State of California
AIR RESOURCES BOARD

Summary of Board Meeting
December 11, 1997

Bay Area AQMD Building
Board Room, 7th Floor
939 Ellis Street
San Francisco, California

MEMBERS PRESENT: Hons. John D. Dunlap, III, Chairman
Joseph C. Calhoun, P.E.
Mark DeSaulnier
Lynne T. Edgerton, Esq.
William F. Friedman, M.D.
Jack C. Parnell
Barbara Patrick
Sally Rakow
Barbara Riordan
Ron Roberts
James W. Silva

AGENDA ITEM #

97-10-1 Continuation of Public Meeting to Consider the Approval and Verification of California's 1995 Emission Inventory Update

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEM:

SB 2174, passed in 1996, requires the Board to approve, at a non-regulatory public meeting, the emission inventory for criteria pollutants, including emissions from mobile, stationary, area-wide, and nonanthropogenic sources. The law also requires verification of the emission inventory using available scientific data, including measured pollution, and an explanation of any discrepancies. The Board's first inventory approval must occur not later than January 1, 1998, and must be revisited at least every three years thereafter.

The staff recommended the Board approve the statewide, annual average, 1995 Emission Inventory. This is the latest year for which an inventory is available. The staff further recommended the Board accept the staff's verification of the inventory and proposed amendments to the staff report which clarified the verification findings.

The Board approved the 1995 annual average emission inventory and its verification. The Board also approved the proposed amendments to the staff report and it will be reprinted as amended. The requirements of SB 2174 have been satisfied.

ORAL TESTIMONY:

K.C. Bishop
California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance

Jack Lagarias
Retired Air Resources Board member

FORMAL BOARD ACTION:

No formal action was required.

RESPONSIBLE DIVISIONS: TSD, MSCD, AND OAQTP

STAFF REPORT: Yes (59 pages plus attachments presented at November Board meeting). Recommended amendments to the staff report (6 pages)

97-10-2 Public Hearing to Consider Adoption of Regulatory Amendments to the California Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection Program and Periodic Smoke Inspection Program

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEM:

This agenda item proposed amendments to the California Code of Regulations, title 13, section 2180 through 2177 and sections 2190 through 2194.

The programs governed by these regulations, the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspection Program (HDVIP, roadside program) and the Periodic Smoke Inspection Program (PSIP, fleet program) control excessive smoke from heavy-duty vehicles through roadside smoke inspections and annual fleet self-inspections. The roadside program has been temporarily suspended and the fleet program enforced on a voluntary basis.

The consistency and repeatability of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J1243 snap-idle test used in the programs was brought into question by the trucking industry. An SAE committee developed a new test procedure, SAE J1667, that was adopted in 1996.

Assembly Bill 584 (Stats. 1993, ch. 578, Cortese) required that the smoke test must produce consistent and repeatable results and result in no false failures. The legislation asserts that adoption of SAE J1667 will satisfy this.

Summary of significant proposed amendments:

1. Designate SAE J1667 test as the test procedure for determining smoke opacity under the HDVIP and PSIP.

2. Maintain existing smoke opacity standards of 55% for pre-1991 model year engines and 40% for 1991+ engines.

3. Establish a Notice of Violation for pre-1991 engines whose smoke levels exceed 55% but less than 69%.

4. Retain exemption provisions and existing exemptions.

5. Require a demonstration of correction.

6. Phase in the PSIP over a 15-month period.

7. Grandfather in fleet-owned SAE J1243 smokemeters until July 1, 1999.

8. Exempt engines in their first four years from the PSIP.

9. Define excessive smoke as smoke exceeding the opacity of the applicable standard.

ORAL TESTIMONY:

Betsy Crowder
Citizen

Michael Block
Engine Manufacturers Association

Stephanie Williams
California Trucking Association

Richard Skaggs
California Bus Association

Marc Becker
Marc Becker Diesel Fuel Injection

Ken Hendrickson
H.G. Makelim Co./Robert Bosch

Steve Soriano
Citizen

Michael Colburn
ACR World Wide, LLC

Tom Campbell
Natural Resources Defense Council

FORMAL BOARD ACTION:

Approved Resolution 97-44 by a unanimous vote.

RESPONSIBLE DIVISION: MSOD

STAFF REPORT: Yes (26 pages plus attachments)