Comment Log Display

You state:

In the development of the research topics included in this plan,
ARB staff coordinated with numerous State and federal agencies and
partners, including federal agencies spanning the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), the Department of
Energy, the Department of Transportation, the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences; other State agencies including the
Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, the California Energy
and Public Utilities Commissions, the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans), the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment, Housing and Community Development, the Strategic
Growth Council; and local air districts and non-governmental
organizations such as the Health Effects Institute (HEI) and the
Coordinating Research Council.

Comments:

Missing is coordination of agencies around the unexpected or
unplanned aspects of air quality such as the Fukushima Nuclear
Plant incident release of a radioactive plume expected to arrive on
the West Coast from Japan.  

You state:

Using California’s existing GHG monitoring network, ARB is
investigating the sources and trends of CH4 emissions in Los
Angeles by complementing a five-year GHG monitoring project funded
by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The initial
analysis, utilizing the monitoring network data, suggests a
potentially large underestimation of CH4 and N2O, but further work
is necessary to confirm the results and then attempt to identify
the source(s) of the poorly characterized emissions. ARB’s mobile
monitoring platform was successfully deployed at a landfill and a
natural gas compression station, and further work is planned to use
mobile GHG instruments to better characterize sources of CH4 and
N2O and assess local impacts of implemented regulations. Some of
the sources to be monitored may include oil and gas production
sites, natural gas pipelines, wastewater treatment plants,
landfills, and composting facilities.

Comments:

Missing from Los Angeles is a study of any hydraulic fracturing and
release of emissions.  With oil underground and methane systems
with minimal to no monitoring, methane emissions are an issue. 
There is a ongoing study from a Boston professor on methane release
(in Los Angeles).  Grassroots Coalition, citizen activists, has met
with the South Coast AQMD regarding new equipment that monitors
this release.

Densely populated areas are affected with Health and Safety issues
aka lives at risk.

These real issues affecting the health of the population must be
addressed as emergency measures and included in this plan.

Joyce Dillard
P.O. Box 31377
Los Angeles, CA 90031