June 16, 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
Francine Carlini, PA Department of Environmental Protection
Eric Cheung, Clean Air Council
Sean Greene, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
Darlene Heep, City of Philadelphia Law Department
Thomas Huynh, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Bill Jones, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 3
Lisa Magee, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Urszula Miezio, Johnson Matthey
Alison Riley, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Dan Snowden, PennDOT
Dennis Winters, Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Program

MINUTES TAKEN BY:
Eric Cheung

INTRODUCTIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Alison reported that the City submitted a proposal for EPA DERA funding as well as a PADEP AFIG proposal.  Also, the City applied for EPA Source Reduction Grant funding to set up a geothermal pump in South Philadelphia.  The City held a Green Building 101 Training Workshop and about 100 participants from a variety of departments attended.

Alison met with the New Sustainability Director, Mark Alan Hughes, to discuss City green programs, including the role of AMS and PDD.   He will begin working July 7.  Dennis Winters remarked that Hughes will be speaking at the Academy of Natural Sciences Thursday night. 

Alison announced that Philadelphia was awarded EPA Sustainable Skylines funding and the first meeting of the Working Group met.  Clean diesel technologies and anti-idling will be a part of the Working Group’s plan.  Alison added that U.S. EPA Region 3 is requesting nominations for its Mid-Atlantic Environmental Achievement Awards.  Bill Jones added that anyone interested in applying should let him know.  Registration for the Faster Freight Cleaner Air East Coast Conference in July is now open. 

Next Alison reviewed last month’s MDC Urban Fleets Sector conference call.  The participants heard about Washington DC’s anti-idling program.  Alison was impressed by how involved the community was – citizens can issue violations of anti-idling laws themselves.

Alison reported that ASTM will be voting on a B20 biodiesel specification this week.  Anyone who is a member can vote.  The City has had four ozone action days recently.  AMS is looking for ways to encourage people to reduce their fuel usage on ozone days.  Sean Greene mentioned that the Air Quality Partnership is running ads on Comcast during the ozone season.  He further noted New Jersey Transit and DART offer discounted rates during air quality action days, but he is unsure if this leads to increased ridership. 

Alison said that there was an explosion involving a Ford CNG F350 at a PGW facility recently.  According to PGW, this was an isolated minor incident involving a failed engine cylinder.  There were no flames.  PGW is still investigating the accident.  Lastly, Alison and Darlene Heep will be meeting with the City’s procurement department next week to discuss implementing clean diesel requirements for construction projects that are not funded by PennDOT.  Alison is still waiting for PennDOT to review such requirements for projects that are state funded.   

PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:
Eric reported that he is still working on updates to the website, including a revamped Working Group minutes section and a news blog.  He did note that web statistics indicate an inexplicable increase in visits last month – 463 for May.  He added that PDD is on track for over 500 web visits in June. 

Eric stated that a mailing to all Philadelphia heavy duty fleets is about to go out.  The mailing will include a PDD survey to determine if any of them have completed clean diesel projects and will also invite the fleets to sign on to PDD’s committed fleets form.  Eric submitted comments on behalf of PDD to Green Building Initiative concerning its Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings.  Specifically PDD requested that the use of clean diesel technologies be included in the protocol. 

Eric and Alison attended a Green Airport Air Quality Subcommittee meeting back in May. Alison presented to the Subcommittee group about the City’s clean diesel construction procurement language.  The Airport seemed interested in adopting similar language for construction projects on its property.  Lastly, Eric noted that the Council will begin doing outreach in Southeastern Pennsylvania this fall on the state’s forthcoming anti-idling rule.  Outreach targets include heavy duty fleets, townships and police departments.   

COMMITTEE UPDATES:
Eric reported that the June meeting for the Port Environmental Task Force was cancelled, because the coordinator Sean Jacobs left the Council.  The next meeting will be sometime in September.  In the meantime the Council will be meeting with different members of the Task Force this summer to see where the group wants to go from here.  The Council sees its first phase of work at the ports, involving outreach and education, coming to an end this fall with the Environmental Management Systems workshop.

GRANT UPDATES:
Eric said that he submitted two EPA DERA proposals for PDD.  One involves retrofitting National Construction Rental vehicles, including the replacement of one truck with a hybrid diesel version.  The other proposal is a retrofit project on behalf of the municipalities that signed on to PDD’s committed fleets form.  EPA added that PADEP’s AFIG program is still accepting proposals.  He also said that Clean Air Council has been awarded EPA CARE Level 2 funding to pay for some of the environmental projects at the ports that were recommended as a result of work done under the initial round of funding.  Dennis Winters remarked that the National Construction Rental proposal could be upgraded to include the use of plug-in hybrid technology.

ONE MINUTE UPDATES:
Dan Snowden stated that executive management at PennDOT is looking at the City’s proposed clean diesel procurement language with PADEP. 

Dennis announced that Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities is holding its next meeting next Tuesday.  Philadelphia Clean Cities reimbursed four E85 ethanol stations that opened up along a corridor that runs from here to State College.  These stations had been held up because of National Environmental Policy Act requirements.  Dennis noted that the center city ethanol station is not doing well, because its prices are too high.  Alison added that the City is having difficulty finding biodiesel suppliers. 

Tom Huynh said he attended the Green Airport Steering Committee meeting.  The Airport will be using a new program called NextGen.  This program will enable more efficient coordination of airplanes before take-off and during loading, which should reduce emissions.

Urszula Miezio reported that Johnson Matthey is applying to put its SCR technology on the EPA’s emerging technologies list for the upcoming DERA funding. 

Lisa Magee noted that the Port applied for DERA funding to retrofit its ship-to-shore gantry cranes at the Packer terminal.  Lisa added that Green Ports RFP for a consultant to recommend environmental improvements at the ports has yielded many responses.  Green Ports is a cooperative effort with South Jersey Port Corporation and Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA).  The latter authority has offered up seed money to pay for the consultant’s assessment as well as the cost of implementing some of the consultant’s recommendations.  Announcements will be coming out concerning channel deepening at the Port.

Jim Black mentioned that he observed trackless trolleys on Oxford Avenue.

MONTHLY PRESENTATION:
Bill Jones presented on the new EPA locomotive and marine diesel rule.  Bill said the final rule was announced March 14.   Full phase-out of the rule will be complete by 2017.  Bill noted that the rulemaking was complicated by the variety of engine sizes and applications involved. 

There are three parts to the rule: