Final Summary

February 21, 1996 Base Programs Analyses and Policies Work Group Conference Call

I.	PURPOSE

A conference call was held on February 21, 1996 to discuss the revised list of initial issues and the assignment of issues to work group members for taking the lead on issuepapers and presentation to the work group.

II.	PARTICIPANTS

Work group attendees:

Joe Paisie-Chair, Jerry Golden-Chair, David Baron (make-up call), Vincent Brisini, John Crouch, Greg Dana (make-up call), Richard Dworek (make-up call), Dennis Drake for Steve Gerritson, Jeff Gabriel (make-up call), Richard Halvey (make-up call), Dennis Lawler, Arthur Lee, Brock Nicholson (make-up call), Bob Palzer (make-up call), Steve Pezda, Richard Phelps, Jim Ralston (make-up call), Jim Salvaggio (make-up call), Greg Schaefer (make-up call), Conrad Schneider (make-up call), Eric Skelton, Jean Vernet, Herb Williams, and Mel Zeldin.

EPA members and staff attendees:

Sharon Reinders-Team Lead, Ellen Baldridge, Tom Braverman, Lee Ann Byrd, Robin Dunkins, Bill Hamilton, Mark Kataoka (make-up call), Dick Long (make-up call), David Sanders, Callie Videtich (make-up call), Miki Wayland, Mark Wolcott, Ken Woodard.

Work group members not in attendance:

Glen Cass and Don Pickrell.

EPA contractor support: Rebecca Battye, EC/R Incorporated

III.	ACTION ITEMS

The next conference call is March 6, l996 from 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. EST. Due to the problems work group members are experiencing with the 919 conference line, EPA is switching to a 202 conference line. After today's call was completed, a new call-in number for the March 6, 1996 conference call was established at 202/260-7280, access code 3818#.

1) Members are to return the questionnaire either electronically or in hard copy by close of business Thursday, February 29, 1996.

2) Corrections to the summary of the February 7, 1996 call are also requested. The summary will be adopted as final at the March 6, 1996 conference call.

3) Joe Paisie asked members to list and rank the top three issues they would like to work on, from what perspective (ozone, particulate matter, and/or regional haze). He requested the members provide this information by February 28, 1996.

4) A face-to-face work group meeting has been scheduled for the evening of March 20, 1996 in Alexandria, Virginia. The meeting will start between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. An agenda will be distributed prior to the meeting. If any of the members would like to present information at the meeting they should alert Joe Paisie or Jerry Golden. There will NOT be a conference call at 11:00 EST on March 20.

5) Eric Skelton will contact John Core and to determine if he will distribute the Westar/PM-10 proposal to all members of the work group.

6) Problems with e-mail are being resolved.

7) EPA is setting up an area on the Technology Transfer Network (TTN) bulletin board for future distributions of work group agendas and meeting summaries, issuepapers, and members' communications.

8) Work group members needing or wanting additional program or pollutant information should feel free to contact Joe Paisie, Jerry Golden or other work group members.

9) Information on visibility and the coordination group activities will be provided to members in the next conference call and at the March 20 meeting in Alexandria.

IV. MEETING SUMMARY

Information Update

A face-to-face meeting of the Base Programs Analyses and Policies work group is scheduled for the evening of March 20, 1996. The room is available from 6 to 10 p.m. EST but it is anticipated that the meeting will start between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. EST. Staff may attend the meeting; the members are, however, responsible for presenting viewpoints. Logistics on room size are not known at this time.

If any of the members would like to present information at the meeting they should alert Joe Paisie or Jerry Golden as soon as possible.

There will be no conference call during the day on March 20, 1996 due to the face to face meeting in Alexandria, Virginia that evening. EPA is investigating setting up phone lines for the evening work group meeting.

The new Federal Advisory Committee Ace (FACA) Subcommittee for ozone, particulate matter, and regional haze implementation programs will meet all day on the 21st. Standing FACA subcommittees will meet on the evening of the 21st. The Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) will meet all day on the 22nd. Both the FACA subcommittee meeting on March 21st and the CAAAC meeting on March 22nd are open to the public.

It is not known at this time whether the Radisson has a special room rate but members should check under the EPA CAAAC meeting at the hotel.

There has been difficulty getting all of the participants onto these conference calls and a different call-in number will be used for the March 6th conference call. The call-in number will be 202/260-7280, access code 3818#. (Afterwards, EPA scheduled make-up calls for members who could not tie into this call.)

Most of the initial e-mail problems have been corrected.

EPA is working on setting up a bulletin board for the FACA work groups on EPA's technology transfer network (TTN) bulletin board as a means of distributing work group materials, such as agendas, and for the members to use to communicate with each other. In the future, we expect that the TTN bulletin board will be the preferred means of communication. It is expected to be tested and running by the end of March.

On February 16, 1996 a package was sent to work group members via regular mail. The package included an updated list of members including EPA support staff names, area of expertise and phone numbers; a questionnaire; tentative regulatory development timelines; a summary of the February 7, 1996 conference call; and, copies of members' comments on the preliminary issues list received through the 15th. Those comments received by noon on February 12 were incorporated. Others will be incorporated in a later update.

The questionnaire is due back by close of business Thursday February 29, 1996. The questionnaire is being used to develop a sense of the collective understanding of this group relative to the issues and target informational presentations. Members who need or want additional background should let Joe or Jerry know and they will provide additional background. Alternatively, members can contact other members of the work group. This questionnaire will help target future conversations.

EPA staff prepared the set of draft timelines. The time scale is not quite uniform and staff is working to merge them using a common time scale.

Vincent Brisini and Steve Pezda asked for a copy of the Westar/PM-10 proposal mentioned in the comments. Eric Skelton offered to contact John Core of Westar to determine if Mr. Core would distribute the document to the work group.

Comments or corrections to the February 7, 1996 conference call summary should be submitted so that the summary can be finalized prior to the next conference call scheduled for March 6, 1996.

Mission Statement - Comment/Reactions

Based on a comment received, a mission statement was extracted from the October 3, 1995 Sally Shaver letter to the FACA subcommittee members. Modifications to the mission statement were proposed. The revised statement is:

To conduct a re-examination of the existing base regulatory program in a timeframe consistent with the implementation development schedule 1) to take into account the potential new national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and potential regional haze program; 2) integration, where appropriate, of broader-based regional and/or national control programs including the perspective of both a receptor and generator of emissions with emphasis on the receptor areas, and 3) more effective implementation of the potential new NAAQS and regional haze programs;

To conduct a re-examination of the designation and classification process to better reflect the associated health risks and definition of air quality criteria pollutant problems; and

To develop transition policies which facilitate moving from the existing to new programs.

Vince Brisini asked if this group is the mechanism for the consolidated air rule. Joe Paisie clarified that the FACA effort is an approach to addressing the common issues and common characteristics of three air programs due to the potential for three new national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) or regulations for ozone, particulate matter and regional haze. Jerry Golden added that there is a consolidated air rule for electric utilities being negotiated with Mary Nichols. The electric utility consolidated air rule would address the requirements of the different titles of the Clean Air Act.

Mel Zeldin asked how much leeway is within the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments to carry out the mission. Joe Paisie responded that there is a great deal of leeway to design new programs for new NAAQS. The work group should do this considering sound policy, good science, and what makes sense first and then check with the Act.

Vince Brisini stated that one of the three air programs (ozone, particulate matter, or regional haze) will ultimately supersede the other two and will carry the day in terms of control strategy development. Joe Paisie added that one of the functions of this group was to see and address conflicts and consistencies between the three pollutants, if possible, and that there will be occasions where different approaches will be required.

Issues

Joe Paisie said the issues list has been revised to account for the comments received by mid-morning February 12, 1996. The revised issues list was then prioritized to reflect the order in which the issues will be addressed. The first four issues will be addressed as part of the phase I Implementation Plan; the remaining issues for phase II.

Volunteers are being sought to adopt issues and prepare issue papers. The issue papers should follow the format provided as attachment E to the agenda for the February 7th conference call. Issue papers should address one of the questions or sub-issues listed. EPA staff will work with these volunteers to provide background or act as a sounding board.

This process will benefit from the wisdom and experience of the members as the members develop these issue papers. Members are encouraged to work together in order to present a broad and balanced perspective; collaboration will improve the process. Members who wish to work on the Phase II issues could sign up; however, the group may not address these issues until later. Members may submit additional and related issues to Joe or Jerry as they identify them. There was general support for the idea of the work group members developing the issue papers.

Mel Zeldin stated that he has been very involved only in the PM side. He requested a one page fact sheet on the other pollutants that presents a broad base of background. In particular for regional haze, what are some of the questions posed and what are the requirements? Joe Paisie responded that the FACA notebook (sent to members on February 2, 1996) provides background on the pollutants and the programs. Also, during the March 20, 1996 work group meeting additional details can be provided in response to the information collected through the questionnaire.

Joe Paisie asked members to list the top three issues they would like to work on with an indication of their perspective (ozone, particulate matter, or regional haze). He requested the members provide this information by February 28, 1996.

The intention of the work group is to go over these issues in detail during future calls. The final product will be the identification of options to address the issue and the determination of whether one option makes sense or are there several options. The options or recommendations will be passed to the coordination group. This work group will act as an idea farm. Jerry Golden pointed out that the issue papers will also identify where additional work is needed. Joe Paisie reminded the group that the science and technical support work group will be available to help address some of these needs.

John Crouch asked at what point will the work groups see the issues lists for the other work groups. Joe Paisie responded that, at this point in time, only the coordination group will look across all of the work groups.

Steve Pezda identified an important issue for the auto industry under the first issue topic. The language "areas will be designated attainment or nonattainment" produces the sub-issue of the identification of "too close too call" areas. He would like to write up this issue. He believes this is an issue for both ozone and particulate matter. He does not believe it applies to regional haze. Mark Wolcott asked to include the requirements for the "too close to call" areas and volunteered to help Steve Pezda on the development of this issue paper.

There was an additional request for background on the regional haze program. Joe Paisie informed the group that a member of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC) may be able to give the work group additional information. The GCVTC has dealt with the specific issues of regional haze and has interesting information relative to a multi-state program. This will be placed on a future agenda or there may be a presentation at the March meeting.

Steve Pezda asked if the use of the "fine particle" terminology indicated that there was going to be a fine particle NAAQS. Joe Paisie clarified that this work group will plan for a PM fine standard but this does not pre-judge the standard review process.

Jean Vernet asked about the results of the first coordination group conference call. She also asked if the other work groups would be meeting on March 20th. Joe Paisie responded that it is his understanding that the other work groups will try to meet on the 20th but the coordination group may not meet at that time. The coordination group is in the process of collecting the issues from the four work groups and have had a detailed discussion on how they will interact with the other work groups. They will have the role of acting as a sounding board. In addition they are involved in setting the agenda for the meetings on the 20th and 21st. Joe Paisie and Jerry Golden will be attending the coordination group conference calls. A summary of coordination group activities will be provided at the next conference call.