• Board Acts to Reduce Gas Station Emissions
• Hearing Set on Fiscal 2000-01 Budget, Fees

In Other Action and News:

• Board Approves Battery-Dominant Vehicle Project
• AQMD Participates in Earth Day Events Across Southland
• Vernon, Huntington Park, AQMD Co-Host Clean Air Fair

The Governing Board today strengthened Rule 461 – Gasoline Transfer and Dispensing – to significantly reduce smog-forming as well as cancer-causing toxic emissions from some 3,700 gas stations and 1,900 private fueling stations in the region. Recent audits at gas stations have shown low rates of compliance with air quality regulations due to poor reliability of hardware and inadequate maintenance. The changes to the rule will require more frequent testing of underground storage tanks, gas pumps and associated hardware to ensure that vapor recovery equipment is functioning efficiently.

The strengthened measure will reduce smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by six tons a day. It also will eliminate up to 19 tons per day of excess VOC emissions that have resulted from poor compliance. In addition, it will reduce emissions of benzene, a cancer-causing toxic air contaminant, by 197 pounds a day, which represents a 52% reduction. If gas stations had no vapor recovery devices, they would be one of the largest sources of VOCs in the region, emitting 170 tons per day.

To improve compliance with pollution control requirements at gas stations, AQMD’s Board voted to increase the frequency of vapor recovery equipment inspections from once every five years to:

• Once every six months for retail stations that pump 100,000 gallons or more of gasoline a month, starting Nov. 1, 2000;
• Once a year for retail stations that pump less than 100,000 gallons of gas a month, and for all non-retail stations, starting on May 1, 2001.

Other new requirements include training for equipment testers, timely reporting of test results to AQMD, closing gas pumps that fail a test until they are repaired and retested, and testing replacement parts sometimes installed when motorists inadvertently drive away with the gas nozzle still in their gas tank.

The rule will cost a total of $9.6 million annually, mostly for increased testing and repairs. That cost could increase the pump price of gasoline by about one-fifth of one cent -- less than $1.60 a year for the average driver.

The Rule 461 amendments also will fulfill the air toxics reductions at gas stations called for in AQMD’s recently adopted Air Toxics Control Plan. The amendments are expected to make emissions inventory requirements in AQMD’s Rule 1402 unnecessary for gas stations. AQMD also will assess the effectiveness of Rule 461 and CARB requirements as well as available technology to determine the need for additional air toxic reductions from gas stations.

AQMD shares regulation of gas stations with the California Air Resources Board. In general, CARB specifies standards for and certifies vapor recovery equipment while AQMD permits gas stations, performs inspections and ensures compliance. In March, CARB adopted a series of requirements to modernize vapor recovery equipment to be phased in between 2001 and 2008. While CARB’s requirement will benefit air quality in the long term, AQMD’s measure will help reduce emissions immediately and assure that CARB’s improvements will remain effective in the future.

The Board has set a public hearing on May 19 to consider amendments to Regulation III – Fees, which staff has introduced to support AQMD’s proposed fiscal 2000-01 budget.

Staff has proposed an operating budget for the coming fiscal year of $86.8 million, down from $91 million in the current fiscal year. Projected revenues are $85.3 million, down from an expected total of $88.5 million this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The Board will hold a workshop on the budget at 1 p.m., Friday, April 28 and a hearing on the budget on May 19 at the same meeting it will consider revisions to AQMD’s fees.

The revisions to Regulation III would raise fees by 2.9%, equal to the California Consumer Price Index, as well as raise emission fees by an additional 8.1%. Emissions are declining from the large facilities that pay emissions fees as regulations require cleanup of pollution, yet AQMD must continue to inspect and monitor these facilities to ensure regulatory compliance.

In addition, a $50 per person fee for employee transportation training would be set pursuant to Rule 2202. AQMD staff now conducts the training instead of outside consultants, who charged significantly more money. Other proposed changes would:

• Increase the per nozzle compliance fee for gasoline stations from $12.20 to $25.11 to fund additional inspectors (see item above);

• Increase the current fee for processing Title V permit applications for the largest facilities in the region to allow AQMD to fully recover costs; and

• Simplify and adjust fees for the Hearing Board, which grants temporary variances from AQMD rules, for instance by combining filing fees with appearance fees.

• Approved a $400,000 co-sponsorship of a $2.8 million project for the University of California, Davis, to develop a "battery-dominant" Chevrolet Suburban. Battery-dominant vehicles are powered primarily by a battery-electric motor and secondarily by a gasoline-powered engine.

AQMD staff members participated in three Earth Day events this month and will join in three others on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22.

The events, free and open to the public, are:

• Inland Empire Environmental Expo, Cal State San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• EarthExpo 2000 at Universal CityWalk, Universal City, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• EarthFaire 2000 (formerly Heal the Bay) at Exposition Park, Los Angeles. Run for the Bay starts at 8:30 a.m. The event concludes with a 7 p.m. fireworks show.

The Cities of Huntington Park and Vernon, in collaboration with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, will co-host a Clean Air Fair on Saturday, April 29 at the Municipal Park Recreation Center, 3401 E. Florence Drive, in Huntington Park.

Activities planned for the day include a clean-fuel vehicle exhibit, information booths, as well as clowns and face painting to entertain the children. The fair will last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Neighboring cities, utility companies, and other government agencies are invited to co-sponsor the event, which will help educate residents on how air pollution affects their health, what is being done to improve the air quality and how they can reduce their exposure to toxic air contaminants.

During the Clean Air Fair AQMD representatives will discuss the findings of the District’s recent toxic air pollution monitoring study and the agency’s new toxic air pollution control plan, as well as talk with residents about local air quality concerns.

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