July 16, 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
Bill Bresnick, Oryxe
Kristin Bromley, Ransome CAT
Francine Carlini, PADEP
Eric Cheung, Clean Air Council
Fred Cummings, City of Philadelphia Division of Aviation
Darlene Heep, City of Philadelphia Law Department
Tom Holl, Ransome CAT
Thomas Huynh, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Sean Greene, DVRPC
Bill Jones, EPA Region 3
Jack LeBeau, EHRF
Urszula Miezio, Johnson-Matthey
David Sams, Oryxe
Dan Shanahan, Cabaire LLC
Dan Snowden, PennDOT
Alison Tracy, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Barbara Wilson, Krapf Bus

MINUTES TAKEN BY:
Alison Tracy

INTRODUCTIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Alison welcomed the group and announced that AMS is planning for the next round of Air Quality Improvement Funds. This year we expect $150,000 to be available through this program, which last year funded 1,000 street trees and a solar lighting project. Also, Alison assisted the School District of Philadelphia with their application for Clean School Bus USA funding, and Eric also submitted an application for CAC on behalf of several partner school districts.

Letters went out to CEOs to solicit candidates for the Air Pollution Control Board. The next APCB meeting is planned for September.

Eric and Alison met with Lorna Rosenberg of EPA to discuss how to incorporate clean diesel technology in the construction of green buildings. The DVGBC sponsors a certification program for contractors to teach them how to implement green building techniques in their designs. Ideally, information on retrofit technology could be incorporated into that curriculum. Eric and Alison also hope to attend a future DVGBC board meeting to present on the PDD.

PPA submitted a tabulation of their recent idling efforts to AMS and the number of citations has dropped off dramatically. PPA is investigating why this has occurred.

There are several events coming up, including a 3-day seminar by the Energy Coordinating Agency to be held at EPA to discuss climate change and energy use. Green Plan Philadelphia is also meeting on Wednesday to unveil the group's report evaluating green space issues in the City.

EPA has a new power profiler online that can be used to estimate emissions for this region's power grid.

PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:
Eric is following up with Lorna Rosenberg on the DVGBC meeting and Green Construction curriculum. He also attended the most recent meeting of the Clean Airport Partnership, which is currently focused mainly on traffic and other on-road emissions. Eric sent a letter to the editor of the Daily News after an article in which he was quoted erroneously implied that CAC prefers fire trucks to vent inside the station rather than outdoors where it may impact the community. The letter stressed the value of retrofits in reducing emissions at the tailpipe.

COMMITTEE UPDATES:
The CARE level I grant activities are almost complete. The three reports mandated by the grant on Air, Water, and Land/Brownfields are done or near completion, and the last portion of community outreach - an Asthma Health Fair - is scheduled for August. The press conference to promote the offroad equipment retrofits at Packer and Tioga Terminals has not yet been rescheduled due to time conflicts with the Terminal's owner.

GRANT UPDATES:
The Clean Air Council submitted its Application for Clean School Bus funding. If awarded, the funds would be spread among 8-9 districts. AFIG closed recently as well. Mike Detwiler of Great Valley School District has been instrumental in helping to promote the used of biodiesel by other districts. Barbara is also working with districts to promote clean diesel. Eric has been in touch with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit to discuss opportunities for future projects. First Student is another contractor that has expressed interest in clean diesel. The Mobile Source Outreach Grant is currently open and Eric is working with DEP on a proposed anti-idling educational campaign. AMS may assist in this endeavor.

ONE MINUTE UPDATES:
Darlene Heep said that Law recently met with companies that handle dumpsters for construction sites. There may be a possibility of having violating companies do retrofits in lieu of fines.

Sean said that competitive CMAQ funding is still on hold pending an analysis of past projects.

Urszula noted that there has been some call recently for CMAQ rescissions to be used for other projects such as retrofits. A letter writing campaign could help with this effort.

Bill said that the workgroups are being restructured somewhat. An Urban Fleets call is being held Wednesday, and MARAMA and EPA are planning to host a meeting of collaborative leaders and grant-making foundations in September. Because Congress did not appropriate DERA in FY2007, there is little funding available this year for retrofit projects. The Clean School Bus grant is expected to be awarded next month.

Dan reported that the City's proposed contract language has gone to the Chief Engineer, and that PennDOT will be working with the State on the draft anti-idling law.

Barbara attended a meeting at the Philadelphia Foundation on Climate Change, where the governor's Energy Bill was discussed along with other topics related to global warming.

WEEKLY PRESENTATION:
David Sams of Oryxe Energy presented its diesel fuel additives. He claimed that the fuel additives are reducing NOx emissions. They are nontoxic, blendable with biodiesel and when blended with biodiesel, PM and NOx are both reduced significantly. The fuel is biodegradable and does not contaminate groundwater. There are no cold flow problems, and no impact on lubricity. The incremental cost is roughly $0.05 per gallon when blended with regular diesel. The additive could also be used with home heating oil. The company uses testing facilities in West Virginia and Irvine, CA.

Dan Shanahan of CabAire discussed his company's approach to truck stop electrification. Their technology does not require a large overhead gantry and can work well in smaller lots with as little as a few spaces. The company helps service areas maximize parking space at their facilities, and has designed lighting that minimizes light pollution so as not to disturb neighboring communities or contribute to the "dark skies" effect that is problematic in many cities. The units themselves provide heat, air conditioning and electrical outlets for truckers and are low-decibel to reduce noise in the lot. The company is considering ways to implement low-emissions energy use such as natural gas and solar to power their spaces.

NEXT MEETING AND LOCATION:

The next meeting will be held September 10th, 2007 at DVRPC.