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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 04/18/2022 AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR Monday, April 18, 2022, 5:30 – 8:00 pm via Zoom 0 4 /18/22 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:32pm 2. ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present − Karen Artell- Chair − Wayne Chuang − Greg Boiarsky − Mark Houdashelt − Dan Welsh − Greg Clark • List of Board Members Absent − Jason Miller • List of Staff Members Present − Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison − Lea Schneider, Larimer County, Environmental Health Planner • List of Guests − N/A 3. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION • No public comment 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • Greg B moved and Dan W seconded a motion to approve the March AQAB minutes as amended. Motion passed unanimously 5-0. 5. PREVIOUS BUSINESS 1. OIL AND GAS WORK SESSION UPDATE − Cassie provided updates regarding City staff’s oil and gas regulations presentation and discussion with City Council. The discussion included reverse setbacks and mineral taking vs surface area takings. More AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 4 /18/22 – MINUTES Page 2 clarification will be provided to City Council as there was not solid direction from Council members . Council expressed frustration with the pace of oil and gas regulations development. There was discussion on how to move the conversation faster without regulations. For example, just buying the mineral rights or eliminating surface use, so we don’t have to have any oil and gas regulations. There will be another work session in October. − Karen expressed concern with purchasing mineral rights. Greg B expressed support for working collaboratively with the County, as operators could also benefit from having only one set of regulations. 2. AIR QUALITY AWARENESS WEEK − Air Quality Awareness Week is the first full week in May. Cassie stated the State has put out some great information. The City is planning on doing a press release and social media with the information from the State. The City has a vision to do more next year, as we will have a new communications person for air quality. − Dan is going to share information from the State with the Board. Lea mentioned they would love to collaborate more to bring awareness and get the community involved including both urban and rural communities. 3. AQAB ELECTIONS − Dan nominated and Wayne seconded Karen as Chair. Passed unanimously 5-0. − Greg B nominated and Dan seconded Mark as Vice-Chair. Passed unanimously 5-0. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. City/County Air Quality Collaboration − Cassie Archuleta, Air Quality Program Manager, and Lea Schneider, Environmental Health Planner with Larimer County, provided an update regarding an April 13 City and County air quality discussion and gathered feedback regarding potential formation of a joint City/County Air Quality Advisory Committee. − There was support for City and County staff working together with other Larimer County municipalities, community groups, and regional experts to form a Regional Air Quality Monitoring Advisory Committee. They want to see it come together as AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 4 /18/22 – MINUTES Page 3 soon as possible. − The EPA has agreed to fund brand new ozone and NOx monitoring equipment. Ongoing funds are needed to maintain the equipment. City and County staff are thinking of ways they could collaborate to maintain the monitoring equipment. − Cassie and Lea mentioned they are already thinking of proposing record keeping requirements to the City that are similar to those the County has, making it easier for operators. They think some opportunities are cost sharing, community engagement, board liaisons, and leveraging the resources they already have. One objective of an Air Quality Monitoring Advisory Board/Committee would be developing a monitoring plan and next steps, so the City/County have plans and next steps in place when a grant opportunity presents itself. − There was some discussion about reception from other communities besides Fort Collins and if they are hearing support. Lea stated there has been support from Thompson School District and Estes Park. There has been interest expressed by numerous community members but not all elected officials, in some areas. It is believed that the County Commissioners could be catalysts to help convene what we they are trying to accomplish. Lea believes the commissioners are hoping more local governments come to the table with the encouragement of the County Commissioners. − There was a discussion on the makeup of the committee. There was also some discussion of whether people like Cassie or Lea should be on the board vs facilitating the board. The board also considered having community members, representation from broader community groups, and members from CSU with relevant expertise. Cassie mentioned that people like her and Lea could serve as representatives of the City and County rather than community members. There was some interest in having staff from each Larimer County municipality but not elected officials. − There was some discussion about diversity and interest in having a wide variety of community voices empowered and magnified to inform state and elected officials. − Wayne spoke more on the RAQC Local Government Work Group. It is a place for information sharing and RAQC is the facilitator to bring in different voices and local government, cities, and counties to talk about what they are doing or ways to partner, and then the members can take it back to their own communities. Greg B wanted to know if this new working group could go to the RAQC for help. Wayne stated he thinks they would be open to that idea as it is a regional effort. Cassie agrees that it would be great for them to become a model. AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 4 /18/22 – MINUTES Page 4 − For next steps, Cassie and Lea will be pulling together a vision and objectives and would like the Board’s opinion again. Cassie mentioned that the Council and Commissioners relayed they want action to come out of this group. − The board had extensive discussion based on Lea’s request for inputs on how to best assemble a county advisory group. Greg C suggested the board focus on function to best meet implementation objectives. Further discussion suggested we invest in a working group structure to attain firm accomplishments for the board. The board liked the higher function mission as a concept and Lea would pursue further to determine feasibility. More discussion addressed the role/responsibility and background types to enable success. − 7. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS • Dan mentioned information the State sent out for Air Quality Awareness Week, May 2nd-6th, with hopes it is useful for the county and asked Board members to please pass it on to anyone who would find it useful. The theme is “be air aware and be prepared.” They have a night at the Colorado Rapids planned for April 30th and a STEM Day planned with the Colorado Rockies. They also have a lot planned for their social media platforms. They will also be doing a giveaway with smoke ready kits and 2 Purple Air monitors. • Wayne informed the Board that the CDPHE and RAQC are hosting another listening session April 26th from 6-8pm. It is meant to be more general for basic audiences. More engagement and specific question will be addressed in late May. Wayne is also presenting to the Larimer County Built Environment Leadership Team on May 13th from 9-11am. They will be discussing steps you can take on ozone action alert days. Lea mentioned it is a grant funded program at the Larimer County Health Department and they do educational series for community members. The RAQC will host an Ozone Modeling Forum on May 18th, from 9-12pm on how modeling is conducted. It will be more technical on how a model is chosen, which scenario to model and how to project into the future. 9. OTHER BUSINESS • 6-month Calendar Review 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:03 pm.