January 8, 2007

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
Ken Brown, University of Pennsylvania
Eric Cheung, Clean Air Council
Fred Cummings, City of Philadelphia, Division of Aviation
Morris Fine, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Kirt Flowers, Amtrak
John Hadalski, City of Philadelphia, Water Department
Darlene Heep, City of Philadelphia, Law Department
Sean Greene, DVRPC
Jack LeBeau, Environmental Health Research Foundation
Lisa MaGee, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Darlene Messina, City of Philadelphia, Managing Director's Office
Anthony Santianello, Philadelphia City Planning Commission
Jack Schweitzer, Amtrak
Dan Snowden, PennDOT
Alison Tracy, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services

MINUTES TAKEN BY:
Alison Tracy

INTRODUCTIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Morris welcomed the group and discussed the special items in the agenda: namely, a discussion of the PDD Rules and Charter, and a viewing of a retrofitted diesel truck in lieu of a presentation.

AMS is working to address queuing issues near Packer Terminal and the Food Distribution Center in South Philadelphia. Alison and an Inspector from AMS went to view the problem and saw dozens of trucks idling alongside the roads near the Terminal, particularly Columbus Blvd. and Pattison Ave. AMS contacted the Streets Department, and they are now doing an investigation to determine the feasibility of placing "No Idling" sings along those roadways. You may recall that AMS met with Jim Gunner of PMGM to discuss this issue, along with retrofit contract requirements for the relocated Food Distribution Center and the planned roadway that will connect it to Columbus Boulevard.

The MDC grant has yet to be finalized, but we hope to have official word on funding of Philadelphia's Fire Engine Retrofit project, which was included in the MARAMA grant proposal, in the next few months.

AMS recently met with a group called the green Airport Partnership which is attempting to initiate a Green Airport Advisory Committee here in Philadelphia that will craft an 18-month plan to identify and implement green projects at PHL.

PADEP recently awarded its AFIG grants and several local projects were funded, including Philadelphia Fry-O-Diesel, Philadelphia Clean Cities and the Office of Fleet Management, which will be purchasing 1 million gallons of B20 biodiesel as well as pumping infrastructure. A grant from the Fish and Wildlife Foundation has been awarded to the Clean Air Council as part of their CARE grant work. These funds will be used as part of a stormwater management project. The Water Department assisted in reviewing their grant proposal.

PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:
The website has been updated with new content, including news, a committed fleets list, a hit counter, and a new links section. Eric is also working on revamping the look and structure of the website to make it more appealing and user-friendly.

Eric is working on following up with the construction fleets that received a commitment letter, and will be sending out a similar mailing to nearby volunteer fire departments that were not covered by last year's municipal fleets mailing. In the next few months one of PDD's goals will be to identify a committed fleet that could be funded through CMAQ. Eric will also follow up with Waste Management-a refuse hauling firm that has done retrofits in Gilbertsville, PA-to see if they would consider retrofitting vehicles in the Philadelphia area. Morris reminded the group that Alison and Darlene have been working on contract language that would mandate retrofits in city public works contracts. Such a policy could facilitate the funding of offroad construction vehicle retrofits through CMAQ. Currently, AMS and Law are coordinating with the City's Procurement Department and PennDOT to make sure the proposed language fits with current state and local policies.

COMMITTEE UPDATES:
Eric has identified 5 candidates for possible recognition through the Criteria Committee, including 5 school districts and Cardone Industries. Once the needed data are obtained and calculations made, Eric will send the information to the Committee for review.

At the Packer terminal in the Port of Philadelphia, retrofits are underway using NCDC funds awarded last year to CAC. A press conference is planned for February to publicize the work.

GRANT UPDATES:
The CAC applied for funds for clean fuels for port equipment under the MDC Grant, but these unfortunately were not awarded. Currently, MARAMA has a small grant program open that would fund up to $3000 for small trucking firms to install APUs on their vehicles.

REVIEW OF CHARTER AND RULES
The group discussed proposed changes to the PDD Rules and Charter, including the sections pertaining to scheduling of meetings and election of the Working Group Chair. There were no comments on the scheduling portion, but there was some discussion about the Chairship. Morris explained that he will be retiring in the spring, and that at the present time his successor has not been identified. The proposed language would permanently establish the AMS representative to the group as its Chair. This would be confirmed each January by the Executive Committee. The group will review this language and vote on it at the next meeting.

The group also discussed speakers. Several ideas were posed, including having a panel of committed fleets to give feedback on PDD's efforts in generating interest in retrofits. Another idea was to have representatives from grantor organizations convene to discuss with fleet operators how to develop grant proposals and projects, and how to find new sources of funding such as enforcement and settlement funds. Yet another thought was to have a representative from the transportation sector give a presentation.

Alison asked the group if they would be willing to come to each meeting prepared with updates (if any) from their respective organizations. There was no major objection to this method, and Alison agreed to add these updates to the next agenda.

OTHER UPDATES:
Anthony Santianello gave an update on the SEPTA trolleys issue. The Board agreed not to fund additional trolleys. The group discussed whether it would be possible to urge a representative from SEPTA to attend future PDD meetings, to give the group an opportunity to make recommendations.

John informed the group that this will be his last meeting, as he will be retiring at the end of January. He introduced Darlene Messina who will be taking his place as the MDO representative. John also commented that it may be advisable for CAC or another environmental group to urge the City to reestablish the position of Transportation Coordinator within the City.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the group proceeded outside the building to view a heavy duty Water Department truck that was retrofitted using VEPCO settlement funds.

NEXT MEETING AND LOCATION:
The next meeting will be held February 12th, 2007 at DVRPC.