Air Quality NAAQS Update

1. Air Quality NAAQS Update What ‘s on the Horizon for Louisiana Citizens Michael Vince, Air Permits Division April 24, 2013

2. Points to Cover • What is EPA’s Advance Program? • How the Air Quality Management Process works • The National Ambient Air Quality Standards • 2008 Ozone Standard • PM 2.5 Standard • What does this mean to the Monroe Area? • Current Activities • Questions?

3. What is the Advance Program? • Ozone Advance is a collaborative effort by EPA, states, tribes and local governments to encourage emission reductions in ozone attainment areas, to help them continue to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). • Voluntary Program

4. Program Goals • Help attainment areas take action in order to keep ozone and PM levels below the level of the standard to ensure continued health protection • Better position areas to remain in attainment • Efficiently direct available resources toward actions to address ozone problems quickly.

5. Why Should Attainment Areas Work to Reduce Ozone and PM2.5? • Ensure continued healthprotection • Less resource intensive to implement measures early • More flexibility to pursue a wide range of options • Proactive • Could better position some areas to stay in attainment • If eventually designated, could provide needed reductions that could result in a lower classification and/or that could feed into any eventual SIP • EPA could consider early efforts as a factor in exercising for its discretion to redesignateareas not violating in 2008-10 but violating in later years to nonattainment • Multi-pollutant co-benefits

6. Air Quality Management Process Planning Modeling Rulemaking Air Monitoring Control Strategy Emissions Inventory Permit Industry

7. There have been many iterations of federal clean air legislation, beginning in 1955. 1990 - Clean Air Act Amended to its Present Form

8. The Many Sources of Air Pollution

9. National Ambient Air Quality Standards • Developed for 6 air pollutants: Sulfur Oxides Carbon Monoxide (CO) Lead Particulate (PM 2.5 & PM10)Ozone Nitrogen Dioxide (NOx) • States are required to develop plans to implement control strategies to make air healthier and cleaner. • Two types of standards • Primary – protects public health • Secondary – protects public welfare;

10. Ground-level Ozone is: • The primary component of smog • Sometimes called “bad ozone” to distinguish it from “good ozone” – Both types of ozone have the same chemical composition (O3). –“Good ozone" occurs naturally in the upper portions of the earth’s atmosphere and forms a layer that protects life on earth from the sun's harmful rays. - “Bad" ozone is harmful to breathe.

11. Ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but forms through reaction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. Ground-level Ozone

12. Sources of NOx and VOCs • NOx forms quickly from combustion sources such as automobiles, power plants and large construction equipment. • VOCs come from paints, solvents and fuels and evaporate quickly into the atmosphere.

13. What is the 2008 Ozone Standard • Air quality across state continues to improve • EPA expected to make standard more stringent • Announcement December 2013 • Imagine a limbo bar… • 8-hour primary ozone standard to 75 parts per billion (ppb) is protective of human health • 1 ppb is equivalent to 1 drop of water in an Olympic sized pool • How is attainment determined? • Design Value – the 3-year average of the fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration measured at each monitor within an area.

14. Designations and Classifications • Designation refers to whether or not an area is above or below the standard • Attainment means that the monitor readings are at or below the standard; • Nonattainment means that the monitor readings are above the standard; • Unclassifiable means that there is no monitor data to reach a conclusion. • Classification categories are determined based on an area’s design value (applicable for ozone only).

15. What are monitors and what do they tell us?

16. Data Sources and Uses • Data from DEQ’s monitoring network is used to determine attainment with a standard • Modeling efforts • Industry reports emissions data (ERIC) which is used to develop strategies and rules to reach or maintain attainment • EPA uses ERIC-type data from every state to develop national strategies

17. Ozone Design Values 2008 - 2010

18. Ozone Design Values 2009 - 2011

19. Ozone Design Values 2010 - 2012

20. Ozone Design Values 1980-2011

21. Potential impacts of the 2008 Ozone Standard on New Nonattainment Parishes, Local Governments, Industries and Businesses • Changed Emission Inventory Requirements • Lowered Major Source Thresholds • New Source Review • Emission Offsets • RACT Requirements • Potential for Automobile Inspection/Maintenance • Regulations on small businesses (bakeries, dry cleaners, paint shops, etc.) • Transportation Conformity/General Conformity

22. Potential Economic Impact to Consumers • Increased cost to industry translates to increased cost of the products industry produces. • Higher cost of vehicle inspection stickers due to expansion of I/M program. • Increased fuel costs.

23. Transportation Conformity • A special point on highway funding: • In nonattainment areas, the Clean Air Act requires a formal interagency process to establish procedures for consultation between MPOs, EPA, FHWA, FTA, and State and local transportation and air quality agencies. • Highway funding can be held up without this process in place. Transportation improvement plans must conform with air quality state implementation plans. (The SIP)

24. Recent Change to PM2.5 Standard

25. PM2.5 Annual Mean Trend

26. What is the role of DEQ? • Work with community leaders and businesses to develop pollution control strategies • Working with EPA Advance Program • Work with industries to develop pollution control strategies • Submit recommendations to EPA for area designations/redesignations • Rule revisions and promulgation • Compilation and submittal of State Implementation Plans (SIP) for areas designated nonattainment.

27. Implementation of state rules through the SIP • A specific set of plans for reducing air pollution emissions • Required by federal law (Federal Clean Air Act) for areas not meeting the NAAQS • Incorporates control strategies • Sets forth technical and regulatory process for demonstrating attainment and maintenance requirements

28. Getting back to Attainment • Baton Rouge Area rules • VOC Controls in DEQ Air Rules – Chapter 21 • NOx Controls in DEQ Air Rules – Chapter 22 • DEQ Modeling efforts underway • Will help determine if these or other rules would be effective in reducing ozone levels in other areas of the state. • Federal Rules help address vehicle emissions and fuel formulations

29. National Rules that Impact Ozone, NOx, PM2.5 • Clean Air Visibility Rule • Cross State Air Pollution Rule • Clean Air Nonroad Diesel Rule • Light-Duty Vehicle Tier 2 Rule • Heavy Duty Diesel Rule • Locomotive and Marine Vessel Rule • Small Spark-Ignition Engine Rule • Revisions to Fuel Standards • Refinery Consent Decrees

30. Now, Back to the Advance Program

31. Who Can Participate? • States, tribes, local governments • Councils of Government • Other stakeholders, in conjunction with any of the above • “Lead”participant?

32. What Are the Criteria for Program Eligibility? • Area must not be nonattainment for either 1997 or 2008 8-hour ozone or the PM2.5 standard at the time the they are accepted into the program. • Maintenance areas • Eventual Marginal areas • Local entity should generally identify the area • DEQ will identify the monitor(s) that reflect the area’s air quality • Required emissions inventory reporting should be complete (DEQ handles this)

33. How do I Participate? • Submit a letter of intent to EPA prior to initial designations of nonattainment • Must be received by EPA BEFORE you are designated as nonattainment • Copy LDEQ on your submittal • Submit to: Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) Attention: Laura Bunte – Ozone Advance Program C304-01 109 TW Alexander Drive Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 OR via email to: ADVANCE@epa.gov • DEQ can provide a letter template

34. What Does Participation Mean for You? • Work to Develop a “path forward” plan within a year • Plan should • Use best efforts to move quickly toward identifying steps that may reduce ozone and PM2.5 levels • Implement path forward, measures/programs as soon as possible • Collect information as to plan effectiveness • Informal status check-ins with EPA at least annually

35. Other Ideas • Formation of local Air Quality Coalition • Serve as lead for Advance Program • Coordinate and track local projects • Ozone Awareness Campaign • Meteorologist Training • News Spots highlighting ozone and PM2.5

36. Ideas for Emission Reductions • Area Sources • On-road Engines • Idling Reduction Policies (Schools and Municipalities) • Alternative Fuels and Repowers (Ethanol, biodiesel and natural gas conversions) • Bossier City/Parish Natural Gas Conversions • School Buses, Public Transport and Utilities Truck Retrofits (Diesel Particulate Filters and Oxidation Catalysts) • Caddo Parish DOCs and Caddo Public Schools Buses DPFs • Non-road Engines • Requiring use of lower emitting equipment for local projects • KCS and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Automatic Engine Start-Stop Switches (Emissions Reductions and diesel fuel savings) • Point Sources • DEQ existing rules for VOC and NOx • Voluntary actions by industry • Consumers using less electricity helps utilities to cut back

37. Who is In Advance Program? • Lake Charles – IMCAL and Chamber of Commerce • Shreveport – Chamber of Commerce, Coordinating and Development Corporation, Shreveport, Bossier City • Baton Rouge – CRPC and BRCAC • New Orleans – SCRPD and RPC • Lafayette – still not signed up • Monroe and Alexandria??

38. Advance Program Local Contacts DEQ Michael Vince: michael.vince@la.gov 225-219-3482 Vivian Aucoin: vivian.aucoin@la.gov 225-219-3389 Gilberto Cuadra: gilberto.cuadra@la.gov 225-219-3419 Mailing Address: DEQ Air Permits Division Ozone Advance Program P. O. Box 4313 Baton Rouge, LA 70821

39. Questions about Ozone Advance EPA Headquarters Laura Bunte EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (919) 541-0889 ADVANCE@epa.gov EPA Region 6 Carrie Paige (214) 665-6521 Website: www.epa.gov/ozoneadvance

40. Air Quality Awareness Month • EPA – May is Clean Air Month • DEQ – May is Air Quality Awareness Month • Television Spots • Governor Proclamation • Increasing local activities with Advance Program

41. Thank You!

42. Questions? • Do you know some of the most polluting equipment we use on a daily basis ? • Two-cycle gasoline powered string trimmers, chain saws and blowers are bad for both VOC and NOx emissions • About 30% of the fuel that you put into the tank for these items comes right back out unburned thru the exhaust.

43. Questions? • Using your push lawnmower for an hour will produce how much pollution? • In an hour, a push mower will produce the same HC+NOx as a car driven 257 miles, and the same CO as one driven 401 miles. • To put it another way, assuming a car averages 40 miles per hour, a push mower produces more HC+NOx than six cars and the same CO as 10.

44. Questions? • Which is worse for the environment: driving a massive, exhaust-belching diesel-sucking big rig 100 miles or walking down the street in hemp sandals, bamboo shorts and a reclaimed burlap poncho to a locally-owned restaurant, and ordering a grass-fed, locally-farmed angus beef hamburger? • For comparison, an 18-wheeler diesel engine truck would have to drive 143 miles on the freeway to put out the same mass of particulates as a single charbroiled hamburger patty.(UC Riverside)