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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 10/16/20231 10/16/2023 - Minutes Air Quality Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Monday, October 16, 2023 – 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Avenue, Colorado River Room 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:30 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present – • Mark Houdashelt (Chair) • Greg Clark (Vice Chair) • Dan Welsh • Maria Moore • Matt Ayres • Greg Boiarsky b. Board Members Absent – • None c. Staff Members Present – • Selina Lujan de Albers, Staff Liaison • DeAngelo Bowden, Sr. Specialist • Davina Lau, Boards and Commissions Coordinator d. Guest(s) – • Vara Vissa 3. AGENDA REVIEW No changes. 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION Vara Vissa, community member (6716 Wildflower Road) asked if the comments she made at the August meeting went into the minutes and whether public comments receive follow-up. She expressed concern that members of the public who take the time to make comments and never receive follow-up may lose interest. She also provided the following comments:  Suggested meetings should include more time for public comment and discussion.  It seems many topics discussed by various Boards seem to be similar and it is unclear what information is being sought by each Board.  It would be helpful to have a visual for each item addressing any changes that are made during the discussion of the item.  Asked about the status of the plan for the region between Fort Collins and Loveland that was prepared in 1995. 2 10/16/2023 - Minutes Maria asked about the ways in which public comment is used and whether follow-up occurs. Mark replied public comment is treated similarly to Council wherein there is not a back-and-forth discussion. He noted public comments do go into the meeting minutes which are provided to Council liaisons. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Dan moved and Greg C. seconded a motion to approve the August minutes as amended. Motion passed 6-0. b. Dan moved and Maria seconded a motion to approve the September minutes as amended. Motion passed 5-0-1 with Greg B. abstaining. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Previous Business Mark noted:  Council approved the oil and gas reverse setbacks on second reading with no changes to staff recommendations.  Council approved the new Land Use Code on first reading with some amendments. The second reading is tomorrow.  Forestry staff was not able to make the meeting but did send a survey and invited Board members to community meetings on October 25th and 26th. Will still attempt to have staff attend a meeting this year. Board Members asked:  Did Council provided feedback regarding the oil and gas reverse setbacks given this Board and another recommended more stringent requirements? Mark replied that the Board only recommended more stringent requirements in one case and received no feedback from Council. He sent a letter to Council regarding inconsistencies between allowing a 500-foot variance for development around an operational oil and gas well but not allowing new oil and gas wells within 500 feet of existing development, but Council did allow the 500-foot variance to remain. Mark noted:  Dan was elected to represent the Board on the Air Quality Monitoring Advisory Committee and a discussion will need to be held about how the AQAB will interact with the Committee. Regarding the Air Quality Monitoring Advisory Committee, DeAngelo Bowden, Environmental Services Senior Specialist, noted:  The City, in partnership with the County and CSU, recently received an AQ monitoring grant focused on an environmental justice component from the EPA, and the Council process of appropriating those funds is underway.  The Air Quality Monitoring Advisory Committee will be comprised of individuals who are community and technical experts in the air quality space. The grant focus requires engagement of Latinx communities and different geographical areas across the Front Range.  There are currently 17 applicants for the Committee and screening is underway for what will likely be ten to twelve people on the Committee. 3 10/16/2023 - Minutes  There is a hope that the Institute for the Built Environment will facilitate the Committee meetings going forward.  A Climate Equity Committee is working in partnership with the Air Quality Monitoring Advisory Committee.  The AQAB will have a member on the Committee, and Dan has been selected to fill that role. General comments regarding the Air Quality Monitoring Advisory Committee:  A discussion was held regarding the Board’s desire to have a more in-depth discussion around the Committee.  Maria noted the purpose of the AQAB is intrinsically monitoring.  It was suggested to add a section to the AQAB agenda for a regular report and to provide the AQMAC minutes in the AQAB drive.  Greg C. asked if the AQMAC is regional and how it will work with the AQAB. DeAngelo replied the vision is for the Committee to be regional and noted funding for the Committee is not provided through the grant but is in-kind from the City and County. The goal would be to include Weld County in the future.  DeAngelo stated the grant is for 3-years and a budget is set aside for monitors. The Committee will be determining what will be monitored and where, and Cassie is the City’s main lead. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Board Operations  It was noted that upcoming meetings may need to be rescheduled due to the holidays. Mark had conversations with Sandra and Gavin regarding their departure from the Board:  He encouraged current members to talk about any frustrations with him or Selina.  Both Sandra and Gavin expressed frustration with the amount of time spent on oil and gas regulations.  Both had a different idea of what they expected of the Board’s functions and neither felt serving on the Board was personally meaningful.  Both expressed some frustration with the meetings running long.  Mark stated he would attempt to do better at keeping the meetings on schedule and in ensuring everyone has a chance to participate. Mark requested input from other members regarding how to improve the Board operations or make it more effective and stated that separate conversations could be had with himself, Selina, and Davina if desired.  Matt stated each meeting should include designated discussion topics and there should be a limit to the number of times one specific topic can be discussed.  Dan concurred that certain topics, most recently oil and gas, tend to monopolize discussions; however, the rule-making was a large undertaking and some issues are going to take more time. He stated discussions are often necessary for members to thoroughly understand certain topics. He suggested that we potentially provide preparation materials for Board members to review before meetings to better focus 4 10/16/2023 - Minutes discussions.  Greg C. commented on the possibility of assessing achievability with a subject area. He stated he has been on the Board for six or seven years and stated the Board does not seem to accomplish as much as it did during the first part of that time. He suggested the formation of the AQMAC could possibly be due in part to the need to have tangential efforts with more achievable goals.  Mark questioned why things have changed with the Board and whether the operations of the Board have changed or there have been changes in the way Council listens to the Board.  Greg C. stated it could be that there is less opportunity to provide advisory input because Council knows what it wants to do, or it could be that the Board has gotten bogged down with complicated issues. He stated one of his objectives in serving on the Board is to learn and be exposed to new things; therefore, having experts make presentations and letting the Board assess its direction are important.  Maria stated serving on the Board helps her professionally and being able to be informed and help inform others is beneficial to her. She questioned whether the Board could be doing things other than advising Council such as writing articles and helping to inform the community.  Greg B. commented on Board accomplishments, including helping City staff to avoid some errors with oil and gas regulation language, though he expressed concern about the Board serving as an error- correctionmechanism rather than as an advisory mechanism. He suggested part of the issue with not making progress could be the fact that the Board does not necessarily have a goal when it takes up topics. He also suggested it is important to keep in mind the expertise of various members of the Board and to tailor, to a certain extent, the topics the Board considers to those areas.  Mark summarized the Board comments. He stated he is also frustrated by the lack of impact the Board has, but stated he does like to hear about topics and educate himself. He concurred the Board has been more effective in the past when it was very proactive in taking up topics that perhaps Council was not discussing but that the Board felt were important for Council to address, including things like the Fugitive Dust Manual and impacts of transportation projects. He stated he is frustrated by this Council as it tends to accept what staff presents if Councilmembers do not know enough about a topic, particularly with respect to air quality issues. He suggested the Board could send Council a memo prior to its January retreat outlining the Board’s suggestions for Council’s air quality priorities for the next two years.  Maria expressed support for being proactive about things that Council is not necessarily considering.  Matt stated sending a memo to Council could help the Board come up with actionable items it would like to discuss or have Council consider, which could be used to form a better structure for meetings.  Mark commented on previous discussions about having an air quality open house.  Selina commented on yesterday’s radon event which hosted about 70 people in comparison to 20 two years ago.  DeAngelo noted the previously mentioned EPA grant will require at least 5 10/16/2023 - Minutes five major engagement events across the region to discuss air quality and health impacts. He stated there could be an opportunity for the Board to step in with the AQMAC to determine what those types of engagement look like. Selina requested input from Davina Lau regarding appropriate Board actions. Davina replied with the following information:  Board members are volunteers and a huge resource; therefore, it is important members find the experience rewarding.  AQAB is not the only Board that feels disconnected from Council.  Boards should have a larger purpose outside of their advisory role to Council.  Boards can have an educational outreach or promotional function;\, but the AQAB does not currently have that language in its Code.  Any change in Code would go before Council via ordinance, but it is a possibility to get that language changed.  Part of the function of the AQAB is to coordinate with the Transportation Board, Natural Resources Advisory Board, and Planning and Zoning Commission.  As part of work with the Ad Hoc Committee on Boards and Commissions, she pushed for the Code to be modified for it to be easier for Boards and Commissions to have joint meetings, so those meetings now only require the approval of the Council liaison rather than the full Council.  Greg C. noted that there is no guidance provided as to what working with the other Boards entails, so they were previously having a member monitor agendas and attend meetings with air quality topics.  Maria expressed concern that coordination with other Boards could take away from the Board being proactive about its own topics.  A discussion occurred around the interconnectedness and overlap between various Boards.  Greg B. stated there is a question as to how to balance siloing the different Boards and benefiting from the synergy that occurs with working together.  Dan expressed frustration that the Boards are supposed to interact with one another yet are limited in the interactions that can occur.  Mark asked if the Ad Hoc Committee took up the topic of how Boards and Commissions can better interact with Council.  Davina stated the Committee’s work was more around structure, though she has been working to figure out how to better open that line of communication and make things more reciprocal. She noted the Bicycle Advisory Committee is becoming the Active Modes Advisory Board and the Women’s Advisory Board will become the Women and Gender Equity Advisory Board.  Davina noted any member of a Board or Commission who makes a comment at a Council meeting disclose which Board or Commission on which they serve and announce they do not speak on behalf of that Board or Commission.  Members had a discussion about Council acknowledging input received from Boards and Commissions and members commented on the perception that decisions are made either at a staff or Council level regardless of input from Boards and Commissions.  Maria questioned the reason behind having Boards and Commissions if 6 10/16/2023 - Minutes there is no acknowledgment regarding what they are advising Council.  Dan stated part of the benefit of the Boards is to provide a diversity of perspectives. He also questioned the diversity of the AQAB members, stating many air quality issues come from oil and gas operations, therefore, more input from the oil and gas industry could be important. Members opted to remove the discussion of the 2024 Strategic Plan from the agenda. Selina stated she would email members to request feedback on the Strategic Plan outcome areas. b. 2024 Work Plan Mark outlined the changes he made to the Work Plan to give a broader perspective of what might be accomplished and requested input from Board members.  Members discussed whether to include air quality monitoring in the Work Plan given the formation of the AQMAC.  Maria suggested the AQAB’s purpose should be more focused.  Dan commented on using operational standards as a mechanism to control the amount of oil and gas production in the city and noted the AQMAC is more regional in nature. He also commented on the overlap between various entities.  Selina stated the Board can set goals around various items and decide how it wants to influence them in different areas.  DeAngelo noted the Board will be receiving regular updates on the AQMAC during its meetings; therefore, that will take up some of the Board’s capacity to have the conversation around regional air quality and could technically still be a goal for the Board.  Dan noted the Work Plan does not include any education and outreach advocacy component.  Maria noted Davina stated education and outreach would require a change to the Board bylaws.  Dan stated the Board can put forth a recommendation that the City do more education and outreach.  Greg C. noted education and outreach has been part of previous Work Plans and it was never actually accomplished.  Greg B. stated information is not persuasion or outcome and decades of communication research have made it clear that a rationale for wanting change must be provided as a motivation. He stated the Board needs to move away from placing an emphasis on informing the community and toward aspects of regulation that can help the community enact change and move away from damaging behavior. He stated he does not believe it is the purview of the Board to inform the community.  Maria disagreed and stated informing the community should be part of the Board’s purview. Mark requested members make comments specifically about what should or should not be included in the Work Plan. He stated he will need a commitment from members if there is a desire to make things more specific.  Maria asked if oil and gas regulations could be removed from the Board’s focus areas since the Board just completed months of work on the topic. 7 10/16/2023 - Minutes  Mark stated the City is addressing oil and gas setbacks, reverse setbacks, and operational standards, and Council and staff opted to not deal with all three items together; therefore, staff has yet to develop operational standards. He stated the Board could vote to take the specific topic off the Work Plan, and it would not preclude it from still participating in the development of the standards.  Dan stated he does not believe the Work Plan would be well-rounded without at least considering the oil and gas operational standards.  Maria asked about the inclusion of lawn and garden equipment. Members discussed the placement of that topic, though Mark noted it was not specifically listed as a priority by any of the members.  Mark noted the City received a $100,000 “Mow Down Pollution” grant that Council will hear on second reading tomorrow. Additionally, the City is adding $35,000 to electrify the City’s lawn and garden equipment.  Members discussed strategies focused on residential versus commercial lawn equipment, and it was noted that establishing a permitting process for commercial entities is an available tool and could be an action item for the Board.  Mark noted making that an action item would require someone to do some background research on current incentives and how things could be improved. Members volunteered to look into related research.  Mark stated the Work Plan should be a guiding document to indicate what the Board will be working on for the next year; however, it is not necessary that it be exact. He suggested members could make comments and he could return with a semi-final draft at the next meeting. c. 2024 Strategic Plan Input  (**This item was not considered.) 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Mark mentioned the Front Range Rail could present to a potential joint board meeting with the Transportation Board and commented on next year’s electric vehicle tax credits. He stated Council will be considering the first reading of funding for the EPA grant tomorrow and noted the oil and gas operational standards have not yet been scheduled for consideration. b. Members opted to leave the November meeting on the 20th and decided to discuss the December, January, and February meeting dates at a later time. 9. STAFF REPORTS  None 10. OTHER BUSINESS 11. ADJOURNMENT  8:00pm Minutes approved by a vote of the Board on 11/20/2023