Final Summary

February 7, 1996 Base Programs Analyses and Policies Work Group Conference Call

I.	PURPOSE

A conference call was held on February 7, 1996 to enable work group members to become acquainted and to initiate discussion. Following is a summary of the ensuing discussion and proposed action items.

II.	PARTICIPANTS

Work group attendees:

Joe Paisie, EPA/OAQPS/IPSG

Jerry Golden, TVA

Sharon Reinders, EPA/OAQPS/OPSG

Bob Palzer, Sierra Club

David Baron, Arizona Center for Public Law

Conrad Schneider, Natural Resource Council of Maine

Brock Nicholson, North Carolina

Dennis Lawler, Illinois

Jim Salvaggio, Pennsylvania

Herb Williams and staff, Texas

Mel Zeldin, South Coast, California

Eric Skelton, Spokane County

Jim Ralston and staff, New York

Vincent Brisini, Pennsylvania Electric

Richard Dworek, US Steel

Richard Phelps, Eastman Chemical Co.

John Crouch, Hearth Products Assn.

Greg Schaefer, ARCO

Gregory Dana, AIAM

Arthur Lee, Texaco

Glen Cass, Cal Tech

Jean Vernet, DOE

David Chock, for Steve Pezda, Ford

Steve Gerritson, LADCO

Work group members not in attendance:

Don Pickrell, Volpe Institute

Rich Halvey, Colorado

Jeff Gabriel, National Pork Producers

Other EPA attendees: Ellen Baldridge, Ken Woodard, Robin Dunkins, Tom Pace, Bill Hamilton, David Stonefield, Denise Gerth, Rich Damberg, Bill Johnson, Lee Byrd, Miki Wayland, Gil Wood, Larry Sorrels, Mark Kataoka

Rebecca Battye, EC/R Incorporated (EPA Contractor support)

III.	MEETING SUMMARY

Action items from the meeting are as follows:

1) Members are to provide comment by noon February 12, 1996 on the preliminary issues list. Specifically to provide clarification, identify issues that are missing or should be removed, and to prioritize the issues for future discussions.

2) A survey will be distributed to work group members to determine the level and areas of expertise of the work group participants. Responses will be compiled and distributed to all of the participants.

3) The next teleconference call is 2/21/96 between 11:00 and 12:30 EST. The conference call in number is (919) 541-1591.

IV. DISCUSSION

Overview

Mr. Joe Paisie, EPA Co-chair, began the conference call with an overview on the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Implementation Process for Ozone, PM, and Regional Haze Programs. He stressed that this work group supports the FACA subcommittee and the FACA subcommittee will be used to solicit input from affected groups. The affected groups (State agencies, tribes, environmental groups, industry, and federal agencies) will provide input on EPA operations to affect reduction in cost, creation or elimination of regulations, and provide additional viewpoints or perspectives. FACA is a fundamentally public process with court reporters at meetings and maintenance of a docket. A balanced point of view has been built into the process as evidenced by the range of membership.

The Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) is the FACA body. The work group will provide recommendations to the FACA subcommittee, which reports back to CAAAC. The FACA subcommittee has 15-17 members that are also members of the CAAAC, which will facilitate communication. Recommendations are submitted back to EPA through CAAAC. The FACA subcommittee membership is listed in the September 26, 1995 notebook. There are minor modifications to this list.

The FACA subcommittee structure is included in an October 3, 1996 memorandum from Sally Shaver, EPA. This structure illustrates the role of the coordination group relative to the other work groups. The coordination group is composed of members of the FACA subcommittee and will be the driving force for the work group process. The coordination group will set the agendas for the FACA subcommittee meetings and coordinate the presentations of key issues. The first conference call for the coordination group has been set for February 13, 1996.

Also included in the October 3, 1995 memorandum from Sally Shaver is a discussion of the roles of the various work groups. The dividing lines between the work groups are dynamic. Members of the work groups are listed in Attachment A to the February 2, 1996 announcement for this conference call. An additional list of EPA staff supporting the work groups is included as Attachment B. Also listed in Attachment B are a pool of experts within EPA that are available to support this effort.

Work Group Orientation

Attachment C to the February 7, 1996 conference call announcement summarized some key decisions from Mary Nichols, EPA, regarding the timeline and approach for the development of the integrated implementation plan. The implementation plan will be developed in two phases. The first phase will deal with air quality management issues, including classifications and designations, state implementation plan (SIP) submittal dates, and attainment dates. Development of phase I will close in August 1996 and be proposed in June 1997.

In July of 1996 an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) will be published with the revised ozone NAAQS. The ANPR will outline the essential elements of an integrated implementation strategy and the FACA process that will be used to develop the strategy. In addition, an interim implementation plan or transition strategy will be developed to address the time period between the proposal of new national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and the implementation of those NAAQS, i.e. SIP approval by EPA.

Phase II of the development of the integrated implementation strategy will focus on more detailed control strategy development. EPA will need to have phase II completed with a full implementation strategy by August of 1997 for proposal in June of 1998.

Clarification on the timing of SIPs was requested by Herb Williams. Joe Paisie clarified that there are two time segments for the transition between the existing NAAQS and the revised NAAQS and its resulting implementation strategy.

Jerry Golden asked for clarification on whether the development of the transition policy is within the scope of the work group or will this be completed by EPA staff. Joe Paisie responded that conflicting messages have been sent, and there is no final answer to this question at the current time.

The current implementation development timeline is summarized below.

July 1996	Proposal on potential revised NAAQS

ANPR outlining development of integrated implementation strategy and	interim issues before SIPs for a potential new NAAQS

August 1996	Close development of phase I implementation strategy

June 1997	Propose phase I implementation strategy

August 1997	Close development of phase II implementation strategy

June 1998	Propose phase II implementation strategy

Finalize phase I implementation strategy

June 1999	Finalize phase II implementation strategy

Mr. Golden asked if input to the phase I implementation plan could be incorporated after August 1996. Mr. Paisie responded that minor modifications could still be made to the package after the August date. Mr. Paisie stated that the long EPA regulatory development process requires that in order to propose in June, 1997 EPA must begin drafting language in November and December of 1996.

Arthur Lee asked for clarification on when the PM NAAQS would be proposed. Joe Paisie responded that this group is working on an integrated approach for all three NAAQS. However, the court ordered date for the EPA to propose a revised PM NAAQS is June 1996. Negotiations are currently underway to move that date.

Working Assumptions

Mr. Paisie outlined major working assumptions. Namely that this work group will proceed assuming that the NAAQS will be developed. EPA Criteria Documents and Staff Papers outline the current thinking on the levels for the revised NAAQS. This group is not responsible for debating or setting the NAAQS, that is a Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) function.

Brock Nicholson asked if the group would move forward in the event that only one NAAQS is proposed as opposed to the full compliment of NAAQS. Joe Paisie responded that we would move forward but what happens to the NAAQS will not be known until July or August.

Operating Principles

Operating principles for the work group are listed in Attachment D to the February 7, 1996 conference call announcement. The operating principles were discussed. Vincent Brisini asked if the effects of the other titles would be considered. Joe Paisie acknowledged the need to consider the emission reductions achieved through the other titles of the act.

Dennis Lawler and Arthur Lee asked about the role of this work group in the development of control strategies and the overlap with the National and Regional Strategies work group. Joe Paisie agreed that there is overlap between the two groups.

Issues will be presented to the group using issue papers. A draft issue paper outline was included as Attachment E to the February 7 1996 conference call announcement. Issues should be written up in the form of issue papers and submitted to Joe Paisie or Jerry Golden. Work group members will articulate the issue, and options should be developed with an eye to all potential view points (industry, state and local air pollution control agencies, tribes, environmental groups, and federal agencies).

Several questions about membership were raised. Mr. Paisie stated that the members of the work group are listed in Attachment A to the February 7, 1996 conference call announcement. Although the calls are not open to the public, members may have staff attending the conference calls. Viewpoints and participation on the calls should be limited to the actual members. Alternates for the members may attend the calls; however, if a member is consistently using an alternate their membership may be revisited by the co-chairs of the work group.

A work group survey will be distributed soon to help gauge the level and areas of expertise of the work group participants. The responses will be compiled and distributed to all of the participants. The survey will also include questions regarding the ability and types of electronic information exchange available to the membership.

Upcoming Conference Calls and Meetings

The next meeting of this work group will be February 21, 1996 between 11:00 and 12:30 am. The call in number is (919) 541-1591. Biweekly conference calls are currently being established for this work group and members should plan on these calls every other Wednesday between 11:00 and 12:30 am through the summer of 1996. The call in number for these calls may change.

A full FACA subcommittee meeting is being planned for the second or third week of March in conjunction with the CAAAC meeting. The current plan is to have face-to-face meetings of the work groups in conjunction with the full FACA subcommittee and CAAAC meetings.

Concern was expressed by several work group members because they are work group, full FACA subcommittee and CAAAC members, and scheduling their participation in all of the meetings will be difficult. Mr. Paisie stated that they are working to maximize member participation in as many meetings as possible. Several models including the ozone transport assessment group (OTAG) meetings and other CAAAC subcommittee meetings will be used to plan the agendas.

Preliminary Issues List

EPA has prepared a preliminary list of issues to help start the discussions. This list is not exhaustive, and issues can be added or removed from the list. Work group members are asked to review these issues and determine if clarification is needed, is anything missing, are there issues that should be dropped, and what is the order or priority for dealing with these issues. The priority should be consistent with the phasing principles discussed under work group orientation. Mr. Golden requested this initial input as soon as possible for incorporation into materials being prepared for the next meeting. The initial input does not need to be in the form of issue papers. Input on the preliminary list of issues should be received by mid-morning February 12, 1996 for incorporation into the February 21, 1996 conference call agenda. Additional input will be received during and after the February 21, 1996 conference call. In the future, issues will need to be fully developed in issue papers.

Communication

There are several electronic communication options available to the group. These options include using the Internet and/or developing an area on the EPA technology transfer network (TTN) bulletin board. These options are being explored and additional information on the work group members capabilities is being sought through the survey (discussed under work group orientation). Although faxing information is a reliable means of transmitting written information, it is not the optimal method.

The agenda and issues that will be discussed on conference calls will be established prior to the calls. This will help focus the discussions. Broad scale summaries of the conference calls will be provided.

Questions, feedback, and issue papers can be sent to either Joe Paisie or Jerry Golden. Members do not need to send information to both co-chairs. Mr. Paisie and Mr. Golden will be responsible for distributing the information to the members of the work group. They can be reached at:

Mr. Joe Paisie

(919) 541-5556

(919) 541-5489 fax number

paisie.joe@epamail.epa.gov Mr. Jerry Golden

(423) 751-6779

(423) 751-7545

iduq6@mhs-tva.attmail.com

Information that the group should have received to date includes an informational notebook prepared by EPA for the September 26, 1996 FACA meeting; a copy of the October 3, 1996 memorandum from Sally Shaver; and a work group membership list with communication information.