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February 2016 l Volume 2016-1

In This Issue

Air District Adopts New Refinery Rule and Amendments
Air District Develops Consumption-Based GHG Inventory
Community Grant Program Awards Announced
Great Race Winners Announced
Air District Settles with Shell
Air District Settles with Valero
Air District Offers Millions in Grants

Welcome!

Welcome to the latest issue of the Bay Area Air District’s Air Currents newsletter. In this issue, you’ll find articles about the Air District’s adoption of a new set of refinery rules and amendments, and the agency’s involvement in the development of a consumption-based greenhouse gas inventory for the Bay Area. Other articles cover the recipients of the James Cary Smith Community Grant Program awards, the local winners of the Great Race for Clean Air, and two recent financial settlements with local refineries. Current grant opportunities are also summarized.

Air District Adopts New Refinery Rule and Amendments

Industry

On December 16, the Air District’s Board of Directors unanimously adopted one rule and two new rule amendments, part of a larger overall suite of new refinery-focused regulations that further tighten air pollution controls on petroleum refining activity in the Bay Area.

The rules and amendments are as follows:

- New Regulation 6, Rule 5 (Particulate Emissions from Refinery Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Units), which will establish new limits and control requirements on these units.

- Amendments to Regulation 8 (Organic Compounds), Rule 18 (Equipment Leaks), which will broaden standards to include all equipment that handles heavy liquids.

- Amendments to Regulation 11 (Hazardous Pollutants), Rule 10 (Hexavalent Chromium and Total Hydrocarbon from Petroleum Refinery Cooling Towers), which will reduce emissions of organic compounds, toxics and methane by requiring rapid detection, minimization and repair of leaks.

The new rules stem from an October 2014 Air District Board of Directors resolution instructing staff to develop a regulatory strategy that would further reduce emissions from local refineries. The current amendments are the first step in implementing the Air District’s Refinery Emissions Reduction Strategy, which will reduce emissions from Bay Area refineries by as much as 20 percent by 2020.

Three additional refinery rules are moving through the public review process, and will be considered by the Air District Board later in 2016.


Air District Develops Consumption-Based GHG Inventory

GHG Inventory Map

The Air District has collaborated with the UC Berkeley Cool Climate Network to develop a consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the Bay Area. 

The consumption-based inventory estimates the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in the production of the full array of goods and services from all over the world that are consumed by Bay Area residents, regardless of where these goods were originally produced.

This new inventory supplements the Air District’s existing production-based emissions inventory that measures the amount of greenhouse gases, or GHGs, discharged into the Bay Area atmosphere from local sources such as industry and transportation. Together, the two inventories tell a more complete story of how the region contributes to global climate change.

The consumption-based inventory is based on a full life-cycle analysis of the emissions generated in the production, use and disposal of each type of product or service.  The inventory estimates emissions for several hundred categories of products within the five basic areas of transportation, housing, food, goods and services.

The inventory estimates the average household GHG footprint at the neighborhood, city, county and regional scale. Maps are provided to show the variation in the size and composition of the average household GHG footprint both within cities and across the region.

The consumption-based inventory will be used to inform development of a Bay Area regional climate protection strategy, to identify potential GHG reduction policies, to assist climate planning activities of local cities and to help Bay Area residents to reduce their individual GHG footprints.

Community Grant Program Awards Announced

Innovative Clean Air Projects

In January, the Air District announced the recipients of the 2016 James Cary Smith Community Grant Program awards.

The Air District is funding 11 community-based partnership projects within the nine-county Bay Area region for a total of $261,274. The projects will increase awareness about air quality issues and initiate ways to reduce air pollution.

Ten of the selected projects are located in Bay Area communities, identified through the District’s Community Air Risk Evaluation, or CARE, program, that experience concentrated air pollution and related public health effects. One of the selected projects targets a non-CARE community adjacent to major freeways. All of the projects either partner with a community-based organization—Girls Inc., Rich City Rides, Hunters Point Family, La Clínica de la Raza, Inc.—or with one of 18 local high schools.

The James Cary Smith Community Grant Program was initiated to allow the Air District to work with local communities on projects that reduce air pollution. The program is named after the former community outreach manager who helmed the agency’s initial pilot community grant program in 2009-10. Mr. Smith passed away in 2015 from ALS.

The Grant program solicited applicants from within the Air District’s nine-county jurisdiction including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, as well as southern Sonoma County and southwestern Solano County.

The 2016 award winners include: 

- Breathe California of the Bay Area
- Breathe California Golden Gate Public Health Partnership
- Center for Climate Protection
- Cool the Earth
- Earth Team
- Hunters Point Family
- La Clínica de La Raza, Inc.
- Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
- Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment
- San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Education Fund
- Strategic Energy Innovations

Air District Announces Great Race Winners

Great Race for Clean Air

In December, the Air District announced the results of the Great Race for Clean Air, a competition between Bay Area companies to see whose employees could reduce the most CO2 by carpooling, vanpooling, biking, walking or riding transit to work instead of driving alone. This is the fifth year of the Bay Area-wide commuting competition.

During September and October, 526 employees from 47 companies logged their daily air-friendly commutes. Approximately 325,788 pounds of CO2 were reduced by employees who chose not to drive to work alone.

Winners were chosen in three categories: highest CO2 savings, highest percentage of “clean commute days” logged and highest percentage of employee participation. CO2 savings were calculated based on the length of the employee’s commute, their vehicle’s gas mileage and the number of miles that were traveled using one of the commute alternatives.

The companies with the highest overall CO2 savings were:

1st Place - Nektar Therapeutics, Inc.
2nd Place - Gilead Sciences, Inc.
3rd Place - City of San Jose      

The companies with the highest participation rates (categorized by company size):

Mini (1-25 employees)

1st Place - Hacienda Owners Association
2nd Place - Walk San Francisco
3rd Place - Commute.org

Small (26-100 employees)

1st Place - HDR, Inc.  
2nd Place - Peanut Labs & Research Now
3rd Place - Motiv Power Systems

Mid-Size (101-500 employees)

1st Place - Nektar Therapeutics, Inc.
2nd Place - Taulia
3rd Place - Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

Large (501-1000) - No employers met the minimum 5 percent participation threshold

Extra Large (1001+) - No employers met the minimum 5 percent participation threshold

The companies with the greatest number of “Clean Commute Days” per participant (employer's total clean commute days divided by number of participants):

1st Place - Juniper Networks
2nd Place - Solazyme, Inc.
3rd Place - Murakami/Nelson

The Great Race for Clean Air was sponsored by the Air District in partnership with 511 Rideshare, 511 Contra Costa, Commute.org, the San Francisco Department of the Environment, and Solano-Napa Commuter Information.

Air District Settles Case with Shell Oil Refinery

smokestack

The Air District announced a recent settlement with Shell Oil Products U.S. to pay a $208,000 civil penalty for air quality violations at its refinery in Martinez.

The settlement covers 12 notices of violation that the Air District issued for incidents that occurred in 2013.

The violations included a hydrogen sulfide discharge following the start-up of an aerator at a biotreatment pond, discharges of nitrogen oxides for longer than 20 hours, and carbon monoxide releases and opacity exceedances from furnace operations. Violations also included hydrocarbon emissions from storage tanks and from Shell’s failure to maintain minimum coke moisture content at its coke-handling facility.  Some violations were for administrative failures, including late reporting and mislabeled components.

Shell had reported each of the incidents to the Air District.  The Air District issued the notices of violation following its investigations into these incidents.  Shell has corrected all of the violations.

All settlement funds will be used to fund Air District activities, such as the inspections and enforcement activities that led to this settlement.

Air District Settles Case with Valero Refinery

Refinery

The Air District has settled with Valero Oil Co.-California for $196,000 in civil penalties for air quality violations at its refinery in Benicia.

The settlement covers 23 notices of violation that the Air District issued for incidents that occurred in 2012.

The two most significant violations involved errors in an inspection database that resulted in missed leak inspections for valves that were omitted from the database.  Eight of the violations were brief exceedances of emission limits as measured by monitors that continuously measure emissions from refinery equipment.  Six violations were hydrocarbon vapor leaks from valves or seals on storage tanks, and seven involved late reports or other minor administrative violations.

All of the violations were corrected as soon as they were discovered.

All settlement funds will be used to fund Air District activities, such as the inspections and enforcement activities that led to this settlement.

Air District Offers Millions in Grants

Grant Funds

Carl Moyer Program - Funding is available for the upgrade or replacement of diesel engines and equipment, including trucks, off-road equipment, marine engines, locomotives and agricultural equipment.  Applications are being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until all funds are awarded.  www.baaqmd.gov/Moyer

Goods Movement Program - www.baaqmd.gov/goods - Applications will be accepted in early 2016 for the upgrade or replacement of the following types of freight movement equipment:
- Diesel trucks/engines
- Transportation refrigeration units
- Cargo-handling equipment

Voucher Incentive Program - Funding is available for diesel truck replacements and retrofits.  Applications are being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until all funds have been allocated.  www.baaqmd.gov/VIP

Lower-Emission School Bus Program - Funding is available for school bus retrofits, public school CNG tank replacements and public school bus replacements.   www.baaqmd.gov/LESBP

Bicycle Racks and Electronic Bicycle Lockers (Public Agencies)
- Funding is available to public agencies that purchase and install new bicycle racks and electronic bicycle lockers through the Bicycle Rack Voucher Program (BRVP) and the Electronic Bicycle Locker program. The application deadline for both programs is June 3, 2016. www.baaqmd.gov/grant-funding/public-agencies/brvp and www.baaqmd.gov/grant-funding/public-agencies/bike-racks-and-lockers

Plug-in Electric Vehicle Rebate Program (Public Agencies) - Funding is available to public agencies who purchase or lease zero- and partial zero-emissions light-duty cars, neighborhood electric vehicles and motorcycles.  The application deadline is June 3, 2016, unless funds are exhausted sooner. www.baaqmd.gov/grant-funding/public-agencies/pev-rebate

Advanced Technology Heavy Duty On-Road Truck & Bus Program (Private Entities and Public Agencies) – Coming soon! Funding will be available to private entities and public agencies who purchase or lease zero-emissions heavy-duty buses and trucks. This program is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2016.