20210505-002a: PM and Emission Reductions presentation — original pdf

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PARTICULATE MATTER AND EMISSION REDUCTIONS City of Austin Environmental Commission May 5, 2021 CAPCOG – Regional Planning Commission • Emergency Communications 9-1-1 in Statute; more often called a COG. • Area Agency on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Center • Homeland Security Planning & Training • Regional Law Enforcement Academy • Air Quality Planning • Solid Waste Planning • Economic Development Analysis & Technical Assistance • Transportation Planning 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 2 Ten – county service area; State of Texas planning region 12 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 3 State Representative John Cyrier State Representative Celia Israel State Representative Terry Wilson State Representative Erin Zwiener Commissioner Brigid Shea Travis County Judge Joe Weber Fayette County Council Member Andrea Willott City of Bee Cave Chair Judge Paul Pape Bastrop County CAPCOG Executive Committee Council Member Christine Sederquist City of Leander Council Member Matthew Baker City of Round Rock Commissioner Ann Howard Travis County Commissioner Russ Boles Williamson County Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe Hays County Judge Brett Bray Blanco County Mayor Sandy Cox City of Lakeway Council Member Mackenzie Kelly City of Austin Commissioner Steven Knobloch Lee County Commissioner Joe Don Dockery Burnet County Commissioner Cynthia Long Williamson County Judge Hoppy Haden Caldwell County Mayor Pro Tem Lyle Nelson City of Bastrop Council Member Mike Heath City of Pflugerville Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Pitts City of Georgetown First Vice Chair Mayor Brandt Rydell City of Taylor Second Vice Chair Judge James Oakley Burnet County Secretary Mayor Lew White City of Lockhart Parliamentarian Judge Ron Cunningham Llano County Immediate Past Chair Mayor Jane Hughson City of San Marcos 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 4 • PM stands for particulate matter (also called particle pollution): What is particulate matter? the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. • PM includes: – PM10/“Coarse PM”: inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller – PM2.5 /“Fine PM”: fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller Source: EPA, https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/particulate-matter-pm-basics#PM 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 5 PM2.5 Pollution • PM2.5 is both a primary pollutant (i.e., directly emitted from different sources) and a secondary pollutant (i.e., formed in the atmosphere through chemical reactions and processes from other direct emissions). Sources of PM2.5 include: – Crustal PM2.5 – particles from dust/soil – Elemental carbon (EC) PM2.5 – particles that contain the elemental form of carbon • – Organic carbon (OC) PM2.5 – particles that contain organic molecules (i.e., graphite) (hydrocarbons) • – Sulfate PM2.5 – particles that contain SO4 molecules – Nitrate PM2.5 – particles that contain NO3 molecules – Ammonium PM2.5 – particles that contain NH4 molecules The type of PM2.5 that appears to be contributing the most to the highest levels of annual PM2.5 concentrations within the region is organic carbon PM2.5 – Reducing organic carbon PM2.5 emissions would be the most important step that the region can take towards reducing the highest annual PM2.5 concentrations, which are located in the urban core. 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 6 • PM2.5 is small enough to penetrate and harm numerous body systems. EPA’s Health Effects of PM Pollution review of PM health studies have indicated “causal” or “likely causal” relationships between short-term and/or long term exposure to PM2.5 and the following health effects: – Premature death – Lung cancer – Cardiovascular effects – Nervous system effects – Respiratory effects • EPA’s review also indicated that there is no evidence of a threshold below which further reductions to PM2.5 exposure would not continue to decrease risks. – This means that there are public health benefits of reducing both long- term and short-term exposure to PM2.5 even if an area is attaining the PM2.5 NAAQS. Source: EPA. Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter. December 2019. EPA/600/R-19/188, http://ofmpub.epa.gov/eims/eimscomm.getfile?p_download_id=539935 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 7 Sensitive Groups to PM Pollution • Groups that are most likely to be affected by PM2.5 pollution exposure are: – People with heart or lung diseases – Children and teenagers – Older adults • These groups are known as sensitive groups. – Comprise at least 40% of the population in the MSA • Additionally, people of color and people with low incomes tend to have disproportionate exposure to high PM2.5 levels. 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 8 Austin Area 2020 Air Quality Index (AQI) Days Unhealthy, PM2.5 1 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, Ozone 2 Good 235 Moderate 126 Moderate, PM2.5 84 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 9 Moderate, Both 7 Moderate, Ozone 35 • The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set national ambient air quality National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter and five other pollutants considered harmful to public health and the environment (the other pollutants are ozone, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and lead). • The law also requires EPA to periodically review the standards to ensure that they provide adequate health and environmental protection, and to update those standards as necessary. • When comparing a region’s pollution levels to the NAAQS, the concentrations are referred to as “design values” and are usually based on 3 years’ worth of data, (i.e., 2018-2020) • EPA just completed its review of the PM and O3 NAAQS in late 2020. 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 10 • 2020 PM2.5 NAAQS review: PM NAAQS – Kept short-term (24-hour) NAAQS of ≤ 35 µg/m3 – Kept long-term (annual) design value of ≤ 12.0 µg/m3 – EPA staff recommended an annual NAAQS as low as 8 µg/m3 • Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown MSA: – 24-hour design value of 23 µg/m3 – Annual design value of 9.8 µg/m3 – Relative to the rest of the country: • Higher annual design value than 89% of all PM2.5 monitoring stations • Higher 24-hour design value than 76% of all PM2.5 monitoring stations • Compared to O3 design value 75% higher than the rest of the country for O3 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 11 Air Quality Trends – O3 v. PM2.5 110% 106% 107% 106% 104% r e d n U e b a w o l l l A x a M . v e u a V n g i s e D l S Q A A N 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 99% 97% 99% 97% 99% 94% 83% 85% 85% 63% 63% 60% 80% 78% 69% 69% 77% 63% 80% 80% 82% 82% 66% 63% 57% 54% 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 O3-8hr PM2.5-annual PM2.5-24hr 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 12 • Largest Sources of PM2.5 Emissions The largest sources of PM2.5 and organic carbon (OC) PM2.5 within the Austin- Round Rock-Georgetown MSA from 2017 are listed below: Tons per year PM2.5 % of Total PM2.5 Emissions Tons per year OC PM2.5 Source Category Road Dust Construction Dust Open Burning Prescribed Fires Agricultural Dust Commercial Cooking Mining and Quarrying Subtotal 2,325 1,693 1,574 861 793 417 326 7,989 % of Total OC PM2.5 Emissions 6% 3% 26% 17% 1% 12% 0% 65% 153 78 611 403 24 279 0 1,548 22% 16% 15% 8% 8% 4% 3% 76% 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 13 • • Regional Air Quality Plan The 2019-2023 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Regional Air Quality Plan is a voluntary plan to address regional air pollution issues for Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties. The plan is designed to help the region: – Maintain and improve outdoor air quality within the MSA – Reduce the impact of emissions from within the region on air quality issues in nearby – Mitigate the health, environmental, economic, and social impacts of the remaining areas and elsewhere regional air pollution. • Currently, the plan focuses on ozone pollution as the region has been close to violating the ozone NAAQS for years. • After a review of PM from a public health perspective and a regulatory perspective, the Central Texas Clean Air Coalition (CAC) has decided to update the region’s voluntary air quality plan to include additional measures targeted at reducing regional PM2.5 air pollution and enhancing awareness of PM air pollution. 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 14 • EPA’s Advance Program promotes local actions in EPA’s Advance Program attainment areas to reduce ozone and/or PM2.5 and provides EPA technical assistance to help attainment areas continue to maintain the NAAQS. – Since 2012, the CAC has participated in the Ozone Advance Program. – In August 2020, the CAC joined the PM Advance Program. • Joining the PM Advance Program led to this update of the Regional Air Quality Plan to specifically address PM2.5 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 15 Emission Reduction Measures • The proposed emission reduction measures target the largest for PM sources of PM2.5 and seek to increase awareness about PM in the region. • The emission reduction measures can be implemented in three main ways by a CAC member. 1. Implement within own organization’s operations • e.g., require that city/county construction projects implement PM emission reduction measures 2. Encourage or require 3rd party organizations to implement • e.g., require or encourage that private construction projects within the city/county implement PM emission reduction measures 3. Educate and encourage the public at large to implement • e.g., share outreach and education materials or best management practices about PM emission reduction measures from construction 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 16 Proposed Regional PM2.5 Emission Reduction and Planning Measures 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 17 The next step is for CAC members to determine which PM2.5 emission reduction measures will be committed to by your jurisdiction and approved by your governing board by May 31, 2021. Next Steps Date or Timeframe 2/10/2021 3/26/2021 3/29/2021- 4/2/2021 4/29/2021 5/3/2021 – 5/7/2021 5/12/2021 5/31/2021 6/25/2021 7/22/2021 7/29/2021 8/11/2021 8/13/2021 Milestone CAC meeting; list of measures presented, public comment period opens End of public comment period CAPCOG will compile comments and disseminate to CAC and CACAC CACAC meeting; review progress National Air Quality Awareness Week; Presentations to CAC Organizations CAC Meeting; review progress Target date for existing CAC members to update commitments Target date for commitments from new CAC members Target date for drafting plan & distribution to CACAC for review CACAC meeting to consider recommendation of plan update (tentative) CAC considers approval of update to plan CAPCOG submits plan to EPA as “Path Forward” for PM Advance Program 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 18 Thank You Capital Area Council of Governments www.capcog.org Christiane Alepuz Regional Planning and Services Program Coordinator 512-916-6005 calepuz@capcog.org 5/5/2021 Capital Area Council of Governments 19