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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 10/18/2021 AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR October 18, 2021 5:30 – 8:00 pm via Zoom 10/18/21 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:30pm 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present − Matt Tribby - chair − Karen Artell − Emily Bitler − Wayne Chuang − Jason Miller − Dan Welsh − Greg Clark • List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made − Jim Dennison • List of Staff Members Present − Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison • List of Guests − None 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - • None 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Karen moved and Dan seconded a motion to approve the September AQAB minutes as amended. Motion passed unanimously 6-0-0 6. PREVIOUS BUSINESS a. Budget Updates − Currently, the 2022 City budget is being reviewed by an internal executive team AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/18/21 – MINUTES Page 2 before it goes to Council for first reading November 2. − Staff gave Council three options to consider that could be added to the budget to address public concerns. The items of interest to the AQAB are: − Option 1 - AQ Monitoring Fund ($100 - $400K) − Flexibility in objectives and priorities − Informed by additional community engagement − Scope and cost TBD − Anticipated to only partially fund regional efforts − May require additional funding (e.g. grants or other partners) − Option 2 - Air Toxics Monitoring Study ($418K) - is more aligned with community requests − Fully funded 2-year study − aligned with community requests − Monitoring scope already developed (CSU, City and State) − Large City investment for research effort, may inform ongoing monitoring needs − Option 3 - AQ Education and Outreach coordinator ($115K) − Improved AQ messaging and outreach − Increase connections with community partners − Aligns with regional needs − Anticipated as ongoing need − Recommendation from staff is to set aside $100K for monitoring (Option 1) and fund an outreach and education coordinator (Option 3). b. Oil and Gas Updates - This item was pulled for later discussion. − The city has engaged a consultant to help draft regulations that will be a short section in the City's Land Use Code. − A best practices document is also being developed. − These documents will require detailed legal review and may take some time. − Discussion − Q - Has Prospect Energy, the state and the county had a conversation yet AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/18/21 – MINUTES Page 3 about their incomplete application? A - A preliminary conversation has occurred. One issue is that the application should have been reviewed by the county first before sending it to the state. City and County staff are awaiting next steps from State. − Q - What kind of feedback have you gotten from Prospect Energy? A - Prospect tried to submit this application 2 years ago. They are interested in getting it approved as soon as possible. − Q – How would City's regulations affect this process? A - It might not matter what the City does because the oil wells are just outside of City limits. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Climate Program Manager Introduction − Honore Depew is the new Climate Program Manager in the Environmental Services Department, replacing Lindsay Ex, who was promoted to department director. He brings a wide range of experience in waste reduction and recycling, regional wasteshed planning, and policy development from his time in the City Manager's office. − The Climate Program's work focuses on municipal sustainability, adaptation and resilience, outreach and engagement, and carbon accounting and analysis. − Q - The budget has an offer to fund a dedicated outreach person to help get the message out to the average citizen about climate and air quality issues and to help them begin to make changes. Can you share any conversations or plans how to create such an educational program? A - Policy begins with the wishes of the local population. The International Association of Public Participation has done much research on this type of process and we are studying their research. As a result, the latest City Plan encourages local citizens to become ambassadors to discuss things of interest in their own groups and bring ideas back to the City. Our Climate Future is a planning document that brings together and updates the Climate Action Plan, the City's Energy Policy and the Road to Zero Waste Policy to work together with the public moving forward. Strategies will also be developed to include air quality issues into the Climate Action Plan. − The AQAB board members introduced themselves and outlined their expertise and experience with air quality issues. b. AQAB recommendations related to the 2021 work plan − The board discussed recommendations related to the 2021 plan. They will further review the draft work plan on their shared drive and make edits before the November meeting when they will finalize the document. Matt will review the final AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/18/21 – MINUTES Page 4 plan with the AQAB's Council liaison Councilperson Pignataro before submitting it to Council. − Cassie suggested the AQAB might want to share the board's thoughts and plans to the RAQC for their information. Dan also suggested sharing it with the state Air Quality Control Commission. − The 2021 AQAB work plan focused on a more detailed and "measurable" approach to three topics: − Electrification of city vehicles and EV penetration in Fort Collins − Show a pie chart of Colorado's emissions by sector in addition to the nation's emissions by sector. − Include the social cost of carbon. − More City staff would be required to manage the workload suggested by this plan − There is a mandate for transit fleets to transition to zero or low emission vehicles by 2050. Transfort is currently doing a transition study to transition all buses. There are adequate electric/low VOC vehicles being manufactured in this category. − Q - In order to equally compare lifetime costs of fuel vehicles versus electric vehicles, are there some effective models out there projecting lifetime costs of these vehicles, including end of life for EV vehicles and disposal of dead lithium ion batteries? A – (Jason) - the batteries don't usually become unusable, they just have reduced range as they age. Some power plants are investigating using them as secondary sources. − Oil and Gas regulations − Q - Concerned that only permitting oil and gas production in industrial districts still affects residents that live within, or very close to, those districts. A - Land use codes are being revised to separate out heavier and lighter use industrial zones resulting in oil and gas development only being allowed in the heavier use zone and not mixed with any residences. The 2000 foot setback would still be in effect. − Cassie will add clarifying definitions of what the terms "active" and "inactive" wells are. − Suggested adding additional requirements of continuous monitoring and leak protection to operations that want to re-up their contracts. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/18/21 – MINUTES Page 5 − Suggested recommendations include "new" as well as "existing" oil and gas operations. − Energy efficiency and indoor air quality − The purpose of this section is to get sustainable infrastructure into commercial and residential buildings. c. 2022 AQAB Work Plan − The AQAB discussed drafting their 2022 work plan, due November 2021. − Regionalism should be a topic considered when developing the AQAB 2022 work plan so it is in alignment with City Council's priorities. − Regional monitoring could be a supporting factor to regionalism around air quality issues. − Board was in agreement for the board to have 2 to 3 topics to develop as the 2022 AQAB work plan. Matt will put a draft on the shared site for board members to review and edit. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Matt - informed the board that his term on the board ends at the end of this year and he will not be renewing his application to the board. b. Emily - will also not be renewing her application to the board for 2022. c. Wayne - reported that the RAQC is currently focusing on new strategies to reduce emissions including non-road engines, indirect source and local government collaboration. They will also be looking at other states' control measures for effectiveness. − Q - How does the state of Colorado feel about being more aggressive on control measures and when will Colorado go bold on this? A - The goal is to have more aggressive measures, however, the state is trying to figure how to better engage with the community to help them better understand the need and urgency for control measures. − Dan does not work on regulations but his understanding is that the state is generally interested in more aggressive measures, but is also aware of the push backs that come with them. They are evaluating various outreach programs for their effectiveness, but results vary year to year. He feels the AQAB's voice on these matters is necessary to help move this issue forward. − Greg - our ozone emissions are getting worse, not better. We need strong AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 10/18/21 – MINUTES Page 6 action. d. Karen offered a draft memo to Council on behalf of the AQAB to support air quality budget offers and suggest regional collaboration on air monitoring. − Dan moved and Wayne seconded to finalize the memo as presented and present to Council. Motion passed unanimously 6-0-0 9. OTHER BUSINESS a. 6-month Calendar review b. Agenda planning − November 15 − Finalize 2021 work plan recommendations − Finalize 2022 work plan − Air quality ozone season update − December 20 13 (Because of the holidays, the board decided to move the December AQAB meeting to the second Monday of the month - December 13) − Update board on 2021 work plan presentation to Councilperson Pignataro − Climate planning and inventory updates − Draft 2020 annual report (due 1/31/21) 10. ADJOURNMENT - 8:02 PM