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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 11/18/2019 AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR November 18, 2019 5:30 – 8:00 pm Colorado River Room, 222 Laporte Ave. 11/18/19 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:30 pm 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present − Karen Artell − Harry Edwards − Jakob Lindaas, Chair − Matt Tribby, Vice Chair • List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made − Jim Dennison − Greg Clark − Jason Miller • List of Staff Members Present − Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison − Jason Komes, Air Quality Specialist • List of Guests − Brendan Kelly, CSU Student − Nick Hoffman, CSU Student 3. AGENDA REVIEW • The oil and gas update was shortened by 15 minutes. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION • N/A 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • September minutes could not be approved as there was no quorum. The minutes will be approved at the December meeting. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/18/19 – MINUTES Page 2 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS • N/A 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Oil and Gas Update, 5:45 – 6:30 Cassie Archuleta, Air Quality Program Manager, and Kelly Smith, Senior Environmental Planner, provided an update regarding current oil and gas activity, and potential next steps. • City Staff provided a recap of the current oil and gas operations in Fort Collins and the City’s changing role as a regulator in response to SB-181. City Council would like to begin developing new regulations immediately, and may consider a moratorium on new drilling, rather than waiting for the State and County to announce specific regulations. • Council would like Staff to develop regulatory framework that is: o Contextually appropriate for Fort Collins, o Provides predictability for developers in the future, and o Provides a straightforward approach for application review by City Staff. • New regulatory options could include things like best management practices, zoning restrictions, fines for surface impacts, increased setbacks, inspection/monitoring requirements and an in-depth development review process. The development phase will be followed by public engagement and a joint board meeting to gather feedback on the options presented. • City Staff would like feedback from the Board on the following: o Questions or concerns regarding the scope and process of developing regulatory options o Ideas about what the process of minimizing surface impacts from oil and gas development might consist of o What specific code changes or requirements AQAB members would like to consider • The Board discussed the importance of aligning with Larimer County’s regulations while also developing something unique for Fort Collins, as the County’s regulations may not be robust enough. The public can comment on the County draft through December 1 (31TUwww.larimer.org/planning/oil-and-gas-regulationsU).31T The City is exploring the idea of an IGA with the County to manage properties that are unincorporated within the GMA. • Board members inquired about the level of engagement that Prospect Energy has AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/18/19 – MINUTES Page 3 had with the City and with developers. Cassie noted that the City has convened with the operator and the developer of Country Club Reserve for discussions about mutual interests. Both parties have agreed to construct a Surface Use Agreement. Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will share a letter from Prospect Energy expressing interest in tapping another formation and the intentions for such operations. • The Board discussed the potential to limit the construction of on-site storage facilities due to high VOC emissions, as well as opportunities to require active monitoring. Members floated the idea of collaborating with Larimer County utilizing funds from the upcoming Larimer County oil and gas tax revenue increase in conjunction with Governor’s budget proposal that includes a 26% increase for the Stationary Sources Program to improve and enhance Colorado’s air quality to ramp up monitoring efforts in Fort Collins. • The City will look at increasing setbacks for new wells. A CDPHE-funded health study utilizing 2014 data was released showing acute health impacts associated with 2000-foot setbacks; however, more data is needed to substantiate moving setbacks further away, so continuous monitoring could be a possibility. Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will distribute the aforementioned health study. • The Board posed questions related to potential operator monitoring efforts, including how data would be provided to the City/communities, who would be the first responders and what would the response be, and whether monitoring would be on a City-scale or at the fence line. • The AQAB will follow up in February and make a formal recommendation to Council. b. Outdoor Residential Burning Update, 6:30 – 7:15 Jason Komes, Air Quality Specialist, provided an update regarding the first season of implementation of a new nuisance code related to outdoor residential wood fires. He asked the Board for feedback regarding what they would like to see in the annual summary report, which will be provided to Council early next year. • Jason reviewed the history of the issue and the policies implemented last year, which included a curfew limiting outdoor fires between 10 PM and 7 AM and a 15-foot setback from property lines. The policy has been implemented via a complaint intake system that relies on responses from either the Poudre Fire Authority (health and safety issues) or from the City (nuisances). • Jason presented data from the second and third quarters detailing the nature of the complaint, the response, and the distribution of responses between the City and PFA. Overall, the system has decreased the number of nuisance calls directed to the PFA, and voluntary compliance has been effective. There have been few repeat issues. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/18/19 – MINUTES Page 4 • The Board discussed the need for a threshold to warrant action to ensure that complaints don’t overwhelm resources once the system is more established. Jason will include a discussion of resources allocated in the annual report to Council, although there hasn’t been a threat of this during the first year. • In addition to finalizing fourth quarter data and submitting a summary report to Council, the project will transition to a GIS-based platform to improve analysis and efficiency. • The Board discussed the utilization of metrics to gauge the success of the program. Since the program is warning/education-based, it may be valuable to inquire whether the public knows that a nuisance policy is in place; the response may be a good indicator of the program’s overall success. • The Board did not express any concerns regarding the first year of implementation. 8. BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF REPORTS • Councilmember Pignataro has expressed interest in an outline of the Board’s priorities in the form of a short memo. • The Board discussed the need to create specific goals, rather than vague topic areas, and a need for more quantified data to better show program progress (e.g., emission reduction goals, number of electric vehicles sold, etc.). Cassie noted that the need to better quantify has been outlined in the Air Quality draft plan as well. Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will distribute the most recent version of the Air Quality draft plan. • In addition, the Board discussed the gap in youth education regarding climate-related topics. Members brainstormed opportunities to provide educational opportunities regarding air quality and climate issues including: O More climate-related educational activities at events with children O Working with the Youth Advisory Board O Engaging youth via events like “invention fairs” that could be hosted by the City at a low cost and judged by AQAB members O Sending a representative to the school board O Utilizing tools and partnerships already in place (ozone bench and CSU) • The Board will create a more complete list over the next month and discuss it at the December meeting. • Jakob attended the recent joint-board meeting to discuss Our Climate Future and test outreach that the City will be using in the community. Victoria Shaw would like feedback on the meeting (Jakob will send a link to the post-survey). The Board believes that more clarification is needed to define the objectives of joint- and super- board meetings and more distinction between the two may be required. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 11/18/19 – MINUTES Page 5 Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will relay the need for clarification to Victoria Shaw, but encourages direct feedback. • Jakob also attended an air quality forum which focused on monitoring and emissions and the health effects associated with oil and gas development in the Boulder Reservoir area. • Matt attended a recent Colorado Chamber of Commerce meeting during which it was suggested that milestones for the integration of electrical vehicles (charging stations, etc.) into new construction may be addressed by Senate in the next year. 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. 6-month Calendar review b. Agenda planning 10. ADJOURNMENT 8:08 pm