MINUTES

REGIONAL AIR QUALITY COUNCIL

Thursday, July 6, 2000
City of Lakewood

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Jim Scherer, CHAIRMAN
Dennis Arfmann, Holme Roberts & Owen
Theresa Donahue, City & County of Denver
Jane Norton, Colo. Dept. Public Health & Environment
Tom Norton, Colo. Dept. of Transportation
Don Parsons, City of Northglenn / DRCOG
Dave Sladek, The Clayton Group
Sharon Votruba, City of Thornton
Melanie Worley, , Douglas County

MEMBERS NOT IN ATTENDANCE:

OTHERS PRESENT:

Ken Lloyd, RAQC; Misty Howell, RAQC; Gerald Dilley, RAQC; Laura Hagg Nelson, RAQC; Annmarie Jensen, RAQC; Doug Lempke, AQCC; Shirleen Tucker, APCD; Jim Ives, City of Aurora; Mike Silverstein, APCD; George Gerstle, CDOT; Sam Spronk, NREL; Aaron Brooker, NREL; Robin Smith, FHWA; Steve Carpenter, City of Lakewood; Mark Komp, EPA; Cindy Rosenberg, EPA; Wendall Winger, PUC; Bob Brady, AQCC; Stan Dempsey, Colorado Petroleum Association; Dick Plastino, City of Lakewood; Bob Murphy, City of Lakewood; Jim Brandon, ESP; Frank Johnson, Attorney General's Office; Frank Gray, City of Lakewood; Steve Burkholder, City of Lakewood; and Doug Benevento, CDPHE

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The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jim Scherer at 3:05 p.m. A quorum was present.

Approval of the Agenda

Theresa Donahue moved to approve the agenda. Seconded by Dennis Arfmann. Motion passed without objection.

Approval of the Minutes

Dennis Arfmann moved to approve the minutes. Seconded by Theresa Donahue. Motion passed without objection.

Informational Items

Chairman:

Jim Scherer informed Council that he will be out of the country during the August 3rd meeting. He will be back for the final discussion on the mobile sources report at the special August 24th meeting.

Executive Director:

Ken Lloyd reminded Council of the special meeting on August 24th to complete the inspection/maintenance report to the Governor. He also indicated that the September meeting will be in Westminster.

Ken informed Council of that he has been invited to speak at the Governor’s Brown Cloud Summit in Phoenix, Arizona in August. In June, Jerry Dilley went to the Mid-Atlantic States Particulate Conference to talk about PM2.5 inventory issues. Laura Hagg Nelson spoke to the National Environmental Health Association in June. Ken indicated that other areas are looking at what we have been able to do in the Denver area.

Ken invited Council and others attending to a gathering at his house after the meeting.

Members:

No Reports.

Committees:

No Reports.

Local Community Presentations

Mayor Steve Burkholder welcomed the Council to Lakewood’s new Civic Center South. He handed out a fact sheet for the new Civic Center, which is part of Lakewood City Commons, a mixed-use development with retail, restaurants & residential uses and civic, cultural and library facilities. He also gave Council an overview of the project.

City of Lakewood - Ozone Activities

Dick Plastino, Public Works Director, informed Council of the measures Lakewood’s Public Works Department is taking to help reduce ozone pollution. Measures include delaying fueling of vehicles until later in the day; postponing mowing when they can; keeping mowers well maintained; stopping at the click when fueling vehicles; keeping city vehicles on maintenance schedules; using water-based paints and advising employees to not idle engines.

City of Lakewood - Mixed Use and Transit-Oriented Development

Frank Gray, Director of Community Development, reviewed some of the mixed-use and transit-oriented development projects Lakewood is currently pursuing. The projects include the Civic Center complex, which Mayor Burkholder talked about, the redevelopment of the Villa Italia Mall, the Vance Street Promenade project, and the Cold Springs Park-N-Ride expansion project. The Vance Street Promenade project is a development project for the corner of Colfax and Wadsworth. The project will be pedestrian friendly and geared toward neighborhood use. The City of Lakewood is working to increase parking at the Cold Springs Park-N-Ride by adding a parking facility, as well as making it a mixed-use transportation hub. Currently, the Park-N-Ride is on Federal land so Lakewood is working to annex the land.

National Renewable Energy Lab - Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Sam Sprik, from NREL, reviewed the specifications of Toyota’s new hybrid electric vehicle. He explained how these vehicles work. Council looked at the car. He indicated that the new Toyota would get higher gas mileage in the city than on the highway.

NREL has an advisory program which reviews how well hybrid vehicles work. They also look at the thermal management of the batteries.

Public Comment and Discussion

None.

Report from Air Quality Control Commission

Doug Lempke, Technical Secretary for the AQCC, reviewed the information discussed by the Commissioners at their June retreat. During the retreat, the Commissioners decided to hold a December date to discuss the PM-10 maintenance plan. The Commissioners also finalized the Annual I/M Report to the Legislature. Copies were distributed.

Doug then informed Council that the next meeting of the AQCC will be held in Pueblo. The agenda items for this meeting do not pertain to the Denver metropolitan area.

Audit of 1999 Financial Statements

Ken Lloyd reviewed the audit and asked Council if there were any questions. Council asked for a management letter from the auditors. Staff will follow up.

Council also asked about funding letters for 2001. Ken indicated that letters have been sent to all cities. County letters will be sent out shortly.

Sharon Votruba moved to accept the audit. Seconded by Dave Sladek. The motion passed without objection.

Mobile Sources Subcommittee Update

Melanie Worley indicated that the mobile sources subcommittee meetings have had good attendance. Jim Scherer informed Council that the subcommittee will review the draft recommendations at its July 10th meeting. The draft report will be forwarded to Council at the August 3rd meeting.

Jane Norton commended Melanie Worley, Jim Scherer and Ken Lloyd on the work of the subcommittee. She also gave Council a copy of comments to be forwarded to the subcommittee.

Jim Scherer reminded everyone that the mobile sources subcommittee would be meeting on July 10th at 8:30 a.m.

Ozone Action Awareness Program

Laura Hagg Nelson gave Council an overview of the Voluntary Ozone Awareness Campaign. The June 1st press conference to kick off ozone season was well attended. There have been 5 ozone action alerts called so far this season. The awareness program was mentioned 35 times from June 1 - 14 on Channels 2,4,7 and PBS. There has been coverage in the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post, as well as radio coverage from Jefferson Pilot Communications, Clear Channel and Metro Networks. Articles have been published in many local government newsletters.

Staff has made presentations to City Councils and staff, Transportation Management Organizations (TMOs), businesses and citizen groups. Some of the presentations were aired live on Channel 8 as part of the local government’s city council meeting.

Laura reviewed the dates and locations for deploying the Smart Sign. It will be in Aurora July 10-16, Douglas County July 17-22, Northglenn July 24-31 and Boulder August 14-21. Laura gave Council copies of statistical information gathered from the Smart Sign when it was located in Lakewood. Similar information will be compiled from each location.

Laura informed Council that the “Put a Cap on Ozone” gas cap replacement program began on June 14th. Nearly 2,000 gas caps have been replaced. The program is being funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation (DCOT) and Envirotest.

Staff also worked with the Greater Metro Telecommunication Consortium to produce “Metro Voices: The Air We Breathe”, a cable show discussing ozone pollution and what can be done to prevent it. The show was aired on June 21. Members of the Consortium will receive copies of the tape and be asked to air it again in July as part of their Channel 8 programming. Laura thanked Don Parsons for his participation in the show.

As part of the RAQC’s outreach efforts, 4,500 “Stop at the Click” stickers have been distributed to local gas stations. Diamond Shamrock and Total stores have also agreed to display brochures and flyers in each store.

Council watched video clips of the action alert coverage.

PM-10 Maintenance Plan

Ken Lloyd reviewed the options for developing the PM-10 maintenance plan. He reminded Council that the Denver metropolitan area has not violated the PM-10 standard since 1993. RAQC and APCD staff were hoping to use EPA’s Limited Maintenance Plan (LMP) policy to produce the PM-10 maintenance plan. However, EPA policy has undergone several changes and final policy status is uncertain. The Denver metropolitan area no longer meets all the LMP criteria.

The RAQC and APCD staff proposed using the modeling approach used in the current PM-10 SIP. Ken outlined some of the issues involved. The proposed approach includes:

Ken indicated that by using this approach, Council would be able to better evaluate the direction that should be taken to prepare the PM-10 Maintenance Plan at the September meeting. Council directed staff to go forward with this approach.

There was some discussion on the benefits of redesignation to an attainment area.

Ozone Standard Update

Ken Lloyd informed Council that EPA had made its decision regarding reinstating the one- hour ozone standard. EPA has reinstated the 1-hour standard, as well as previous attainment/non-attainment status. EPA has given areas, like Denver, 6 months to get redesignated as attainment without any additional requirements. After the 6 month period, new source review and transportation conformity would apply. Ken indicated that 6 months would not be sufficient time for submitting a new maintenance plan.

Ken suggested that staff work with EPA to see what would be required to get the current ozone maintenance plan approved through EPA. He reminded Council that a maintenance plan was submitted in 1996.

Council did not see the logic behind EPA’s decision to reinstate the designations, especially since the Denver metropolitan area has not violated the standard since 1987. There was discussion of other options, which included appealing to Colorado’s congressional delegation for assistance and having the State sue EPA. It was noted that one option did not preclude the others. Council asked Staff to lay out the various options and distribute it to Council for review.

EPA’s Proposed Diesel Emission and Fuel Standards

Council decided to postpone this discussion.

Ken Lloyd indicated that he attended the public hearing held in Denver on June 29, 2000.. He reminded Council that comments to EPA on this issues are due by August 14.

Based on testimony offered at the hearing, the proponents and opponents of the standards are listed on the last two slides of the handouts. Stan Dempsey, Colorado Petroleum Association, indicated that the petroleum industry is against the standards because of the cost impact on fuel supply, geographic competition issues and gasoline sulfur requirements.

There being no further business before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.