finally, if the
designation is for ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen
dioxide, or sulfur dioxide, and attainment plan must be
submitted to the Board before July 1, 1991.
3) The designation of an area as unclassified indicates
that the data available do not support an attainment or
nonattainment designation.
The proposed designations are consistent with the Act and with
the proposed criteria presented in Board Item #89-10-3, Criteria
for Designating Areas of California as Attainment, Nonattainment,
or Unclassified for State Ambient Air Quality Standards as
Required by the California Clean Air Act of 1988.
ITEM #89-11-3
Public Hearing to Consider the Adoption of Sections 90620-90623,
Title 17, California Code of Regulations, Regarding the
Atmospheric Acidity Protection Program.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff is recommending adoption of emissions fee regulations for
fiscal year 1989-90.
DISCUSSION
In the Atmospheric Acidity Protection Act of 1988 (Stats. 1988.
ch. 1518, Health and Safety Code Sections 39900-39911), the
legislature made a finding that the deposition of atmospheric
acidity resulting from other than natural sources is occurring in
various regions of California, and that the continued deposition
of this 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
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, and to develop measures which
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 from
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 program, whichever is less.
Proposed Sections 90620-90623, Title 17, California Code of
Regulations would apply to fiscal year 1989-90. The proposed
regulations provide for the collection of fees by the districts
and forwarding of the fees to the Air Resources Board for deposit
into the Air Pollution Control Fund, for the collection of
additional fees by the districts to cover administrative costs,
and for exemption of districts from the fee collection
requirements for good cause. 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 march 31, 1989 and that fees shall be collected from
sources identified, after adoption of the regulations, as having
emitted 500 tons or more per year of sulfur oxides or nitrogen
oxides in 1987. The regulations would also require the
collection of fees from sources identified after March 31, 1989.
The fees to be collected by districts are based upon estimated
emissions data of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides from sources
emitting 500 tons or more per year of either of the two
pollutants for calendar year 1987. The specific dollar per ton
value was calculated by dividing $1,500,000 (amount to be
collected) by the total estimated emissions of sulfur oxides and
nitrogen oxides from sources emitting 500 tons or more per year.
The proposed fees have been adjusted by a 25 percent contingency
factor to cover unforeseen under collection for reasons such as
unanticipated closings of businesses.
No significant adverse impacts are anticipated by the Board's
adoption of the proposed emissions fee regulations.
ITEM #89-11-4
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 the fiscal year 1989-90 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 partially 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 of
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 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 $10.89 per ton of emissions of
nonattainment pollutants and precursors.
The staff has developed the proposed fee regulation in
consultation with affected districts. Also, the staff held a
public consultation meeting to which approximately 1,500
industries, members of the public and districts were invited.
SUMMARY AND IMPACTS OF PROPOSED BOARD ACTION
Adoption of the proposed regulations are not expected to result
in any adverse health, safety or environmental impacts.
The cost per facility ranges from approximately $5,400 for the
smallest facility subject to the regulations to approximately
$316,000 for a multi-facility business. No small businesses have
been identified that would be subject to the fees.