July 21, 2008
The Philadelphia Diesel Difference - Working Group Meeting
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)
190 North Independence Mall West,
8th Floor,
Philadelphia, PA 19106
IN ATTENDANCE:
Jim Black, Clean Air Council
Eric Cheung, Clean Air Council
Fred Cummings, City of Philadelphia Division of Aviation
Sean Greene, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
Thomas Huynh, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Lisa Magee, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Mike McClurkin, MDM Consulting
Roberta Perry, EPW Associates
Alison Riley, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Jack Schweitzer, Amtrak
Dan Snowden, PennDOT
Dennis Winters, Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Program
MINUTES TAKEN BY:
Eric Cheung
INTRODUCTIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
During the introductions Roberta Perry explained that she is with a consulting firm called Environmental Professionals at Work. It is a woman-owned/minority-owned business that works on environmental management systems and OSHA compliance.
Alison said that EPA Region 3 DERA grants have been awarded and official announcements are forthcoming. Alison is also waiting to hear about the PADEP AFIG grant for a new CNG vehicle in the City fleet. The City will apply for funding to cover a new CNG fueling station too.
Alison said the City is going to move forward with clean diesel procurement language for its own contracts that are not funded through PennDOT. PennDOT is still reviewing the language for construction projects that it does fund. The City will need to work out how the clean diesel procurement requirement is enforced.
Alison, Eric and Bill Jones attended the Faster Freight Cleaner Air East Coast Conference in New York. Alison said there were good presentations made at the conference, which are available for viewing at: http://www.ffcaeastcoast.com/agenda.html. She highlighted some new technologies on the horizon to look out for including zero-emission ships, maglev trains and fuel cell-powered tugboats.
Alison mentioned that the region had a Code Red day for ozone last week. She will be speaking at the Northern Transportation and Air Quality Summit, which takes place August 13 – 15 in Baltimore. Alison noted that Eric was quoted in a recent AP article on anti-idling. PDD was mentioned in the article.
The Air Pollution Control Board will be meeting on August 5. It will be looking at a number of proposed regulations, including one that will impact dry cleaners. Alison reported that the Board roster has been filled.
Tom provided more details on the proposed dry cleaner rule. He said originally the Air Pollution Control Board requested that AMS come up with regulations regarding perchloroethylene (or perc). Although the U.S. EPA set out regulations concerning dry cleaners, AMS wants something stronger. The proposed dry cleaner rule is still in the draft stage because operators are complaining that the regulations would cover dry cleaners that are co-commercial, or only share walls with commercial buildings.
Alison noted that the State of Pennsylvania is offering $650 million in loans or grants for energy-related projects. Her contact for this program is Jean Dworetzky. Lastly, Alison noted that the U.S. EPA DERA Emerging Technologies RPF is out. It offers $3 million for two to five cooperative agreements involving the use of nonverified diesel-reducing technologies.
PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:
Eric reiterated that he spoke to an Associated Press reporter about anti-idling and PDD. The resulting article was picked up by publications across PA, as well as outside of the state. (see http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/07/green_options_can_save_green_i.html). It was even included in Time magazine. Eric reported that he had sent out a mailing to over 200 heavy duty fleets in Philadelphia requesting them to fill out a diesel retrofit survey and encouraging them to sign onto the “interested fleets” form.
Eric said that he gave a presentation on the Philadelphia port retrofits at Tioga and Packer terminals at the Faster Freight Cleaner Air conference in New York. Eric remarked on the number of alternative fuel vehicle vendors at the Conference exhibit hall. Eric opined that natural gas and propane, after seemingly fading in popularity, may be making a comeback as a viable alternative fuel to petroleum diesel. Eric also observed that Conference demonstrated the tension among ships, trains and highway trucks as to what the best way to transport goods will be in the future. Lastly, Eric mentioned that the Administrator for the Panama Canal presented on their channel-deepening plans. The Administrator’s conclusion was that once the Canal is deepened to accommodate larger ships, it will be the responsibility of East Coast ports to deepen their waterways in order to receive these ships.
Eric said he had tabled on PDD at a North Philadelphia community event and that Clean Air Council’s work with Pennsylvania on the statewide anti-idling outreach campaign should begin this fall. Eric stated that Alison had submitted the Philadelphia Diesel Difference Working Group for consideration under U.S. EPA Region 3’s Mid-Atlantic Environmental Achievement Awards.
COMMITTEE UPDATES:
Eric reported that the Council is retooling its Port work and plans to meet with Port Environmental Task Force stakeholders this summer to determine what its next steps should be.
GRANT UPDATES:
Eric explained that the two projects Clean Air Council submitted on behalf of PDD were not awarded U.S. EPA DERA funding. He is planning on taking the proposal with National Construction Rental and submitting it to the U.S. EPA Emerging Technologies DERA grant.
ONE MINUTE UPDATES:
Mike McClurkin mentioned that he is working with Dennis Winters on developing an E85 ethanol corridor.
Lisa Magee said she has not heard from U.S. EPA about its DERA proposal. She added that the Green Ports initiative has narrowed down the list of potential consultants to perform an environmental assessment at the ports to four. A candidate should be selected by the end of the year.
Dan Snowden stated that all information concerning clean diesel procurement requirements have been forwarded to the Bureau of Construction and Materials. If PennDOT decides to implement the clean diesel requirements, it will be incrementally.
Tom Huynh warned that the Philadelphia region will not meet the federal ozone standards for 2009, because of the high ozone levels this summer. He added that the region is violating even the older, less stringent ozone standards. Further, Tom reported that a D.C. court vacated the U.S. EPA CAIR rule, which would have resulted in SO2 and NOx reductions. Tom noted that Pennsylvania was counting on these reductions for its State Implementation Plan. The state and U.S. EPA are figuring out what to do in the aftermath of this decision.
Sean Greene concurred with Tom that the region is seeing more ozone violations even under the older standard. He said that power plants are the problem as their increased contribution to pollution outweighs any emission reductions coming from the transportation sector.
Fred Cummings announced the Philadelphia International Airport received Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) program funding for gate electrification and preconditioned air.
Dennis Winters noted that ethanol fuel is coming on line quickly between here and state college with 8 to 9 E85 stations in place now. Dennis added that he is working on a local event for National AFV Odyssey Day, October 3. He welcomed any suggestions or assistance.
MONTHLY PRESENTATION:
Alison gave a presentation reviewing Philadelphia’s sustainable activities. She began by noting that the traditional pollutants of concern were criteria pollutants, air toxics, land contamination and water pollutants. Now the City is also focusing on greenhouse gases. Philadelphia has the following environmental programs: Local Action Plan for Climate Change (in place since April, 2007), Green Plan Philadelphia (this plan addressing park and trail improvements will be fully unveiled this fall), Water Department efforts to charge stormwater fees, Zoning Code reform to encourage smart growth and energy efficiency, Single Stream Recycling citywide and a Zipcar partnership and potential new bikeshare program. PDD is also part of the list of existing environmental programs.
As for new environmental initiatives, the City has the following: Imagine Philadelphia (a riverfront development plan that includes an expansion of PATCO), Solar Cities ($200,000 has been awarded to bring about a market transformation for solar energy), Sustainable Skylines (U.S. EPA-funded umbrella program for various environmental initiatives), LEED training, CNG fueling and fleet reductions, and Fairmount Park reorganization.
Alison noted that living in cities is becoming more attractive due to higher fuel prices. Philadelphia hopes to be able to better compete with other cities for this increased demand through its sustainability focus. Alison added that Mark Alan Hughes, the new Director of Sustainability, will present a State of the Sustainable City each year in April. Alison explained that Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability has no official staff and that existing staff working on green issues in various City departments will provide support to the Director. The Office of Sustainability will, however, absorb the old Municipal Energy Office.
As for near-term plans, the Sustainability Director would like Philadelphia to come up with its own version of PlaNYC, which is New York City’s comprehensive plan for a sustainable city in the face of an increased population and changing economy. Philadelphia is also looking to include performance metrics in PhillyStat, which will make city agencies responsible for their own energy bills. Also, the City wants to develop a sustainability fund to provide agencies with a funding source for green projects.
NEXT MEETING AND LOCATION:
The next meeting will be held September 15, 2008.
