ORCAA Board of Directors
OLYMPIC REGION CLEAN AIR AGENCY
2940 B Limited Lane NW
Olympia, Washington 98502
MEETING
May 9, 2007
Members present:
Bob Beerbower, Grays Harbor County (Chair)
Ann Burgman, City of Lacey
Clay Harwood, Pacific County
Grant Munro, City of Port Angeles (Vice Chair)
Jeff Kingsbury, City of Olympia
Phil Johnson, Jefferson County
Mike Doherty, Clallam County
Emmett Dobey, for Ross Gallagher, Mason County
Members absent:
Bob Macleod, Thurston County
Legal Counsel: Cece Clynch, for Fred Gentry, Bean & Gentry
Staff Present:
Richard Stedman, Executive Director, Robert Moody, Compliance Supervisor; Gordon Lance, Engineer; Lynn Harding, Administrative Services Manager; and Debbie Moody, Recorder
The meeting was called to order at 10:02 am.
There were no additions or omissions to the Agenda. Burgman moved approval of the Agenda. Johnson seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Johnson moved approval of the Consent Agenda. Harwood seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARING
Beerbower opened the public hearing at 10:04 a.m.
ORCAA Fiscal Year 2008 Budget
Stedman noted we would like to request continuance of the hearing at the June meeting. While we do have a budget prepared, we will have better numbers next month. Stedman did go over the latest numbers with the Board. Stedman noted the finance committee met last month and there are very few changes since then. Highlights of the budget include an increase in benefits less at than 10%, staff receiving 3.35% COLA, and the addition of .5 FTE. We have unofficially heard from CCS that when their lease is up, they plan on leaving. We want to start planning ahead for funds to remodel that side of the building to accommodate our staff. Kingsbury was concerned with the gas budget, noting the price increase. Stedman explained we no longer own gas guzzling vehicles—we have three hybrids in our fleet. One other gas saving tactic is having field staff in the satellite offices. Kingsbury asked about the audit budget as well. Stedman explained it seems we have some sort of audit every year, but we do have a couple of larger audits (state auditor) every other year. Stedman went over a few other line items.
There was no public comment. It was noted the hearing would continue at the June 13 meeting.
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Compliance Update
Robert Moody, Compliance Supervisor, briefly went over the inspection, complaints and permits. R.Moody, explained we have continued to receive complaints regarding Soil Key in Tenino. Soil Key has contacted us to say they are waiting on signatures for funding so they can do improvements that they hope to complete by mid-June. They were issued a Notice of Violation last week, and they will be receiving one for this morning as well. Bottom line, problems have not been resolved out there. R.Moody noted the new fees for NSR and Registration will be affective May 17.
Beerbower asked what type of improvements Soil Key can make. R.Moody stated they have said they will add ‘under pile air’ which gets more air through the pile which helps keep the piles from becoming anaerobic.
Kingsbury, noting the crowd of citizens that showed up at the last meeting with concerns over the odors, stated we need to remain aggressive with this source. My fears would be, Kingsbury continued, the agency getting named in some kind of action. The weather is getting nicer and people will want to be out enjoying their property—we need to keep the pressure on this guy. Stedman stated if he continues to operate without fixing the problem, we’ll probably look at an injunction. We may be pursuing these issues with the landowner as well, Stedman stated. Kingsbury asked that staff regularly update the neighbors on actions taken. Stedman agreed noting he would have staff let the neighbors know where we are currently.
ORCAA Permit Actions
Gordon Lance, Engineer, briefly went over the NSR list. Lance noted we did have a Title V audit recently, and they chose Westport Shipyard. We feel the audit went well. We have all our systems in place to track reports, activities, etc. One item they felt we could improve on was they like a permit that is understandable by the general public while still having enough technical specificity that the source knows what they need to do to stay in compliance.
Stedman added that Ocean Protein will be receiving a Notice of Violation for installing equipment that was not specified in their Notice of Construction.
School Bus Retrofit Update
Stedman stated Ecology has secured a contract for the crank case ventilation systems, so now it is a matter of getting the systems here and lining up the buses to be fitted. We still have money available for projects. Stedman noted he will be talking to Mason County and the Port of Olympia about some projects. Burgman asked what type of projects are available. Stedman stated anything from electric vehicles to low sulfur diesel, for example. For the Port, we would like to encourage them to put in shore power for the ships that come in. Weyerhaeuser has chosen to convert several of their loaders and other equipment over to diesel oxidative catalysts. If it works out and works well, they plan on converting their entire fleet. We will be assisting them in determining emission reductions. Stedman stated a law did pass this session that will open up some of this money to private fleets—such as UPS, etc. Ecology will be competitively granting these funds to the fleets.
Legislative Update
Stedman reminded the Board that Bill 6081 was going to allow some of the smaller cities to opt out of the January 1 burn ban. The bill did not pass, however it is in a sort of limbo so that it can be easily resurrected next session. Stedman explained Ecology has approximately $2 million to assist cities with outdoor burning issues. They aren’t sure how they are going to grant the monies yet, but they are working on it. Stedman explained it appears our bill has passed. We aren’t sure what the next step is, but we are very excited.
Personnel Changes
Stedman stated staff interviewed six candidates for the Air Quality Specialist position. The report from staff is we had excellent candidates and we should be able to hire someone soon. We are hoping to get one person in immediately to fill the space left when Steve Rybolt left, then we would like to use the same pool to hire another AQS in July.
EPA Proposed Changes on Diesel Locomotive and Marine Engines
Stedman explained there was a hearing yesterday in Seattle for EPA to take comments on the new proposed rule that goes into effect in 2009. The rule will drastically reduce emissions from diesel locomotives and marine ships. They are looking at cutting emissions of NOx and particulate matter by as much as 90%. There will be another hearing in Chicago next month. We appreciate that EPA came out and acknowledged the work we have been doing.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report
Stedman stated this panel has recently released a report saying global warming is happening although costs to implement changes and the cost to adapt to these changes may be high, it is better than waiting for it to happen and not be prepared. We can have a discussion regarding whether or not global warming is happening, Stedman continued, however we would like to move forward and accept these reports. Stedman stated ORCAA would like to move toward preparedness.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Raymond Open House
Stedman noted we held an open house in Raymond on May 2. Stedman stated that he and Debbie Moody, along with Mike Shults were in attendance to meet and greet the community. We didn’t have much attendance prior to noon, however Shults stated he had several people come in to see the new office and meet him. Stedman stated Shults is a great spokesman for the agency and we feel things will go well for him in the community. Harwood stated he has received a lot of good comments from the community so far.
ORCAA Clean Air Month
Stedman stated this is ORCAA Clean Air Month. We have several activities scheduled for this month. Last week, we stationed a booth at YMCA for their fun run. Harding was at our booth handing out fliers and water bottles and there was quite a good turnout. Nelson attended the Lacey Alternative Fuel Fair last weekend as well. May 20 is the Capital City Marathon and we’ll have a presence there as well.
HB1258
Stedman stated he can’t say enough about how the agency feels about getting this bill through. We did go up for the signing of the bill and received a pen. We will be getting a copy of the signed bill so that we can have it framed along with the pen. We have been drafting procedures for the new system and we will bring them to the Board for review and approval next month. We hope to implement our new procedures as soon as it is legal to do so. We will be working closely with Thurston County.
NEW BUSINESS
Agency Global Warming Principles
Stedman asked direction from the Board as to whether or not staff should work on global warming principles. Staff could draft up a document which would speak to our local jurisdiction and bring it back to the Board for approval and adoption. The document would discuss what we can do to reduce global warming/greenhouse gas production. We currently track CO2, and we could make it available to the public. Stedman stated we could also add a link to our website that people could access to see what their carbon footprint is. Dobey stated the City of Olympia got involved in climate change very early on. They were one of the first cities in the nation to adopt global warming principles. Stedman stated we would be happy to borrow from other entities--the ideas and principles--and build on them. Kingsbury stated regardless if you believe in global warming or not, these same principles are appropriate from a clean air agency standpoint. The Board directed staff to move forward.
Clean Air Month Proclamation
Stedman stated he had written a Clean Air Proclamation at Munro’s request. The proclamation can be taken back to each of your offices and append it for your particular county or city. Stedman noted he would be willing to be present for the signing of the proclamations if you would just let him know when it will take place.
The meeting adjourned at 11:05 a.m.
PRESENTED BY
Richard A. Stedman, Executive Director
APPROVED BY:
The Majority of the Board
APPROVED and SIGNED this 13th day of June 2007