State of California AIR RESOURCES BOARD State Office Building Room 1194 455 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, CA September 21, 1976 10:00 a.m. AGENDA 76-18-1 Progress Report on Lake Tahoe Air Basin Activities including ARB Air Monitoring and Vehicle Testing efforts, development of a Bi-State Air Pollution Control Program, and development of a Lake Tahoe Air Basin Implementation Plan. 76-18-2 Report on Long Range Emission Standard Proposals for Passenger Cars and Light and Medium Duty Trucks 76-18-3 Other Business - (a) Executive Session - Personnel and Litigation (b) Research Proposals ITEM NO.: 76-18-1 Report of Activities in the Lake Tahoe Air Basin. RECOMMENDATION This is an informational report requested by the Board. No specific action is required. SUMMARY (1) The ARB instituted a permanent monitoring network of three stations at Lake Tahoe in the summer of 1975, to measure O3, CO, NOx total sulfur and visibility. The local APCDs make total suspended particulate measurements. Results of a little one year's measurement show that the CO standard is violated near heavy traffic in the winter and that the oxidant standard is violated in the summer at the south end of the lake. The 24 hour particulate matter standard is also violated. (2) The vehicle emissions test program at Lake Tahoe, to determine the exhaust emission from representative vehicles at 6,000 feet elevation has sampled approximately 2/3 of the 150 vehicle tests planned. The preliminary results show an increase in both HC and CO emissions and a decrease in NOx emission (18, 66, and - 32 percent, respectively), which is in general agreement with previous EPA observations. If the full study substantiates the preliminary results, the need for a special program for emissions control for vehicles used at high altitude may not be required. (3) The Lake Tahoe Air Basin Coordinating Council has submitted a basin plan to the ARB for approval. The plan falls short of a long term or short term strategy for meeting the air quality standards and is deficiency in some of its emissions control requirements. The staff will transmit its comments to the Coordinating Council. (4) Progress toward a bi-state agency has been slow. Four alternatives present themselves: a) Form a single purpose bi-state air pollution agency; b) develop an air pollution program in TRPA; c) agree to coordinate separate programs; or d) have EPA designate the Tahoe Basin as an Interstate Air Quality Control Region and set up an interstate program under the Clean Air Act. The staff of ARB and the Nevada Environmental Quality Commission are attempting to develop coordinated programs with the same air quality goals and similar emissions control regulations. The Nevada Environmental Quality Commission will meet this month to consider changing some of the state's air quality standards to conform with California's.