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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 11/18/1998CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING STREETS FACILITY 625 NINTH STREET NOVEMBER 18, 1998 For Reference: Eric Levine, Chair - 229-5225 Scott Mason, Council Liaison - 226-4824 Brian Woodruff, Staff Liaison - 221-6608 Board Members Present Eric Levine, John Schroeer, Harry Edwards, David Gallup, Raymond Sons, Steve Perich, and Jim Dennison (arrived at 7:20 p.m.) Board Members Absent John Scanlon and Mandar Sunthankar Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Linda Devocelle, Brian Woodruff, Sally Maggart, and Lucinda Smith Guests Dr. Jerry Gallagher, Colorado Department of Health, Air Pollution Control Division The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the October 14, 1998 special meeting were approved as written. Review and Update Action List Add: Amend charter. Small Discussion Items Draft of AQ Action Plan Linda Devocelle, Environmental Education and Public Involvement Officer, said that she will be contacting Boardmembers before the November meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Air Quality Action Plan. She added that the Board will review the final plan before it goes to Council after the first of the year. Devocelle noted that the AQAP is also being sent to 120 interested citizens, and staff is starting the public outreach with presentations to various groups. Harry Edwards said that he is concerned that staff has deleted a key item, the Master Pollution Prevention Program. Devocelle said that staff discussed the program at length and determined that, given all other things in the plan, it was not an appropriate way to expend staff time. She Air Quality Advisory Bo� • November 18, 1998 Page 2 explained that the program is one segment of the total Pollution Prevention Program. Edwards asked if the decision for a change of this magnitude should have been the responsibility of the Board. Devocelle responded that it is the responsibility of the Board to advise Council on air quality, and it is the responsibility of staff to take the comments and make the appropriate recommendation to Council. She added that the Board can override staffs recommendation. Edwards said that he is concerned about this going public without the Master Pollution Prevention component because the Board has not had a chance to review and evaluate staff comments. Devocelle noted that at the Board's last retreat, Boardmembers said that this program should be evaluated in terms of cost and staffing and weighed against all other components of the plan. John Schroeer said that the discussion at the retreat concluded that this was too labor intensive at this time to be viable. Edwards said that his point is that it is premature to go public with the plan absent the Master Pollution Prevention component. David Gallup suggested moving the discussion to the end of the meeting. This was acceptable to everyone. Mulberry-Lemay Crossings PUD Eric Levine said that the he wanted to know why the Board had not been called upon to review the air quality implications of the Mulberry—Lemay Crossings PUD (Super Wal-Mart). He noted that the Planning & Zoning Board denied the proposal based on congestion level of service. Levine said that because he is concerned that the vehicle miles traveled (vmt) component was not directly addressed, he will put this on the December agenda. David Gallup asked if a PUD is exempt from City Plan requirements. Staff will check on this. Clean Screening, Lucinda Smith Lucinda Smith, Environmental Planner, introduced Dr. Jerry Gallagher, Chief of Mobile Sources for the Air Pollution Control Department. She said that Dr. Gallagher will describe the Clean Screen program to the Board. Smith noted that the Board is being asked to make a recommendation to Council. Dr. Gallagher explained that clean screening is a new, exciting air quality issue that is hoped to be convenient to motorists and protect the air quality of the community. He said the principle is to use remote sensors placed at various locations to measure CO and hydrocarbon exhaust emissions. The purpose of the screening is to find clean cars that currently pass the emissions test. Dr. Gallagher added that qualified motorists would receive cards offering a test exemption with a fee, not to exceed $15, paid to the contractor operating the program. Dr. Gallagher explained that funding for the test program in Greeley was provided by the I/M240 program. He said that the positive of the program is that it is transparent to motorists; the negative is that it is not perfect and exempts a few cars that would have failed the I/M program. Dr. Gallagher said that the loss could be recovered by encouraging people to maintain their vehicles and be willing to participate in the program. He said that the Air Quality Control ' Air Quality Advisory Boo • November 18, 1998 Page 3 Commission will take action in February, after a 60-day period for public comment, to authorize a 3-year renewable contract to operate in Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland. Dr. Gallagher said that a set target of about 35 percent of vehicles eligible in any one month represents the economic number for the operator, addresses the air quality issues and still makes the program convenient to motorists. He noted that $30,000 will be set aside for public education and outreach and can be spent at the discretion of the City. Dr. Gallagher said that a draft RFP will go out November 19, and there will be a pre -bidders meeting on December 11 for input. After that, the RFP will be rewritten and issued in February, after the AQCC meeting. The selection committee will be composed of seven people, with a representative from Fort Collins and Greeley. John Schroeer asked if there would be any City staff on the committee. Dr. Gallagher said that whoever would be the most appropriate representative would be selected. Smith noted that City Council received a demonstration and discussed clean screening at its study session. No concerns were raised, but Council is interested in the AQAB's position. Eric Levine asked Smith to put the issue about a slight decrease in air quality benefit in context. Smith presented overheads which explained that the program would lose 3 percent of the 12 percent reduction in pollution, based on the I/M240 program. Data are not available for the two speed idle emission test. Levine said that he would like to see that number. Harry Edwards said that he is confused by the Colorado Department of Public Health report dated November 10, 1998 that states there would be a slight loss of 4-7 percent. Dr. Gallagher clarified that two things were condensed in the report, and it should have stated 7 percent for hydrocarbons and a maximum of 4 percent for CO. He noted that hydrocarbons are not a major issue. Raymond Sons asked if the 25 percent of noncompliance vehicles are students registered out of state. Smith responded that the study does not point exclusively to students but does cover vehicles with outdated or missing stickers and assumes that every vehicle surveyed should be in compliance. Smith noted that the UM program may come under attack in the legislature. She said that although there may be some loss in air quality benefit with the Clean Screen program, strengthening of the program through minimizing the burden on the motorist might help retain the program if a bill is introduced to end it. Steve Perich asked what the benefit is of a loss in air quality. Dr. Gallagher responded that it would be more convenient to the motorist and give the message that if the car is kept clean, it does not need to be inspected. Air Quality Advisory A • November 18, 1998 Page 4 David Gallup said that he does not see a lot of benefit in reducing the motorist's burden. He said this is in direct conflict of the continuing goal of improving air quality and he does not support it. Eric Levine asked if affected parties, e.g., gas station owners, were contacted. Dr. Gallagher responded that the Association for Independent Inspectors were involved. He noted that the present I/M program in Fort Collins will continue until Fort Collins decides to opt out or discontinue it. The sunset provision for 2001 was eliminated. Jim Dennison asked if air quality was exceeded for ozone. Smith said that the City is not close to a long term violation of the ozone standard, but there are no data at this point. Perich asked why staff supports the Clean Screen program. Brian Woodruff said that Clean Screen makes the entire I/M program more robust and it reduces the pain for citizens to get the benefit of the program. He added that the political consequences of continuing with the I/M program are hard to gauge; there are some legislators who would like to see the program killed. Levine said that his experience is that it only takes 20 minutes to get a test every two years. Dennison said that he does it at the same time as an oil change. Edwards said that the only quantitative figure is an increase of 4 percent CO per day and an increase of 7 percent hydrocarbons. He noted that the quantifiables are detriments and there is only wishful thinking for benefits. Edwards said he is not eager to endorse this and is perplexed why staff is so enamored with the proposal. Sons said that he sympathizes with staff and the fear about future legislation, but the Board's decision needs to be based on air quality impact. Dennison noted that if Fort Collins opts out, other communities may participate and the data from that could decrease the ambiguity. David Gallup made the motion that the Board's communication to City Council indicates opposition to the Clean Screen program and the recommendation that Fort Collins opts out Raymond Sons seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-1. The Chair will prepare an explanatory note to Council stating that this is a step in the wrong direction and negatively impacts air quality through an increase in CO emissions. Staff will assist in drafting the communication to Council and the Board will review it at the December meeting. Northeast Truck Route, Brian Woodruff Brian Woodruff, Environmental Planner, reported that Council's decision on choosing a route has been delayed for at least a month. He clarified that selecting the route is the first stage of the process. The second stage, the design phase, involves how many lanes, intersections, etc. This stage is where the main air quality benefits arise. Woodruff said that Transportation Department staff will be providing comparisons of truck traffic emissions on the proposed routes and on the existing truck route. The information about air quality benefits will come after the design stage. Air Quality Advisory Bld • November 18, 1998 Page 5 Lucinda Smith said that there is a Council Study Session about route alternatives on January 12, and there will possibly be more public meetings. She noted that John Daggett, Transportation Planner, indicated that Council may direct staff to present the design choices at the same time. David Gallup said that he has received many suggestions from residents along Vine Street, and they question why the City is spending so much money to move trucks a mile away from where they are now, especially since the Mountain Vista Subarea Plan will increase traffic along the same route. He suggested looking at an Owl Canyon route with funding via a toll. Gallup calculated that, based on a construction cost of $130 million and the issuance of a bond at 6 percent interest, the toll per truck would beaW He said that he has contacted truckers to determine if they would pa to avoid driving through the City and they responded that they would be willing to pay. It was noted that the Vine proposal has a budget of $30 million from federal and state funds; this could be used for maintenance of the toll road. Harry Edwards said that this is a bold direction for the Board to move toward and is consistent with the Board's charter to continually improve air quality. Steve Perich asked who would champion the effort. Woodruff said that the Board could make the proposal to Council urging them to direct the City Manager to study this alternative. Gallup said that he will write the draft proposal and include it in the December packet. Work Plan for 1999 Linda Devocelle said that the Board's 1999 Work Plan is due to the City Clerk's office by the end of November. She presented a draft consisting of four items: 1) Items needing resolution or of concern to one or more Boardmembers; 2) AQAP Items for 1999 that may require Board involvement; 3) Council Agenda Items; and 4) Committee Assignments —1999. Devocelle said that she will draft a more detailed memo for the Clerk's office with the Board's approval. David Gallup asked if anything had been left off. Devocelle responded that there were some issues that came out of the retreat, e.g., getting involved early on issues, getting information and making appropriate decisions, that can be dealt with at the December meeting. Announcements • Brian Woodruff will replace Tom Shoemaker as staff liaison for the Board. • Linda Devocelle will be leaving the Natural Resources Department on January 22 to pursue a career in writing. Edwards suggested having a going away party at the January meeting. Master Pollution Prevention Program (cont.) Brian Woodruff explained that the proposed Master Pollution Prevention Program was to be modeled on the Master Naturalist Program. He said that staff took a hard look at the cost, time, and interest and concluded that there was not enough demand to justify the funding. Harry Edwards asked if there would be more leverage for funding if it were left in the Air Quality Action Plan. Woodruff responded, yes; if Council approved the plan, that would be a basis for a Air Quality Advisory Ad • November 18, 1998 Page 6 budgetary request. Edwards asked why it should not be left in. Woodruff said that it makes no sense because there is no demand and other tools can be used for pollution prevention. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:47 p.m.