Implementing a Successful Fugitive Dust Control Program

1. Implementing a Successful Fugitive Dust Control Program WRAP Workshop Sacramento, CA May 23-24, 2006 Karen Irwin, EPA Region 9

2. Overview • History of fugitive dust controls in Region 9 • Relevance to regional haze • Elements of an effective dust control program • Description of each element with examples • Recommendations

3. History of Fugitive Dust Controls in Region 9 • Fugitive dust sources dominate PM-10 in areas that do not meet federal standards • “Serious nonattainment areas” • Las Vegas, NV - Owens Lake, CA • Phoenix, AZ - Imperial Valley, CA • Coachella Valley, CA - Reno, NV • San Joaquin Valley, CA

4. History of Fugitive DustControls in Region 9 • State Implementation Plans addressing PM-10 have been submitted to EPA • Several areas have adopted stringent fugitive dust control measures • Important related programmatic enhancements have been developed

5. Relevance to Regional Haze • Many of the same sources • Examples of controls approved by EPA as “Best Available” are in place • Common implementation issues are experienced in multiple areas • Similar elements are needed to make programs effective • Their scope can be adjusted to suit the needs of a particular regional haze area

6. Elements of an Effective Dust Control Program • Sufficiently detailed emissions inventory • Clear and enforceable control measures • Local/state air quality rules • Local/state/federal landowner resolutions

7. Elements of an Effective Dust Control Program • Successful Enforcement • Identifying and prioritizing sources for proactive inspections • Adequate resources (e.g., inspectors) • Adequate methods to deter noncompliance • Successful Outreach and Training

8. Emissions Inventory • To determine significant sources and their percentage emissions contribution • To target a subset of sources within each significant source category for regulatory purposes • Example: heavily trafficked unpaved roads • If “borrowing” a threshold, evaluate what its coverage would provide in the area at hand • To identify and prioritize source locations for compliance purposes

9. Emissions Inventory • Resources for compiling information to develop a detailed emissions inventory • For publicly owned unpaved roads • check with city, county and state transportation agencies for traffic count estimates • request tube counts where feasible • For construction sites • check with the local permitting authority for numbers of permits issued

10. Emissions Inventory • For disturbed vacant land and privately owned sources • check with the County Recorder’s office for lot size information • conduct field surveys • consider using satellite imagery or aerial photos • For paved road sources, such as trackout, conduct field surveys to estimate silt loading or use a mobile sampler

11. Control Measures • Clear, stringent, enforceable rule requirements • Adopt specific control measures as opposed to “taking reasonable precautions to prevent dust” • Consider whether a measure is effective and enforceable as a stand-alone control option before including it as such

12. Control Measures • Clear, stringent, enforceable rule requirements • Narrowly define rule exemptions • Incorporate multiple tools for gauging source compliance - An opacity test method tailored to intermittently- generated plumes - Surface stabilization standards/test methods - Specific measures in dust control plans

13. Control Measures • City, county, and federal landowner agencies • Often have jurisdiction over many fugitive dust sources, e.g., unpaved roads, paved roads, vacant land - plans may need to rely on cities/counties for data collection • A fiscal commitment is required to pave roads, stabilize unpaved shoulders and vacant land, etc.

14. Enforcement - Reactive vs. Proactive • Reactive enforcement program • Complaint-driven, some random observations en route to facility inspections • No assurance that most sources subject to regulation are being controlled • Emphasis on mitigating only gross or obvious offenses • Can only address a source after it has become a problem

15. Enforcement - Reactive vs. Proactive • Proactive enforcement program • Targeted source inspections are routine, in addition to responding to complaints • Capable of citing both gross offenses and situations when some, but not enough, control is being applied • Emphasizes whether proper measures have been taken to prevent fugitive dust release, in addition to responding to existing problems

16. Enforcement • Identify sources by location for proactive inspections • require Dust Control Plans for construction sites • determine locations of area sources subject to requirements (a detailed inventory is useful!) • Prioritize sources by developing an inspection plan • first target sources with the greatest potential for dust (e.g., larger sites, siltiest soils, more trafficked sources) • cover all geographic quadrants

17. Enforcement Resources • Dedicate field inspectors to fugitive dust sources • Ensure an adequate number of inspectors for the size of the area/number of sources • Set target goal for # of annual or quarterly inspections

18. Enforcement Methods • Effective process of issuing NOVs & CAOs • Eliminate multiple warnings prior to citations • Raise penalty rates to meaningful levels • Expedite processing citations • Secure management support for pursuing cases and fines as warranted • Conduct follow-up inspections

19. Outreach and Training • Regularly offer dust control classes * require construction site supervisors and water truck drivers to attend and as a condition of a NOV • Require posting of dust control plans to improve awareness • Provide field manuals and sample recordkeeping forms • Provide web-accessible outreach brochures to regulated community • Develop television and radio ads

20. Recommendations • Develop an emissions inventory that provides a means to identify and prioritize sources • Adopt fugitive dust rules with specific requirements and performance standards/ test methods • Work closely with city, county, and federal landowner agencies to gain their commitment in addressing fugitive dust sources

21. Recommendations • Be willing to incorporate preventative approaches to dust control in addition to responding to visible dust episodes • Evaluate and ensure adequate enforcement resources and capability for proactive fugitive dust enforcement