AGENDA: 10
BAY AREA AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
Memorandum
To: Chairperson Attaway and
Members of the Board
 
From:   William C. Norton
Chief Executive Officer
 
Date:   October30,2002
 
Re:   Public Hearing to Consider Proposed Amendments to Regulation 8, Organic Compounds, Rule 7, Gasoline Dispensing Facilities and Approval of a Negative Declaration pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
 

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends the Board of Directors take the following actions:
  • Adopt proposed amendments to Regulation 8, Rule 7, Gasoline Dispensing Facilities; and
  • Approve a Negative Declaration pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for this rule-making activity
BACKGROUND
Regulation 8, Rule 7 applies to gas stations, called gasoline dispensing facilities in the rule. The rule requires most stations to have vapor recovery equipment that captures gasoline vapors generated when gasoline is transferred from a tanker truck to the station and when gasoline is dispensed into motor vehicle fuel tanks. The proposed amendments would incorporate into the rule periodic testing requirements for vapor recovery equipment. Many stations are already required to perform this periodic testing by conditions in equipment permits or equipment certification documents.

Regulation 8, Rule 7 was amended in 1999 to implement Control Measure SS-08 (Emission Reductions From Gasoline Dispensing Facilities) from the 1999 San Francisco Bay Area Ozone Attainment Plan. In 1999, the District submitted the amended rule to EPA for inclusion in the State Implementation Plan (SIP). On July 25, 2001, the EPA issued a limited approval and a limited disapproval of the amended Regulation 8, Rule 7 in the Federal Register (66 Fed. Reg. 38561, July 25, 2001).

The proposed amendments to Regulation 8 Rule 7 are primarily intended to correct the deficiencies noted by EPA. EPA has reviewed the proposed amendments and has indicated that the changes address their concerns.
DISCUSSION
EPA based their limited disapproval of the rule on the following items:

The rule cites the California Health and Safety Code (CH&SC) instead of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) for a list of vapor recovery system defects.

The rule does not incorporate any periodic reverification testing requirements to ensure continued proper operation of vapor recovery equipment.

The proposed amendments address EPA’s concerns by incorporating the CCR reference to the defects list into the regulation and by amending Sections 8-7-301 and 8-7-302 to require annual reverification testing for all facilities with vapor recovery equipment.

District staff prepared a CEQA analysis of the proposed amendments, concluding that the proposed amendments would not have any significant adverse environmental impacts. Staff recommends that the Board approve a Negative Declaration for this rule-making activity pursuant to CEQA requirements in Public Resources Code § 21080(c) and CEQA Guidelines 15070 et seq.

The draft amendments were discussed at a public workshop on June 21, 2002. The final proposal and CEQA negative declaration have been circulated for public comment.

The proposed amendments, a staff report, the CEQA negative declaration and initial study, and the Federal Register notice of EPA’s limited approval/limited disapproval are attached.

Respectfully submitted,

William C. Norton
Chief Executive Officer

Prepared by:   Scott Owen
Reviewed by:  Peter Hess





Attachment #1 - Proposed Amendments to Regulation 8, Rule 7
Attachment #2 - Staff Report
Attachment #3 - CEQA Document
Attachment #4 - Federal Register Notice