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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 05/22/20010 \- O s- O 3 MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 N. COLLEGE AVE. May 22, 2001 For Reference: Eric Levine, Chair 229-5225 Eric Hamrick, Council Liaison 225-2343 Brian Woodruff, Staff Liaison 221-6604 Board Members Present John Schroeer, Eric Levine, Nancy York, Jim Dennison Board Members Absent Linda Stanley, Harry Edwards, Chris Kavanaugh, Dan Voss, Mandar Sunthankar Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Brian Woodruff, Terry Klahn, and Theresa Ranlos-Garcia Guests Cheryl Asmus, Kevin Gurney, Larimer County Environmental Advisory Board The meeting was called to order at 4:35 Minutes With the following changes, the minutes of the April 24, 2001 were unanimously approved as amended: Nancy York: Add that Randy Hensley agrees that TransFort should lead Review Action Loe 1. When the radon program is reviewed by City Council, put a copy of their packet materials in the Board's packet — When Available 2. Arrange for distribution to AQAB members of minutes and memos to City Council from the T-Board, P&Z Board, and NRAB — Continuing 3. 'Write memo to City Manager commenting on Transportation Capital Improvement Project priorities. Brian and Eric — May - Done 4. Provide info in packet about the CO redesignation — May - Done Election of Chair and Vice Chair Nancy York nominated Eric Levine for Chairman. The vote was unanimous pending confirmation by the remainder of board at next meeting. The election of vice -chair was postponed until the next meeting. CO Redesignation, Brian Woodruff Woodruff reviewed a handout outlining the protocol the EPA requires for an air quality analysis to prove we'll maintain air quality for ten years. Air Quality Advisory Board May 22, 2001 Page 2 of 4 Discussion • York: How will you estimate the background CO concentration? That's a conversation we'll have with the State. The State people are doing most of the analytical work. We expect them to choose the modeling approach. The downside is that you have to use a fairly high number. • Levine: What VMT growth figure was input? The VMT inputs for the emissions inventory are the same as the ones being used in the Regional 2025 Plan which is in the final state of adoption now. • Levine: Your VMT growth figure is going to dominate the emissions inventory. It turns out that average speed also changes the emissions factor a lot — growth is important, but not necessarily the most important thing. • Levine: The information on the model is questionable, the projections are laughable. • York: Maybe we could add a postscript that there's a disagreement with the numbers, confirmed by the census. The Maintenance Plan can be amended later as better data become available. • Levine: What do we stand to lose, the I/M program, oxy fuels? The bottom line is, which state -level strategies will keep the air clean after the plan is adopted. Right now we have 11M and oxy fuels. They are under review to see if they can be removed while still meeting federal requirements. Colorado Springs has removed oxy fuels, but not the I/Mprogram. These are all factors that are difficult to get a handle on. • Levine: Do you know if the modeling showed Colo. Spgs. would still need the I/M program? Yes, it did. • Levine: Is the modeling used in this process MOBILE5A, not MOBILEV That's correct. • Gurney: Does the MOBILE model consist of an average vehicle in an average fleet? Yes. • Schroeer: Is this national or regional? The model uses national defaults, but local data can be substituted. • Dennison: I hear that half of the new cars are trucks or SUV's. Is that in the mix? I need to check with the state on that. We shouldn't forget that we have so many more SUV's now. • Levine: I saw a study in San Francisco. The measurement they were taking with the vehicle mix shows that the pollution was greater at 45 mph, than at 20 mph. I'd like to follow up on that. There's not much chance we could use that information for the redesignation, but it would be good for this board to try to get information on the reality, instead of what we're required to do by the state and federal government. I would like this board to make our best call, removed from some of the heavy politics. • York: Based on this comparison between Fort Collins/Denver/Colorado Springs, the key factors boil down to speed of travel on roadways, and I/M compliance. • Levine: Will the next round that we're required to do use MOBILEV Yes. • Dennison: If our emissions budget were set using higher emissions at lower speeds wouldn't that be more permissive? Conformity determinations are done periodically using the emissions budget in tons per day for the total region. But, in order to prove to the EPA that we're not going to violate air quality standards, we have to do the hot spot modeling now. It's harder to show compliance in the hot spot analysis. • Dennison: Are we going to consider the ramifications of VMT and population growth? We have to comply for ten years. If we're using bad VMT numbers then we may be adopting a plan that isn't realistic. The board may want to consider advising the City Council, MPO, Air Quality Advisory Board May 22, 2001 Page 3 of 4 and State, that as a City we might prefer they use realistic numbers, and head into this process with a sense of realism. The City might want to ask the State Department of Health to use different numbers early on in the process, rather than wait till we get the plan as written, at which point it may be to late to rewrite the plan. If the City has an opinion that it should be done differently, the earlier they ask, the more likely it is to happen. So, your recommendation might be to use the best information possible, and the most realistic estimate, and not adopt a plan with crummy numbers? Dennison: Especially if it enables the state to drop the I/M plan. I still have a view about the state telling us what to do. Woodruff. Does anyone want to do some committee work on this? A committee could work on potential recommendations for consideration by the entire board. Woodruff will send out an email to see if there is interest in forming a committee. Air Quality Survey Results, Cheryl Asmus Asmus reviewed the results of the Air Quality Survey. Discussion • Dennison: The people who say they don't have a radon problem really mean they don't know if they have a radon problem. • Dennison: Where's the final report? Sarah Fox has it. • Levine: It's a good survey. I'd love to see you ask some questions that you already have the answers to. If the numbers don't match, then you'll know the people are misinformed. • York: Shouldn't there be some protections for renters? • Dennison: Some homes in Loveland were built where the radon mitigation system incorrectly pumped the gas into the attic rather than outside. 2001 Air Quality Marketing Overview, Theresa Ramos -Garcia Ramos -Garcia provided an overview of the air quality education and marketing program. Agenda Planning Review Council six-month planning calendar Future Agendas • Climate Wise campaign results (June) • Inter -Board coordination .... beyond "minutes & memos" (June?) • Update on truck mobility study (June?) • Which matter should the Board review in order to meet its charter? (June?) • North College Corridor Project (Summer) • June — Climate Wise campaign results Clear bike rack York: There is a study session on the I-25 Regional Plan in June, with adoption in July would like to have them present the air quality effects of this plan. Levine: This has gone beyond our effectiveness. Air Quality Advisory Board May 22, 2001 Pale 4 of 4 • Dennison: There's been a huge investment of people's time. We should have been weighing in on this earlier. • Levine: I would rather concentrate on CO Redesignation. We're the only folks working on this. It's a big issue, but there's too little time. We're not up to speed. • Dennison: How is it we didn't look at this early on? We need to work hard to avoid missing issues like this. • Woodruff: If a year ago the board had asked to look at every major land use plan, and see a presentation in the early stages, you would have picked up on this. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. ACTION LIST — from ay 22 meetin ACTION ITEM WHO BY... DONE 1. When the radon program is reviewed by City Sarah When Council, put a copy of their packet materials available in the Board's packet. 2. Arrange for distribution to AQAB members Brian & continuing of minutes and memos to City Council from Eric the Transportation Board, Planning and Zoning Board, and Natural Resources Advisory Board. 3. Ask AQAB members via e-mail if there is Brian ASAP interest in a committee on the CO redesignation issue.