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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 08/16/2021 AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR August 16, 2021 5:30 – 8:00 pm Colorado River Room, 222 Laporte Ave. 8/16/21 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:30pm 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present − Matt Tribby - Chair − Jim Dennison − Karen Artell − Emily Bitler − Wayne Chuang − Greg Clark − Dan Welsh • List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made − Jason Miller • List of Staff Members Present − Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - none 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES − June - Karen moved and Dan seconded a motion to approve the June minutes as amended. Vote was unanimous 7 - 0 - 0 − July - Dan moved and Wayne seconded a motion to approve the July minutes as amended. Vote was unanimous with 2 abstaining. 5 - 0 - 2 6. PREVIOUS BUSINESS a. Budget Process Updates - Cassie Archuleta AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 8/16/21 – MINUTES Page 2 − Kelly DeMartino has been appointed interim City Manager. She will be presenting the City Manager's recommended 2022 budget to Council in September. − Cassie reported that she was asked by Council to modify the $110,000 air quality offer by removing the $75,000 item to create a regional air quality monitoring site for oil and gas. There is a possibility the City could make up the balance to pay for this item from the state of Colorado's Air Quality Enterprise Fund and/or through the EPA's Environmental Justice Relief funds. A $25,000 offer for a particle monitor remains in the budget. - Q - How confident are you the City can get these additional funds from other avenues? A - The other funding avenues are competitive. The City has a good proposal for them, but there is no guarantee. - Q - Can the AQAB propose that the $75,000 stay in the budget? A - The budget presented to Council will not reflect that this item has been removed. The AQAB could point out to Council that the oil and gas monitoring station does not appear in the revised offer, and recommend it be reinstated. - Q - Who else regionally was putting money into this regional air monitor? A - A full monitoring site would be about $400,000. $75,000 was proposed as a City of Fort Collins' portion, but commitments from others have not been secured. - The board agreed not to advocate for this budget item at this time due to uncertainty that additional funding would be available from other parties needed to reach the total of $400,000. b. Bicycle Advisory Committee Appointment − Cassie explained the Bicycle Advisory Committee is made up of representatives from other boards who advise the Transportation advisory board regarding bicycle issues. − Jason Miller has been the AQAB representative on the Bicycle Advisory Board for several years and is willing to serve again. As no one else volunteered, Jason will again be the AQAB representative to the Bicycle Advisory Board. Emily volunteered to be an alternate for Jason. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Oil and Gas Updates - Cassie Archuleta − Background: − Development of local regulations has been contingent upon concurrent city, AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 8/16/21 – MINUTES Page 3 county and state regulatory activities. Most recently, County rules were adopted in July 2021. − Questions regarding how to create appropriate regulations for Fort Collins? − Existing Operations - current wells are legal non-conforming use - The question is what are current concerns and what is the change/expansion potential? − Future Operations - Is there potential for additional development and is there appropriate space for surface use? − What would the staff needs be with future growth? - Would we need regional monitors/ - What would be operator support? − Are there resources we can share with the county regarding regulations? − The City of Fort Collins is working with the same consultant Larimer County is. They are compiling a table of the State, Larimer County and the City's approval processes, land use standards, and operational standards are plotted in relation to each other to help formulate an appropriate recommendation to Council. − Q - If Fort Collins isn't the most strict on everything would that be viewed as deficient? Was also suggested Council be well educated regarding what is appropriate/not appropriate for each area . A - The research will be fleshing out possible scenarios to see what restrictions would be the best thing for Fort Collins. − Q - Recent House Bill 21-1189 establishes strict regulations for air toxics emissions. The HB might have some helpful language that the City might want to incorporate in its recommendations. A - Oil and gas production also influences the production of ozone and that might also contribute to stricter regulations in the region. The RAQC and CDPHE are considering regulations on oil and gas operations regarding ozone non-attainment in the region. − Prior to Senate Bill 181, there was only 13.4% land available for oil and gas development in the Fort Collins growth management area (GMA). That Senate Bill, plus setbacks and zoning, reduced available surface use land to zero within Fort Collins city limits. The map will be updated to indicate available surface use area in the Fort Collins GMA. − Q When evaluating GMA, if there is land available for oil and gas development, what would the setbacks need to be to protect the land? A - Council previously discussed setbacks of 2,000 feet. − Suggestion that the City carefully craft regulations with an eye to the future to protect City natural areas and other assets. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 8/16/21 – MINUTES Page 4 − The City is also carefully reviewing public input given at Larimer County outreach events and also county deliberations. The County's final regulations have not yet been published online. − Q - If a developer submits an application to the City and the City denies it, does that developer have a way to appeal to the state? A - They can appeal to the COGCC. In the reverse, the City can also appeal a state decision, but so far that has not happened. − Some Larimer County items of interest to the city: − The County's new regulations would apply to recompleting the City's wells. − Q - Can the 2013 Mountains to Plains Energy by Design report be updated? A - It will most likely be mentioned in the County regulations, with ability to update. − Next Steps − October 2021 - Council work session - Staff's goal is to highlight major interests and concerns for Council consideration − November 2021 - March 2022 - Develop draft code - Approval process, land use standards, operational standards - Do public and board outreach - Council consideration. − Cassie asked the AQAB to determine what feedback the board has for the proposed next steps of the process and what are their areas of concern. − Q - How extensive is the County's plan for an annual registration process and is the City prepared to adopt this also? Also, what resources does the City have to put towards this effort? A - The City is considering having a registration process that includes an update of the emergency management plan and is in alignment with the County's efforts. This could also include a 5-year plan for each well. Currently, the City does not have committed resources for this. − Setbacks, air quality issues, and protection of water resources are important for Council to consider. − The appeal process needs to very clear and specific. Also, any AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 8/16/21 – MINUTES Page 5 modifications to the wells that incur new regulations might prevent developers from keeping wells in good non-polluting condition. − Oil and gas wells need to have a robust air quality monitoring plan. − Suggests considering how or if zoning and/or setbacks or other things would need to be reevaluated in the future. − Suggests the registration process could also advocate for best practices and use it as an assessment process. b. AQAB Work Plan − Q - There had been a previous recommendation from the AQAB work group to Council about the importance of regulating radon mitigation in the City. It was not adopted by Council, but would like Council to reconsider this request. The board agreed to revisit this topic at its September board meeting. Jim also asked Cassie to describe the City's current radon programs. A - There are ongoing radon programs in the Healthy Homes group to educate people about radon and radon mitigation. There are no City requirements to mitigate radon. We are tracking the radon test kits being sold by the city and contacting contractors to get a feel for what is the mitigation rate in the City. − The board reviewed its 2021 work plan presentation that focuses on a more detailed and measurable approach to three topics. Board members will review and make comments and edits on it via their shared drive before they submit it to Council member Pignataro. 8. BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF REPORTS − Greg will send the board an article from CSU about geopower that harmonizes with the goal of electrification. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. 6-month Calendar review − September - revisit the budget - EPIC homes - Work Plan - O&G standards ADJOURNMENT - 8:10 PM