State of California
AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Summary of Board Meeting
December 7 and 8, 2000

Air Resources Board
Board Hearing Room, Lower Level
2020 L Street
Sacramento, California

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Hons. Alan C. Lloyd, Ph.D., Chairman
Dr. William A. Burke
Joseph C. Calhoun, P.E.
Doreen D'Adamo
Mark DeSaulnier
C. Hugh Friedman
William F. Friedman
Matthew R. McKinnon
Barbara Riordan
Ron Roberts

AGENDA ITEM #

00-12-1

Public Meeting to Consider the Review of the Health-Based California Ambient Air Quality Standards

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEM:

The Board approved the report, Adequacy of California Ambient Air Quality Standards: Children's Environmental Health Protection Act, prepared by the Board and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment staff. The conclusions of the report were that health effects may occur in infants and children and other potentially susceptible subgroups exposed to several pollutants at or near levels corresponding to current standards. The report found that the standards with the higher priority for review were particulate matter (PM10) including sulfates, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide. Standards with a lower priority for review were carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and lead. The standard with the highest priority for review was PM10. The Board directed staff to prepare this review for the April 2002 Board meeting.

ORAL TESTIMONY: None

FORMAL BOARD ACTION:

The Board approved Resolution No. 00-43 by a unanimous vote.

RESPONSIBLE DIVISION: RD

STAFF REPORT: Yes (397 pages)

00-11-2

Public Meeting to Consider Proposed Guidelines for a Zero-Emission Vehicle Program Pursuant to AB 2061

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEM:

Staff presented proposed guidelines for implementing a zero emission vehicle incentive program pursuant to Health and Safety Code sections 44260-44265 (AB 2061, Statutes of 2000, Lowenthal). This $18 million ZEV grant program will be administered statewide by the Air Resources Board, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development. Local air quality management or air pollution control districts may administer the program on a voluntary basis. A maximum grant of up to $9,000 may be provided to individuals, local governments, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses that purchase or lease a new zero emission vehicle between October 1, 2000, and December 31, 2002. The new ZEV must meet specified criteria outlined in the guidelines to be eligible for a grant.

ORAL TESTIMONY:

FORMAL BOARD ACTION:

The Board approved Resolution No. 00-38 by a unanimous vote.

RESPONSIBLE DIVISION: MSCD

STAFF REPORT: Yes (18 pages + appendices)

00-12-2

Public Meeting to Consider the Proposed Lower-Emission School Bus Program Guidelines

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEM:

In the fiscal year 2000-2001 state budget, Governor Gray Davis provided $50 million to implement a program to help school districts replace and retrofit buses. The Air Resources Board (ARB or Board) was charged with overseeing the program and developing program guidelines. ARB staff presented the proposed Lower-Emission School Board Program Guidelines to the Board for consideration. The primary goal of the program is to reduce school children's exposure to both cancer-causing and smog-forming pollution.

Through the combined approach of replacing and retrofitting older, high-polluting school buses, the program will reduce emissions of both particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Part 1, the $37.5 million Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement and Infrastructure Program directs $25 million to fund lower-emission alternative-fuel buses and infrastructure, and $12.5 million to fund lower-emission diesel buses. Part 1 of the program will be administered, in compliance with the approved guidelines, by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and up to ten large air districts. Awards for new buses and alternative-fuel infrastructure will be made to school districts through a non-competitive process. Approximately 350 new full size school buses will be funded. The ARB staff estimates that 870 tons of NOx and 73 tons of PM will be reduced from 2001 through 2015.

Part 2, the $12.5 million School Bus PM Retrofit Program, will fund up to 2000 PM retrofit devices that, installed, will reduce PM emissions from an in-use diesel school bus a minimum of
85 percent. Air districts that choose to participate will administer Part 2, in compliance with the approved guidelines. Awards for purchase and installation of retrofit devices will be made to school districts in a non-competitive process. ARB staff estimates that PM emissions will be reduced by approximately 150 tons from 2001 through 2010.

ORAL TESTIMONY:

FORMAL BOARD ACTION:

The Board approved Resolution No. 00-44, with several revisions, by a 9-1 vote. First, the Board allocated $12.5 million to the School Bus PM Retrofit Program, an increase of $2.5 million; and allocated $12.5 million for purchase of diesel-powered replacement buses, a decrease of $2.5 million. Thus, the school bus replacement and infrastructure program is allocated a total of $37.5 million. Second, the Board reduced the required school district contribution for new bus purchases to 15 percent, with a maximum of $15,000, for those school districts demonstrating financial hardship. ARB staff was directed to consult with CEC staff and jointly establish the eligibility criteria. The Board also recognized additional grant funding is needed to replace and retrofit many more high-polluting diesel school buses throughout the state and indicated support for future state funding for this purpose.

RESPONSIBLE DIVISION: MSCD

STAFF REPORT: Yes (38 pages + appendices)

00-12-3

Public Hearing to Consider Requiring Certain California Light- and Medium-Duty Vehicles to be Subject to Federal Tier 2 Exhaust Standards, and Adopting Additional Exhaust Emission Standards for Heavy-Duty Gasoline Vehicles and Engines

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEM:

The staff proposed amendments to the California Code of Regulations (CCR), title 13, sections 1956.8 and 1961, and to the emission standards and test procedures incorporated by reference in those sections. The proposed amendments change the Low-Emission Vehicle II (LEV II) regulations to require that, beginning with the 2004 model year, a manufacturer may not certify California light- or medium-duty vehicles to less stringent standards than its federal counterpart. Whenever a manufacturer certifies a 2004 or subsequent model vehicle to a federal emissions standard that is more stringent than the applicable California standard, the manufacturer would have to certify the California model to either (1) the California standards for a vehicle emissions category that are at least as stringent as the corresponding federal standards, or (2) the federal exhaust emission standards to which the federal model is certified. The proposed amendments also align California exhaust emission standards for heavy-duty otto-cycle (gasoline) engines with the recently promulgated federal standards for the 2005 and subsequent model years.

Fifteen-day changes proposed by staff at the Board hearing included provisions that allow manufacturers to sell qualifying federal vehicles prior to the 2004 model year, allow 2004 and earlier model year federal heavy light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles covered by the program to certify to federal evaporative emissions and on-board diagnostics requirements, delete the requirement that a federally-certified vehicle model must be marketed in California when the otherwise comparable California model uses a different aspiration method or fuel, provide manufacturers with credit for the additional benefits achieved by federally certifying vehicles to optional 150,000 mile emission standards, and make various nonsubstantive corrections.

ORAL TESTIMONY: None

FORMAL BOARD ACTION:

The Board approved Resolution No. 00-45 by a unanimous vote.

RESPONSIBLE DIVISION: MSCD

STAFF REPORT: Yes (42 pages)

00-12-4

Consideration of Research Proposals

The Board approved Resolution Nos. 00-46, 00-47, 00-48, 00-49, 00-50, 00-51, 00-52, and 00-53 by a unanimous vote.

00-12-5

Public Hearing To Consider Amendments To Adopt Not-To-Exceed And Euro III European Stationary Cycle Emission Test Procedures For The 2005 And Subsequent Model Year Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEM:

The staff proposed that the Board adopt California Code of Regulations (CCR), title 13, article 1.5 and section 2065; amend CCR, title 13, section 1956.8; and the incorporated "California Exhaust Emission Standards and Test Procedures for 1985 and Subsequent Model Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines and Vehicles."

The previous certification requirements for new heavy-duty diesel engines produced for sale in California were based on compliance with emission standards under conditions specified by the Federal Test Procedure (FTP). In the 1990s, it was found that seven of the largest heavy-duty diesel engine (HDDE) manufacturers violated certification regulations by turning off, or defeating, emission control devices during in-use highway driving. Consequently, the Department of Justice, United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the Air Resources Board signed consent decrees with the seven engine manufacturers. The settling manufacturers are required, among other things, to produce HDDEs that meet a 2.5 g/bhp-hr FTP limit on non-methane hydrocarbons plus NOx emissions no later than October 1, 2002. The majority of these settling manufacturers have also agreed to produce engines by October 1, 2002 that meet supplemental certification procedures including the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) and the EURO III European Stationary Cycle (ESC) tests. The consent decrees stipulate that these requirements must be met for a period of two years. Together with the FTP test, these supplemental test procedures will require control of emissions over the majority of real world conditions. The U.S. EPA has already adopted the supplemental test procedures for the 2007 and subsequent model years.

The proposed amendments include adoption of two supplemental test procedures identical to those required in the consent decrees for 2005 and subsequent model year HDDEs, two years earlier than the Federal requirements. The proposed NTE test procedure provides a wider range of transient test conditions during certification of an engine. Additionally, this test procedure can be used for chassis and in-use testing. The emission cap in this test is 1.25 times the applicable FTP limit. The proposed ESC test procedure tests an engine over 13 specific steady-state modes of operation. Emissions over the test modes are weighted and the emission cap for this test is equivalent to the applicable FTP limit. The 12 non-idle test points of this test procedure are used to determine maximum allowable emission limits. The proposal also includes two exemptions from the proposed tests for the 2005 and 2006 model years, one for "ultra-small volume manufacturers" and another for "urban buses."

The estimated excess NOx emission reduction due to the proposed supplemental test procedures is 8.4 tons per day in 2005 and 17.3 tons per day in 2006. This estimate is for California registered vehicles only. Based on current sales distribution of the two weight classes, the weighted average cost effectiveness is estimated at $0.17 per pound of excess NOx reduced. This is well within the range of cost-effectiveness determined by previous regulatory action within the past decade.

ORAL TESTIMONY:

FORMAL BOARD ACTION:

The Board approved Resolution No. 00-53 by a unanimous vote.

RESPONSIBLE DIVISION: MSCD

STAFF REPORT: Yes (81 pages)

Copyright 2000