May 19, 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
Fred Cummings, City of Philadelphia Division of Aviation
Sean Greene, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
Glenn Havens, Engine Control Systems
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
Joanne Maxwell, Amtrak
Robert Neff, PA Turnpike Commission
Alison Riley, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Dan Snowden, PennDOT
Kevin Stewart, American Lung Association
MINUTES TAKEN BY:
Eric Cheung
INTRODUCTIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Alison began the meeting by announcing that the City has hired a Sustainability Director, Mark Alan Hughes, who is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Alison attended the full meeting of the Next Great City stakeholders and updated them on the latest progress with city fleet retrofits. The first installment of Sunoco funding has already been committed. A second installment of about $400,000 is coming soon to be used as a match for other grants. Alison is applying for EPA DERA funding for the City fleet and more PADEP AFIG funding to cover the incremental cost of using biofuels.
The City is looking into applying for an EPA Source Reduction Assistance Grant to cover a geothermal HVAC system in a recreational center. Alison will give a presentation on clean diesel construction contract language at the next Green Airport Air Quality subcommittee meeting. UPS announced that it has ordered 200 hybrid electric diesel trucks for its delivery fleet.
Alison mentioned that the next MDC Urban Fleets Sector conference call is coming up on May 29. A presentation on Washington DC’s anti-idling enforcement will be given during that call. Construction, School Bus and Goods Movement Sector calls are also coming up.
PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:
Eric reported that he tabled for PDD at the Air Quality Partnership 2008 Ozone Season Kick-off event at King Of Prussia (April 25), the May Fair at Clark Park (May 10), and the Urban Sustainability event on “Sustainability and Faith” at the Academy of Natural Sciences (May 15). He also wrote a column for the Next Great City’s “Voices of Philadelphians” series, which talks about PDD’s effort to reduce diesel emissions in the region. The column can be read here: http://www.nextgreatcity.com/node/580.
Eric said he will be attending the Green Airport Air Quality Subcommittee meeting tomorrow with Alison. He is reworking the PDD minutes page on the website and is setting up a separate PDD blog to handle news updates.
COMMITTEE UPDATES:
Eric said that the three Port reports have been completed. Water Quality and Land Use are available on the Council’s website and the Air report is currently being reviewed by the Port Environmental Task Force for their comments. There will be a third Mid-Atlantic Ports workshop in November, this time focusing on Environmental Management Systems. Finally, the next meeting of the Task Force will be held June 5 at the Council’s office.
GRANT UPDATES:
Eric reminded everyone that the U.S. EPA Region 3 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) RFP is out. He said he is considering PDD proposals involving municipalities, school districts, Philadelphia International Airport and National Construction Rental.
ONE MINUTE UPDATES:
Dan Snowden remarked that the clean diesel procurement requirement language is still being discussed at PennDOT.
Eric noted that Clean Air Council currently is working on two campaigns for the Natural Resources Defense Council: one involves opposing coal-to-liquid and the other involves passing federal legislation to address global warming.
Sean Greene said that DVRPC’s Draft Demonstrations of Transportation Conformity of the FY 2009 Transportation Improvement Programs and the Destination 2030 Long Range Plan are available for public comments.
Lisa Magee said that the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority is working on a DERA proposal. In addition her organization is partnering with the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) and the South Jersey Port Corporation on a joint Green Ports initiative. The three port authorities announced at a recent press conference that they will be hiring a consultant to assess Port facilities and recommend actions they can take to be more environmentally friendly. The authorities will then look for funding to implement these recommendations. Lisa noted that the DRPA is funding the initiative. On a related matter, Eric shared a phone call he received from DRPA asking about recommendations for toll pricing schemes to encourage cars that cross the Ben Franklin Bridge to be more fuel efficient.
Bill Jones reported that the Green Globes program is redoing its specifications relating to construction and there will be an opportunity to comment on them through June 9. The Green Globes is a green building ratings system similar to LEED. Green Globes is run by the Green Building Initiative. He added that EPA is working on an intermodal study comparing CO2 emissions from rail transport with emissions from truck transport.
Joanne Maxwell introduced herself as the Environmental Management Systems Director at Amtrak. She noted that Amtrak is evaluating the impact of EPA’s new locomotive and marine diesel rule on its vehicles. Most of Amtrak’s locomotives are housed in Wilmington for this region. Amtrak has applied for Carl Moyer grants for clean diesel projects in California. Bill added that EPA’s presentation on the new locomotive and marine diesel regulation is available on-line. EPA will be funding three genset switcher locomotives in Norfolk, Virginia.
Robert Neff said the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has 41 2008 model year vehicles in its fleet with 14 more on order.
Jim Black shared that when he canvasses for the Council, the people he talks to may not agree with him on the Council’s position on global warming or coal-to-liquids, but they always agree that something needs to be done about diesel emissions.
MONTHLY PRESENTATION:
Kevin Stewart, Director of Environmental Health at the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, spoke about his organization’s recently released 2008 State of the Air report. Kevin began by explaining that the American Lung Association formed in 1892 to study tuberculosis. The State of the Air report originated in response to EPA’s 1997 ozone standards, which the Lung Association found was difficult for the public to understand. The Lung Association wanted to be able to communicate information on ozone health standards in a way that was useful, so it devised a system of grades and rankings. The first State of the Air report came out in 2000.
Kevin clarified that the State of the Air reports are not of the moment, but rather are based on past data. For instance the 2000 report used 1996-1998 data. The goal of the State of the Air reports is to cover every county that has an air quality monitor.
Although the fine particulate standards came out in 1997, lawsuits delayed implementation until 2001. The 2004 State of the Air report included fine particulates for the first time. A new fine particulate standard (35 micrograms per cubic meter) was set in 2006. The 2007 State of the Air report incorporated this new standard. Similarly the new ozone standard set this year (75 ppb) will be reflected beginning with the 2009 State of the Air report.
Kevin then focused on the findings of the 2008 report regarding ozone. Kevin reminded the group that ozone pollution increases susceptibility to respiratory infections and allergies. Studies indicate that a 10 ppb increase in ozone over an 8-hour period causes approximately 3,700 premature deaths.
In order to get a passing grade, an area cannot violate the ozone health standards more than three times a year, which is roughly what is needed to remain in attainment of the federal health standard. Philadelphia is among the Top 50 worst counties in the country for ozone. Since 1996, however, it has improved, dropping from an average of 15 ozone violations a year to about 6. In 2000 Pennsylvania had 22 of its counties receive failing grades, and no As or Bs. In 2008 only 8 counties in Pennsylvania received failing grades. Two of them received As and another 8 received Bs. Kevin anticipates that some of the counties may experience grade drops with the new standards coming into effect.
Kevin then turned to fine particulates, which has both daily and annual standards. Long-term exposure to fine particulates causes a risk of death from lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. Philadelphia County ranking is improving and this year it is above 60th worst in the country for particulates. Under long-term fine particulate pollution, seven Pennsylvania counties received a failing grade and 11 passed. As for short-term fine particulate pollution, 18 Pennsylvania counties received a failing grade compared with 12 failing grades in 2006. Kevin said this can be attributed to the new fine particulate standards. Similarly, Philadelphia experienced 10 violations a year under the short-term fine particulate standard, up from 8 violations a year in 2006.
Surprisingly Pittsburgh edged out Los Angeles to be the worst county for short-term fine particulate pollution in the country. Pittsburgh’s particulate problem comes from its coke factory. Meanwhile, over the years, Los Angeles has been able to reduce its fine particulate emission through transportation improvements. Pittsburgh is the second worst county for long-term fine particulates and may move up to first place in 2009.
In response to questions from the audience, Kevin explained that the Lung Association has no national position on the health impact associated with greenhouse gases. It is looking to see if there are any specific impacts on lung health attributable to global warming. Kevin also noted that Philadelphia’s ozone ranking is comparable with other major neighboring metropolitans like Washington DC/Baltimore and New York.
MEETING WRAP-UP
Tom announced that Philadelphia has issued an order banning facilities from testing emergency generators on air quality action days.
NEXT MEETING AND LOCATION:
The next meeting will be held June 16, 2008.
