HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-02-1999 - 5as
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ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: February 2,1999
Action Agenda
Item # 5"~
SUBJECT: OZONE AIR QUALITY ACTION PLAN
DEPARTMENT: ERCD PUBLIC HEARING: Yes X No
BUDGET AMENDMENT REQUIRED: Yes X No
ATTACHMENT(S):., INFORMATION CONTACT'S
David Stanch, ERC Director
• Draft Resolution Extension 259Q
• Resolution from Commission far the Environment '
• City of Durham Air Quality Action Flan TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
• Example of ozone E-Mail Alert - Hillsborough. - 732-81.81.
..Durham - 688'-7331
....Mebane - 227-2031
Chapel Hill - 967-9251
PURPOSE: To consider a resolution authorizing the creation of an Air Quality Action Plan for
Orange County, as per a request from the Commission for the Environment.
BACKGROUND: On January 11, the Commission for the Environment adopted a resolution asking
the Boazd of Commissioners to authorize the creation of an Air Quality Action
Plan for Orange County. The resolution also asks that the County, as a part of this
plan, join the N.C. Air Awareness Employer Coalition.
During recent summers, the Triangle region has achieved elevated levels of
ground-level ozone. N.C. Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) staff anticipates that
Orange County may not meet new air quality standazds from the Environmental
Protection Agency due sometime in the year 2000. To address this, many large
regional employers and local governments (including Durham and Wake
Counties) have developed Air Quality Action Plans in conjunction with the NC
Air Awazeness program.
The Durham Air Quality Action Plan (attached) outlines incentives for
participation in ozone-reducing measures, such asafter-hours refueling,
carpooling, taking lunches in office, and other techniques.
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The Air Awareness program provides daily a-mail Ozone Forecast alerts to all
members on days where ozone is expected to be in "orange" (moderately-high) or
"red" (high) days. Member employers post the alerts, which contain suggested
"tips" for ozone reduction. A copy of an alert received in September, 1998 is
attached.
There is no cost involved in joining the Air Awareness program. The primary
action would~e designation of a County contact(s) to distribute Ozone Alerts.
Action is requested at this time to pursue development of a plan prior to potential
ozone alert days in the summer.
A draft resolution is attached.
RECOMMENDATION: The Administration recommends that the Board adopt the resolution, and instruct
the Manager to work with the ERC Director, County Engineer and Transportation
Planner to develop a drab plan for review by the Board in May.
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Orange County Board of Commissioners
A Resolution Approving Development of an Ozone Air Quality
Action Plan
WHEREAS, the Triangle region, in which Orange County is located,
has elevated levels of ground-level ozone during the summer and may
not be able to meet new air quality standards for ozone established by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and
WHEREAS, residents, employers, and employees in Orange County
should do their part to help the region meet air quality standards, and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR), Division of Air Quality has developed the
North Carolina Air Awareness Program and regional air quality coalition
to address the problem, and
WHEREAS, an ozone air quality action plan is needed to define action
that Orange County will undertake to address the ozone problem in the
County,
AND WHEREAS, the Orange County Commission for the Environment
has requested that Board of Commissioners direct staff to develop an
air quality action plan,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
that the Orange County Board of Commissioners directs the County
Manager and staff to prepare an Ozone Air Quality Action Plan for
Orange County, which should include Orange County joining the North
Carolina Air Awareness Program employer coalition.
RESOLVED, this, the 2nd day of February, 1999
Alice Gordon, Chair
Board of Commissioners
Witness
Beverly Blythe, Clerk to the Board
Commissioners
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Daft
Air Quality Action Plan
City of Durham
Revised July 7, 1998
**In cooperation with the North Carolina Dcpartmcnt of Environment 8i Natural Resources,
Division of Air Quality**
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction .................................................................................................1
II. Ptan Structure ..............................................................................................2
III. Department & Division Contacts ................................................................3
IV. Citywide Guidelines .....................................................................................4
V. Additional Departmental Procedures
Asset Management .........................................................................................5
Environmental Resources ................................................................................5
Fleet Services ..................................................................................................6
Housing ..........................................................................................................6
Inspections ......................................................................................................6
Parks & Recreation .........................................................................................6
Planning .........................................................................................................7
Police .............................................................................................................. 7
Public Works ...................................................................................................7
5
Solid Waste Collections ...................................................................................8
6
I. Introduction
Background
The City of Durham has joined the North Carolina Air Awareness Program sponsored by the
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Division of Air
Quality. The purpose of the Air Awareness Program is to provide an outreach effort that will
inform the public, businesses, and industry about air pollution and its prevention.
The Air Awareness Program was initiated in response to new air quality standards established by
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Triangle region may not be able to meet these
new standards which will go into effect over the next several years. Failure to meet the standards
could result not only in health and environmental hazards, but also in the reduction of federal
funds and other negative impacts to the regional economy.
What is the problem?
The problem is too much ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone is the primary pollutant in
smog. High ozone levels generally occur on hot sunny days with stagnant air, when pollutants
such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds "cook" in the atmosphere. In the
Triangle, vehicle emissions are the main contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone.
Goal of the Air Awareness Program
The goal of the Air Awareness Program is to prevent days exceeding the ozone standard and to
provide healthy air for North Carolinians.
City of Durham's Role in the Program
The City of Durham has joined the employer coalition to do its part to help the region meet the air
quality standards set by the federal government. The City has developed an Air Quality Action
Plan designed to educate and encourage City employees to reduce the number of vehicles and
equipment being used during potentially high ozone periods. The City's Action Plan has a
number of in-house programs along with operations-oriented actions that will serve to lessen City
vehicle and equipment use on high ozone days. THE CITY'S ACTION PLAN WILL ONLY
BE IMPLEMENTED FOR "ORANGE" AND "RED" OZONE ALERT DAYS (the most
severe and unhealthy ozone conditions with a pollutant index of 101+}.
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II. Plan Structure
A. City of Durham Contacts:
Sharon Winstead-Scott, Public Information Director - 560-4480
Kim McCarter, Transportation Division - 560-4366
B. Notification Process for Orange & Red Ozone Alert Days:
1. Division of Air Quality will send an Air Quality Alert Forecast to the Public
Information Office (PIO) via fax or email by 3:00 p.m. on the afternoon before an
ozone alert day.
2. The PIO will: (1) a-mail, fax or telephone the air quality liaisons (see contact list)
before the close of the business day and (2) e-mail all City employees with a-mail
capabilities to communicate the forecast.
3. Air quality liaisons will prominently post the alert notice in each work place.
4. The air quality liaisons will be responsible for monitoring their department/division's
ozone reduction efforts.
C. Possible Incentives for Participation:
1. Free DATA bus passes will be provided to City employees to use on ozone alert days.
The passes will be distributed to employees through the air quality liaisons.
2. The department that demonstrates the greatest activity of carpooling or greatest
percentage employees participating in the program will be recognized.
3. An appreciation luncheon or breakfast for those that participate in the clean air
initiatives will be given at the end of the high ozone season.
4. Bike helmets or reflectors with the City logo will be provided as an incentive.
5. Local businesses will be asked to donate prizes.
6. A raffle to receive prizes will be held for participants.
7. Free parking in Chapel Hill Street Garage will be provided for carpools of four or
more.
8. Downtown restaurants will be asked to provide delivery service to City Hall on ozone
alert days.
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Air Quality Contact List
Air Quality Liaisons Department Phone Fax E-mail Backup
David Clark Asset Mgmt. 560-4756
560-4197 560-4196
560-4970 yes Jack Rupplin
560-4469
Richard Weintraub Attorney 560-4158 560-4660 yes
Grace Dzidzienyo Budget & Mgmt. 560-41 ] 1 yes
Debbie Williams C/C Inspections 560-4151 560-4484 yes Roy Brockwetl
560-4146
T. E. Austin C/C Planning 560-4137
ext. 237 560-4641 yes
Mavis Galantis Communications 560-4500 560-4713 yes Rouse Kissell
560-4500
Portia
Manle -Ho kins DATA 688-2742 682-1101
Pamela Baker Economic Dev. 560-4121 yes
Vicki Westbrook Environmental
Services 560-4381 560-4479 yes Lloyd Hancock
560-43 81
Gwen Carter EOIEA 560-4180 560-4513 yes
Phyllis
Moore-De5hazo Finance 560-4618 560-4632 yes
Chris McDonald Fire 560-4242
ext. 226 560- yes Kelly Wimberly
560-4242
ext.242
Randy Fletcher Fleet 560-4101 560-4631 yes Kent Cash
GIS 560-4057 yes
Ava Hinton Housing 560-4570
ext. 244 560-4090 yes
Larry Revelle Human Relations 560-4410 560-4092 yes
Alethea Williamson Human
Resources 560-4214 560- yes
Eric Walker Internal Audit 560-4213 560- yes
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Hugo Carter .MIS 560-4122 560-4699 yes
David Anderson Parks & 560-4355 560-4021 yes Malgosia
Recreation ext. 207 Dubinsky-
Atkinson
ext. 205
Fran Borden Police 560-4118 683-6366
Bambi Wilson Public Works 560-4326 560-4316 yes Kim McCarter
Cit Ha11,3~`~ FL)
Kim McCarter Public Works 560-4366 560-4561 yes Tim Saunders
(Cit Ha11,4`h FL
Vernon Reese Public Works 560-4316 560-4340 yes Steve Miller
EOC
Fred McCurdy Records Mgmt. 560-4628 560-4584 yes
Monica Solid Waste 560-4185 560-4647 yes
B rd-Williams Collections
III. Guidelines for All City Employees
1. Educate employees, citizens, developers, contractors, etc. about air quality.
2. Fuel Citv vehicles either before 7:00 a m or after 7'00 p m or the day before the alert
(Fueling stations at Fleet Services and Engineering Operation Center (EOC) will be
closed between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on alert days. Emergency fueling will
be accommodated at the request of tl~e department or division heads).
3. Postpone or consolidate non-essential field work, business errands and other travel
requiring the use of City vehicles.
4. Keep all City vehicles properly maintained.
5. Encourage employees to walk to lunch, order in, or bring a lunch from home.
6. Encourage employees to carpool, walk, bike, or use mass transit to and from work. For
employees that use transit, free DATA bus passes will be provided.
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IV. Department Specific Procedures
Asset Management Department
• Suspend operation ofgasoline-powered tools or equipment, on a priority basis.
• Suspend use of motorized equipment in cleaning and landscape maintenance where possible
on a priority basis.
• Reschedule mowing and construction crews to nights and weekends.
• Encourage employees to delay filling gas tanks and/or cutting grass until air alert is over or at
least until 6 p.m.
• Encourage employees to avoid intersections that are noted to be congested if they must travel
by vehicle. _
• Minimize warm up time for vehicles.
• Encourage employees to avoid idling their vehicles for long periods of time.
• Re-schedule non-priority maintenance work to reduce vehicle use.
• Explore the potential of equipping some vehicles with propane retrofits, cleaner burning,
longer engine life; less oil changes. These savings may offset propane upfit cost.
• Have building (where installed) energy management systems automated to the level that all
building energy usage could be reduced to a lower range which reduces power requirements
and therefore power plant emissions.
• Reduce contractor vehicle traffic by stopping city projects requiring contractor support on a
priority level.
Environmental Resources
Water & Wastewater Treatment Pla~i[.s
• Postpone all non-essential vehicle use as long as the alert is in effect, including but not limited
to:
1. Reduction in non-critical driving both on and off plant sites.
2. Car pooling to off-site activities such as training etc.
3. Trips to obtain parts and supplies will only be made by authorization of plant supervisor.
• Suspend lawn mowing and landscape maintenance activities. This will apply to both contract
operation and City staff.
• Emergency generators will not be exercised for maintenance purpose. Generators will only
be run in the event of power interruption.
• Facilities that have the option of using methane fueled equipment will do so when possible.
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Plant Engineering crud Maintenance
• Minimize use of combustion equipment such as chain saw, compressor, backhoe, etc.
• Combine crews working together on a project to encourage carpooling.
• Delay non-emergency trips in vehicles to pick up supplies and parts.
• Have crews perform non-emergency work during off-hours if possible.
Transfer Station
• Postpone non-essential operations that involve gas powered vehicles and machinery such as
mower and leaf blower
• Schedule the minimum amount of staff needed to operate transfer station in order to reduce
the number of vehicles being driven.
Fleet Services
Fleet will shut the fuel islands down, but will leave the diesel fuel on line. (Diesel fuel has no
vapors nor any vapor hazards).
The City will explore funding options for a stage II vapor recovery systems to allow refueling
at anytime without vapor hazard.
Housing Department
• Limit inspectors' field trips to complaint response only.
• Have field personnel utilize ozone alert days to complete office tasks.
• Allow changes in existing flex schedules to eliminate commuting trips.
• Allow telecommuting where possible.
Inspections Department
Chief Inspectors/Field Supervisors will not conduct duality-control inspections or perform
field functions unless absolutely essential.
Match up employees that live within close proximity to one another to voluntarily participate
in ride sharing to and from work..
Field inspectors will reduce drive times by organizing straight routes iri their territories rather
than doubling-back for scheduled appointments.
Parks & Recreation Department
• Educate participants at Summer Day Camps about air quality and ozone alert days, through
workshops.
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12
Planning Department
• Vehicle use, except for essential zoning enforcement activities, must be authorized by the
director.
• Limit zoning enforcement vehicle use to complaint response and staff-initiated actions related
to health or safety.
• Use of vehicles for meetings will only be authorized if meeting cannot be postponed.
Police Department
• Officers not responding to calls for service will be encouraged to use business and station sites
for report writing.
• Personnel will carpool to work assignments, meetings, or training.
Public Works Department
DATA
• Advertise the Air Awareness Campaign inside the DATA buses, insert information on DATA
bus designation signs, and display posters at the main terminal.
• Offer free passes to City employees and other local coalition member employees to use during
ozone alert days.
• Provide Transit Days at coordinator's work site to educate and to encourage employees to
use transit.
Traffic Operations
• Traffic signal loops will not be cut. This operation uses two small gasoline engines (one on
the saw and one on the air compressor) with no pollution controls.
• No longline markings, stop bars,. or crosswalks will be installed.
No arrows, legends, or symbols will be installed.
There will be no approval ofnon-emergency lane closures by contractors unless the closure
will not create significant congestion in the non-closed lanes.
Street Maintenance. Water & Sewer Maintenance ROW Maintenance
• Assign duties that minimize small engine use and assign duties that use hand tools.
• Assign weed trimming and small mowing crews to litter pickup, or to assist the impact team
with litter removal.
• Maximize the use of water when sweeping streets.
• Minimize warm up time on vehicles and restrict truck idling at work sites.
• Avoid use of small motorized equipment, such as blowers, mad vacs, etc. used in litter
pickup.
• Restrict or reschedule pothole patching and other small road repairs.
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Solid Waste Collections
Avoid use of small gasoline fuel engines, such as lawn mowers and blowers.
Avoid use of the Knuckle Boom for bulky item pick-up or the small item garbage (put-put)
truck.
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From: <Air Awareness~aq.enr.state.nc.us>
To: ocmail.SMTP-DOS(~~Ozone.Forecast~ns.sips.state.nc.u...
Date: 1 Sep 1998 10:55
Subject: Ozone Action Day
Ozone_RDU®aq.enr.state.nc.us,Ozone_CharlotteQaq.enr.state.nc.us,Ozone_dailyc~aq
.enr.state.nc.us
Subject: OZONE ACTION DAY
The North Carolina Division of Air Quality ground-level ozone forecast for the
TRIANGLE AREA
(including Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Johnston, Orange, Wake, and the
southern portion of Granville counties) is: ~~
CODE O G OZONE ACTION DAY for WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 1998. °
The North Carolina Division of Air Quality ground-level ozone forecast for the
GREATER CHARLOTTE AREA (including Mecklenburg, Gaston, Lincoln, Cabarrus,
Rowan, Union, York, and the sourthern third of Iredell counties) is
CODE ORANGE - OZONE ACTION DAY for WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 1998.
We Encourage Everyone to Try at Least One of These Ozone Reducing Tips:
1) Take your lunch or walk to a nearby restaurant.
2) When driving, avoid idling for long periods of time.
3) Postpone refueling your car until after 6 pm.
4) Take the bus, car pool, van pool, walk or ride your bike.
5) Conserve electricity.
6) Do not cut the grass before 6:00 pm
7) Do not open burn
Code Pollutant Standard Index Description
Green 0-50
Good
Yellow 51-100- Moderate
Orange 101-150 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Red 151+ Generally Unhealthy
For More Information:
N. C. Air Awareness: 1-888-RU4NCAIR
E-mail: air_awareness®aq.enr.state.nc.us
Internet website: http://daq.state.nc.us/Ozone
r
Orange County Board of Commissioners
A Resolution Approving Development of an Ozone Air Quality
Action Plan
WHEREAS, the Triangle region, in which Orange County is located,
has elevated levels of ground-level ozone during the summer and may
not be able to meet new air quality standards for ozone established by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and
WHEREAS, residents, employers, and employees in Orange County
should do their part to help the region meet air quality standards, and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR), Division of Air Quality has developed the
North Carolina Air Awareness Program and regional air quality coalition
to address the problem, and
WHEREAS, an ozone air quality action plan is needed to define action
that Orange County will undertake to address the ozone problem in the
County,
AND WHEREAS, the Orange County Commission for the Environment
has requested that Board of Commissioners direct staff to develop an
air quality action plan,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
that the Orange County Board of Commissioners directs the County
Manager and staff to prepare an Ozone Air Quality Action Plan for
Orange County, which should include Orange County joining the North
Carolina Air Awareness Program employer coalition.
RESOLVED, this, the 2nd day of February, 1999
l~ YY\.
Alice Gordon, Chair
Board of Commissioners
fitness
Beverly Blythe, Clerk to the Board
Commissioners