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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 07/19/2021 AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR July 19, 2021 5:30 – 8:00 pm via Zoom 6/21/21 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:30pm 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present − Matt Tribby - Chair − Wayne Chuang − Dan Welsh − Emily Bitler • List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made − Jim Dennison − Greg Clark − Karen Artell − Jason Miller • List of Staff Members Present − Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison − Jason Komes, Specialist Environmental Sustainability • List of Guests − Mark Houdashelt − Doug Henderson 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION a. Doug Henderson - is active with the Larimer Alliance group that believes Larimer County has not drafted strict enough monitoring and regulations on oil and gas. He would like AQAB to encourage Larimer County to tighten their regulations before they adopt them next Monday. He also would like to see more regional air quality monitoring at all oil and gas sites, like what Boulder County is doing. He encourages the AQAB to support the Fort Collins BFO offer for more air quality monitoring. b. Mark – is with the Fort Collins Sustainability Group and considers air quality a priority. He also supports more air quality monitoring and suggests it be a collaboration AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/21/21 – MINUTES Page 2 between the city of Fort Collins and Larimer County because it is a regional issue. He would also like the AQAB to encourage PRPA to include sustainability in their priorities. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. As there was no quorum for this meeting, the June, 2021 minutes will be reviewed and approved at the August AQAB meeting. 6. PREVIOUS BUSINESS a. Larimer County O&G Regulations − Cassie reported on how the City is tracking and engaging with Larimer County’s development of oil and gas regulations. − The public can now register for Larimer County’s first hearing on the County’s oil and gas regulations. Phase 2 of the County rules will have a Planning Commission hearing July 21 and Commissioners hearing July 26. − The City of Fort Collins has been having regular meetings with Larimer County regarding their oil and gas regulations. One point of contention the City has heard from community members is that the county is not prohibiting oil and gas development in the City’s natural areas. Instead, they are requiring surface use agreements and other considerations such as “Energy By Design” if there are no other options than surface use on conserved areas. − The state of Colorado’s air quality monitoring regulations require monitoring for pre-production activity but not for ongoing production. Larimer County’s regulations go further and require ongoing monitoring for oil and gas production for 2-3 years. − Discussion − Q – What is the status of Prospect Energy’s application to recomplete a well in a new formation? A – The state of Colorado currently has three applications from Prospect Energy, one of which is in the City’s growth management area, but outside of City limits. Currently, Larimer County has a moratorium on oil and gas production. The state, the county, and the city plan to meet to discuss how to navigate consideration of these applications. − Q – What will Council be discussing in October regarding oil and gas regulations? A – It is anticipated that before Council drafts regulations it will break down the concepts on the impact of oil and gas operations in Fort AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/21/21 – MINUTES Page 3 Collins and compare them to what currently exists or what is anticipated in the future from the state and the county. Recommendations will be at a conceptual high-level. They will also discuss community concerns. − Q – What about oil and gas development in the City’s natural areas? Would Fort Collins’ regulations be in effect there? A – No. Land outside the City would have to be inter-governmental agreements with the county on oil and gas development. Natural Areas within City boundaries would fall under the City’s zoning requirements. − Q – When Prospect Energy submitted these applications to the state, was there an obligation for the state to inform the City? A – There was no obligation to inform the City and these applications did not go out for public comment. The City is discussing the process with the state and county. Cassie will keep the AQAB apprised of these discussions. b. Quick West Nile Virus update – Jason Komes − Jason Komes recounted that the West Nile Virus taskforce has received data that the Culex mosquito count is currently double that of the annual average and they expect an active West Nile Virus year. So far this year, the City has not engaged in any spraying, but is likely to do so soon. − Q – What time of day would spraying take place? Morning would be better for air quality. A – Jason understands spraying will be when the mosquitoes are most active. He will pass along this recommendation. c. AQ Website update – Jason Komes − The AQAB previously gave input on how to improve the City’s Air Quality Website. Staff has also worked with a consultant and Jason was present to share a conceptual mockup of how the air quality webpages will be improved for better comprehension and navigation. The design for the pages takes into account that most people will be accessing them on their phones. − Initial landing page - would have a dial graphic at the top indicating the current Air Quality Index with descriptors and links to more information about the AQI. − Suggested putting a health message with the AQI dial indicating what health precautions, if any, should be taken with the type of air quality indicated by the dial. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/21/21 – MINUTES Page 4 − Q - Where will the weather forecast come from? Also suggested having the ability to switch from Celsius to Fahrenheit. A – The weather forecast will be from the same source as what is on the City’s main webpage www.fcgov.com. Jason will pass along the suggestion about temperature indications. − AQ Database page – includes alerts and action days at the top, two dials indicating ozone and particulate matter and health effects, and a daily histogram of combined air quality indicators to show progression of pollution during the day. Other items on the page are the weather forecast, widgets to indicate forecasts and alerts from CDPHE, links to third-party air resources webpages, and FAQs. − Appreciated the histogram to show what time of day would be better/worse for outdoor activities. Overall, they liked the new look and increased usability. − Q – Before this goes live, is a review necessary to be sure there is no potential legal issue giving suggestions of activities relative to the air quality. A – There has not been a legal review of this. We can look into that. The page is not designed to be regulatory – only to give information so that a person can make their own decisions what to do. − The AQI only considers the single highest pollutant of concern. It could be ozone or particulate matter. Board likes the fact the site has been changed to list both. However, you might need better descriptors of what you are telling people what they should do with that information. − The CDPHE is also in process of changing their webpages to be more user-friendly. Dan offered to share some of their ideas. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. 2022 Budget Process Updates - Cassie Archuleta provided a summary of budget offers related to air quality and the AQAB work plan. − Overview of the budget process − Most of the City’s environmental programs are funded from the General Fund. Because of COVID, the new Council will be setting their priorities and considering this budget at the same time which is unusual. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/21/21 – MINUTES Page 5 − The Environmental Health outcome area includes many issues relevant to the AQAB. − Currently the BFO process is soliciting public input on-line for all of the proposed expenditure offers. − Next steps will be three Council work sessions (9/14, 9/28, 10/12) to discuss each of the outcome areas offers, then more public input at public hearings, with final adoption by Council in November. − Q – How will this process be affected by Darin’s departure? A – It is too soon to determine. − Cassie pointed out some air quality related enhancement offers the AQAB might be interested in that come from Environmental Services and also other service areas. She will keep the AQAB posted on approval status of these offers. − Regional oil and gas monitoring (with collaboration with the state and county) − Enhanced sensor monitoring (PM) accessible via website − Innovate Fort Collins Challenge-Housing/Climate nexus regarding energy efficiency and housing ideas from the community. − Supporting volunteer programs regarding healthy homes − Implementation of electric vehicle readiness roadmap − Shift your ride travel demand management program and alternative modes of transportation − Electric buses and congestion management − Cassie reported that the City recently won a $200,000 grant from the EPA to support the Healthy Homes and Energy Efficiency program integration for a two-year project. She will keep the AQAB abreast of the progress of this project. − Discussion - Matt suggested the AQAB review the offers in the August meeting and flag the ones to focus on and in September convey the board’s interest in these offers to Council. b. AQAB Work Plan discussion − Matt recapped that Council liaison Julie Pignataro suggested the AQAB not submit long, technical reports/recommendations to Council due to time AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/21/21 – MINUTES Page 6 constraints on Council reading their weekly packets. He proposed instead that the AQAB chair and one other member meet separately with her, or invite her to another AQAB board meeting and give a presentation to her on all three of the AQAB work plan topics. He suggested the best month to do this would be at the AQAB October meeting. Matt will begin to draft a Powerpoint presentation and put it on a shared drive for Board input and edits. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Wayne – All ozone indicators are now high, with influence from wildfire smoke from other areas. Matt – Q - Can we claim exceptions for that? A – Dan – It is difficult to justify and quantify it because of so many outside influences. b. Matt – Q – Have there been further conversations with Broadcom regarding SF6 regulations? A – Not until round 2 of discussions. Cassie will provide an update on this at the August AQAB meeting. c. Wayne – read some articles that some cities are spraying titanium dioxide chemical on asphalt to reduce air pollution. He will share them with the board. Jason – read about smog-reducing roof shingles with similar technology. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. Bicycle Advisory Committee Appointment − Jason Miller has served as the AQAB liaison to the Bicycle Advisory Committee for several years. His term is up but he is willing to serve again. If anyone else would like to be the liaison to that committee going forward, please let Matt know. As there is no quorum at this meeting, this post will be voted on at the August meeting. b. 6-month Calendar review c. Agenda planning − August – review budget offers, O&G operational standards, 2021 work plan − September – draft budget recommendations, EPIC homes presentation − October – Council work session on oil and gas and presentation to Council liaison. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm