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 Early Action Compact
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*These reports summarizes emission reduction activities of the signatories to the Austin/San Marcos O3 Flex Agreement |
While the Ozone Flex program encourages local areas to plan ahead in order to maintain their attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard, that program does not take full advantage of the extensive advance air quality planning that is happening in many of our communities to ensure their meeting the stricter 8-hour standard. Below are the main principles of a EAC (Early Action Compact) protocol through which a community can enter into an EAC with the TNRCC and EPA. Through this protocol, early voluntary 8-hour air quality plans can be developed and executed through a Compact among local, state and EPA officials for areas that are in attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard, but approach or monitor exceedances of the 8-hour standard.
Early voluntary 8-hour air quality plans can be developed through a Compact between Local, State and EPA officials for areas that are in attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard but approach or monitor exceedances of the 8-hour standard. These early action plans will include all necessary elements of a comprehensive air quality plan, but will be tailored to local needs and are driven by local decisions. The Early Action Compact is designed to develop and implement control strategies, account for growth, and achieve and maintain the 8-hour ozone standard. This approach will offer a more expeditious time line for achieving emission reductions earlier than EPA’s expected 8-hour implementation rulemaking, while providing "fail-safe" provisions for the area to revert to the traditional State Implementation Plan (SIP) process if specific milestones are not met. Early Action Compacts should complement any existing Ozone Flex Agreements.
The principles of the tri-party Early Action Compact to be executed by Local, State and EPA officials are:
- Early planning, implementation, and emission reductions leading to expeditious attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour ozone standard;
- Local control of the measures employed, with broad-based public input;
- State support to ensure technical integrity of the early action plan;
- Formal incorporation of the early action plan into the State Implementation Plan (SIP);
- Deferral of the effective date of nonattainment designation and/or designation requirements so long as all Compact terms and milestones are met; and
- Safeguards to return areas to traditional SIP attainment requirements should Compact terms be unfulfilled, with appropriate credit given for reduction measures already implemented.
The Compact will address the following components:
A. Milestones and Reporting
" In order to facilitate self-evaluation and communication with EPA, TNRCC and stakeholders, the Early Action Compact must include clearly measurable milestones for the development and implementation of the plan. Local areas will assess and report their progress against milestones in a regular, public process, at least every six months. Milestones will include, at a minimum:
- Completion of emissions inventories and modeling;
- Adoption of control strategies that demonstrate attainment;
- Completion and adoption of the early action SIP revision;
- Attainment not later than December 31, 2007;
- Post-attainment demonstration and plan updates;
In the absence of achieving milestones, including attaining the 8-hour ozone standard on or before December 31, 2007, the area will be deemed in violation of the Compact and will be subject to the full planning requirements under applicable mandatory standard SIP processes (which will be developed under EPA’s 8-hour implementation rulemaking). Such an area will be subject to the same requirements and deadlines which would have been effective had it not participated in this program, with no preferential delays or exemptions from EPA. However, the area will receive appropriate credit in the standard SIP process for all emission reductions from measures implemented in this program.
- If the area has had a non-attainment designation deferred and the area does not reach attainment of the standard by December 31, 2007, then the non-attainment designation will be effective immediately. If EPA’s implementation schedule also requires SIPs from areas on or before December 31, 2007, then a SIP revision demonstrating attainment by the new attainment date will be due for the non-attainment area no later than December 31, 2008. EPA will offer areas no extensions or delays of the applicable attainment date.
B. Emissions Inventory
- Modeling emissions inventories using the most current tools available will be completed for at least one recent episode in order to support the early action plan. Emission inventories must include:
- 1999 or later episode reflective of a typical ozone season exceedance that meets EPA episode selection guidance to ensure that representative meteorological regimes are considered;
- MOBILE6 data with link based Travel Demand Model (TDM) mobile data in urban areas;
- NONROAD model data adjusted for local equipment populations and usage rates;
- Area source data based when possible on local survey data.
- Further episode inventories will also be developed over time to fully represent the variety of situations that typically contribute to ozone production in the area and to include the most recent developments.
- Emission inventories will be compared and analyzed for trends in emission sources over time. This will improve an area’s understanding of the trends in emissions in their community and will aid in verification of the accuracy of the inventories.
C. Modeling
- Emission inventories will be used to develop SIP quality modeling episodes that perform within EPA’s accepted margin of accuracy, including a base case and future case on or before December 31, 2007. Therefore, inventories must sufficiently account for projected future growth in ozone precursor emissions, particularly from stationary, non-road, and on-road mobile sources.." Local area must carefully document modeling approach, and work will be supported and reviewed by the State and concurrently reviewed by EPA.
- Quantifiable emission reduction measures will be integrated into the future case to produce one or more control cases. These control cases will be used to indicate the relative effectiveness of different measures and aid in selecting appropriate measures."
- Prior to plan implementation the control strategies should be determined based on model results from a control case episode that shows achievement of the 8-hour ozone standard on or before December 31, 2007 through implementation of the control strategies.
- Communities will continue to develop other episodes as necessary to fully represent the variety of situations that typically contribute to ozone production in the area and to support the plan with the most current information and tools. Other episodes may also indicate necessary revisions to ensure that sufficient emission reduction measures are selected and implemented to continue to achieve target ozone concentration levels.
D. Control Strategies
- After all adopted Federal and State controls that have been or will be implemented by the attainment date of December 31, 2007, are accounted for in the modeling, the local area will identify additional local controls, as necessary, to demonstrate attainment of the 8-hour standard on or before December 31, 2007. These local controls will be specific, quantified, permanent and enforceable control strategies. All controls will include specific implementation dates, as well as detailed documentation and reporting processes.
- Controls will be implemented as soon as practicable, but not later than December 31, 2005.
- Controls will be designed and implemented by the community with full stakeholder participation.
- All control measures will be incorporated by the state into the State Implementation Plan and submitted to EPA for review and approval. In the event that areas wish to add or substitute measures after SIP submittal, plan modifications will be treated as SIP revisions and facilitated by the state.
E. Maintenance for Growth
- The plan must include a component to address emissions growth at least 5 years beyond December 31, 2007, ensuring that the area will remain in attainment of the 8-hour standard during that period. This future attainment maintenance analysis may employ one or more of the following or any other appropriate techniques necessary to make such a demonstration:
- Modeling analysis showing ozone levels below the 8-hour standard in 2012;
- An annual review of growth (especially mobile and stationary source) to ensure control measures and growth assumptions are adequate;
- Identification and quantification of federal, state, and/or local measures indicating sufficient reductions to offset growth estimates.
- The plan must also detail a continuing planning process, including.modeling updates and modeling assumption verification (particularly growth assumptions). Modeling updates and planning processes must include all relevant actual new point sources in the modeling, and evaluate and account for potential new source growth, as well as updating the modeling of future transportation patterns and their impact on air quality.
- If the review of growth demonstrates that adopted control measures are inadequate to address growth in emissions, additional measures will be added to the plan. Local planning processes should prepare for this possibility.
F. Public Involvement
- Public involvement will be conducted in all stages of the planning and implementation process.
- Public education programs will be used to raise awareness regarding issues, opportunities for involvement in the planning process, implementation of control strategies, and any other issues important to the area.
- Interested stakeholders will be involved in the planning process as early as possible. Planning meetings will be open to the public, with posted meeting times and locations. Plan drafts will be publicly available, and the drafting process will have sufficient opportunities for comment from all interested stakeholders.
- Public comment on the proposed final plan will follow the normal SIP revision process as implemented by the State.
- Semi-annual reports detailing, at a minimum, progress toward milestones, will be publicly presented and publicly available.
Local, State and EPA Commitments
Local Areas
Local areas hold primary responsibility for the development and implementation of the plan, as well as for maintaining communication with all parties, including:
- Draw up the Compact which embodies the requirements described in Sections A-F, including a time line for milestones.
- The Early Action Compact must be completed and a final version signed by all parties no later than December 31, 2002.
- The early action plan must be complete and adopted as part of the SIP no later than December 31, 2004.
- Notify parties as soon as possible of issues and developments which may impact performance and progress toward milestones.
- Notify parties as soon as possible if Compact milestones will be missed or have been missed.
- Notify parties as soon as possible if Compact modification/termination is to be requested.
State
The state will assist in the drafting of the Early Action Compact and will provide support to areas throughout the planning and implementation process, including:.! Technical assistance in the development of emission inventories, modeling process, trend analysis and quantification and comparison of control measures;
- Necessary information on all Federal and State adopted emission reduction measures which affect the area;
- Critical third party review of emissions inventory, modeling, and self-evaluation work;
- Technical and strategic assistance, as appropriate, in the selection and implementation of control strategies;
- Technical and planning assistance in developing and implementing processes to address the impact of emissions growth beyond the attainment date;
- Maintenance of monitors and reporting and analysis of monitoring data;
- Support for public education efforts;
- Coordinate communication between local areas and EPA to facilitate continuing EPA review of local work;
- Expeditious review of the locally developed plan, and if deemed adequate, propose modification of the SIP to adopt the early action plan;
- Adoption of control measures into the SIP as expeditiously as possible. The final complete SIP revision must be completed, adopted, and submitted by the state to the EPA no later than December 31, 2004.
EPA
EPA will recognize the local area’s and State’s commitment to voluntarily adopt an early, substantive, enforceable and scientifically-based attainment plan with early implementation of control measures by becoming a party to the Early Action Compact developed in conformance with this protocol.
- EPA will provide technical assistance to the state and local area in the development of the early action plan.
- EPA will move quickly to review and approve completed plans by no later than nine months after submission of the SIP revision by the state.
- When EPA’s 8-hour implementation guidelines call for designations, EPA will defer the effective date of nonattainment designation and/or designation requirements for participating areas that are monitoring violation of the 8-hour ozone standard as long as all terms and milestones of the compact are being met, including submission of the early action SIP revision no later than December 31, 2004.
- Provided that the monitors in the area reflect attainment by December 31, 2007, EPA will move expeditiously to designate the area as attainment and impose no additional requirements.
- If at any time the area does not meet all the terms of this Compact, including meeting agreed-upon milestones, then it will forfeit its participation and be designated (or re-designated if necessary) according to EPA’s 8-hour ozone implementation guidelines. EPA will offer such an area no delays, exemptions or other favorable treatment because of its previous participation in this program.
- If the area violates the standard as of December 31, 2007, and the area has had a non-attainment designation deferred, and then the area will revert to its designation of non-attainment effective immediately. The state will then submit a revised attainment demonstration SIP revision according to EPA’s 8-hour implementation guidelines, unless the 8-hour implementation schedule requires SIP’s from 8-hour non-attainment areas before December.31, 2008. In that event, a revised attainment demonstration SIP revision for the participating area will be due as soon as possible but no later than December 31, 2008. In no event will EPA extend the attainment date for the area beyond that required by the 8-hour implementation guidance.
- No area will be allowed to renew their Early Action Compact after December 31, 2007, or initiate a new compact if it has previously forfeited it participation.
Local governments, community and business leaders, environmental groups, and concerned citizens in the Austin/San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area (A/SM MSA) want to implement programs to improve regional air quality. These groups want to take action now to assure continued attainment of the federal 1-hour standard for ground-level ozone. The O3 Flex Agreement is the appropriate mechanism for achieving these goals and provides the flexibility to allow individual communities to pursue emission reduction strategies most appropriate to their circumstances. Therefore, local government signatories request that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) agree to the terms set forth in this O3 Flex Agreement and Memorandum of Agreement
EPA issued O3 Flex Guidelines on June 21, 2001. The O3 Flex Agreement is a voluntary local approach to encourage emission reductions that will keep an area in attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard, while also working toward the health benefits envisioned under the 8-hour ozone standard.
O3 Flex is implemented through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between EPA, the state environmental agency and local governments. By developing, signing, and maintaining the MOA, the local area will not be designated nonattainment for the 1-hour ozone standard for the term of the agreement, as long as the control measures are being implemented. EPA also plans to provide options for the 8-hour ozone standard, to the extent possible under provisions of the Clean Air Act, that recognize the efforts of areas that voluntarily achieve near-term emission reductions via the O3 Flex Agreement.
A major advantage of the region’s participation in an O3 Flex Agreement is the flexibility afforded to the signatories in selecting emission reduction measures and programs which are best suited to local needs and circumstances. Recognizing the varied social and economic characteristics of Central Texas, not all measures can or should be implemented by every entity. Also, given constraints imposed by annual budget cycles, not all entities will be able to implement measures before the 2002 ozone season. Each of the signatory parties has reviewed the menu of programs described in Section 3.0 (Action Plan) and committed to implementing those strategies which are most appropriate and suitable given their individual capabilities and resources. A summary of selected programs and commitments is provided in Section 3.7.
It is the understanding of the signatories of the O3 Flex Agreement that EPA is committed to doing all it can do within its authority to provide SIP credit for near-term, discretionary emission reduction measures to participants in the O3 Flex Agreement. In Central Texas, these participants include local governments and area businesses. Examples of credits which may be applied include lowering the ozone concentration baseline used as a starting point in ozone attainment modeling, reducing the total amount of emission reductions needed for attainment, or in providing emission reductions needed for a State Implementation Plan (SIP) attainment demonstration. It is also understood that emission reductions achieved through individual measures will be donated to the regional O3 Flex efforts and will not be available for use in an emissions banking/trading program, with one exception. The City of Austin’s electric utility (dba Austin Energy) intends to make additional NOx emission reductions beyond all state and federal requirements. These additional reductions are expected to result in the utility’s having excess allowances on a regular basis. While Austin Energy may eventually use these excess allowances in a banking/trading program, the utility will not sell the allowances within the five-county Central Texas region. The 2007 NOx reduction resulting from Austin Energy’s emission reduction program is, therefore, included in the total emission reductions to be achieved under this Agreement.
The signatories’ intent in entering into the O3 Flex Agreement is to proactively implement and sustain air quality improvement strategies that are tailored to local conditions and are effective, practical, and measurable in reducing ground-level ozone concentrations. The Agreement should in no way be construed as a strategy to avoid or to defer a nonattainment designation under the 8-hour ozone standard. However, signatories urge EPA to adopt a policy of quickly restoring attainment status to areas that come into expedited compliance with the 8-hour standard as a result of an O3 Flex Agreement.
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How O3 Flex Applies to Central Texas
Participation in an O3 Flex Agreement is available for areas that:
· currently are designated attainment and are monitoring attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard, and
· currently monitor either violations or attainment of the 8-hour ozone standard.
Implementation of the O3 Flex Agreement is intended to reduce emissions which produce ozone, O3. Ozone is a form of oxygen with three atoms, instead of the usual two atoms. It is a photochemical oxidant and, at ground-level, is the main component of smog. Ozone is not emitted directly into the air but is formed through chemical reactions between natural and man-made emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the presence of sunlight. High concentrations of ground-level ozone are damaging to human health and the environment. Reducing ozone levels requires reductions in ozone precursors, predominantly VOCs and NOx.
The Clean Air Act directs EPA to develop and enforce standards for ambient air quality adequate to protect public health. Ground-level ozone, the pollutant of concern in Central Texas, is one of the pollutants for which standards have been promulgated. Under the 1-hour ozone standard, exceedance of the standard occurs when measured peak ozone levels for any 1-hour period is 125 parts per billion (ppb) or higher. The standard is violated when 1-hour peak levels are at or above 125 ppb more than 3 days over a 3-year period.
In 1997, EPA set a new standard for ground-level ozone in response to concerns that the 1-hour standard was inadequate to protect public health. EPA changed the standard to 85 ppb (the effective standard given rounding protocols) and introduced the “rolling 8-hour average” as the tool for measuring exceedances. The 8-hour average approach addressed the concern that longer periods of exposure were more of a health threat than exposures to 1-hour peak levels. Using the rolling average, EPA calculates the average reading over 8-hour blocks of time throughout a 24-hour time period to determine the highest 8-hour average for a given day. An exceedance of the standard occurs when this 8-hour average is 85 ppb or higher. The fourth highest 8-hour average for the year is averaged with the fourth highest readings for the previous two years. An area violates the 8-hour standard when the average for three consecutive years of these readings is 85 ppb or higher.
Central Texas is designated attainment for the 1-hour ozone standard and continues to monitor attainment of that standard. The region has not exceeded the 1-hour standard since 1985. However, Central Texas has experienced monitored violations of the 8-hour ozone standard in 1997-1999 and 1998-2000. As such, the region meets the criteria in EPA’s guidelines for participation in an O3 Flex Agreement.
Because monitored violations indicate concentrations of ground-level ozone which are inconsistent with protecting public health and the environment, elected officials in the five-county Central Texas region (Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties) have agreed to consider entering into an O3 Flex Agreement with EPA and TNRCC, with the intent of taking voluntary and prompt actions to improve air quality in the region. Resolutions to pursue development of an O3 Flex Plan were unanimously approved by county commissioners courts in each of the five counties. City councils in Bastrop and Elgin (Bastrop County), Lockhart and Luling (Caldwell County), San Marcos (Hays County), Austin (Travis County), and Round Rock (Williamson County) also unanimously approved resolutions. A Letter of Intent, with these resolutions, was submitted to representatives from EPA Region VI and TNRCC on April 11, 2001.
Central Texas’ O3
Flex Proposal
Government, business, and community leaders in Central Texas are committed to initiating
effective and sustainable programs that will significantly improve air quality and will
assure that the region stays in attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard. The first
phase in achieving these goals is the O3 Flex Agreement with TNRCC and EPA. To the
extent practicable, O3 Flex Agreement programs will be launched for the 2002 ozone season,
and, in any event, no later than the 2003 ozone season. Descriptions of these
programs and identification of the entities utilizing the various strategies are detailed
in Section 3.0.
The second phase of the region’s air quality improvement program includes a regional commitment to continued air quality monitoring, photochemical modeling, and technical analyses to facilitate design and implementation of additional strategies for future years. Since 1996, ambient air monitoring has been conducted and emission inventories have been compiled for the region. Photochemical modeling of a 1995 episode has also been performed. Modeling and analyses of a 1999 high ozone episode are underway, with completed studies expected in early 2002. Results of this work are expected to enhance the region’s ability to select the most effective emission reduction strategies. MOBILE5 has been used for this work; analysts will use MOBILE6 [1] to evaluate mobile source emission reduction measures. Using the results of this additional technical work, interlocal agreements may be developed among the participants to carry out future programs and measures, or the signatories may choose to amend the existing O3 Flex Agreement.
Geographic Coverage of the O3 Flex Plan
The proposed O3 Flex Plan applies to the five counties included in the Austin/San Antonio
Metropolitan Statistical Area (A/SM MSA). These counties are Bastrop, Caldwell,
Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties (Figure 1.1). The A/SM MSA is defined by the
U.S. Office of Management and Budget (based on data generated by the U.S. Census Office)
and is representative of the historical basis used by the EPA for defining nonattainment
area boundaries. For Central Texas, using the defined MSA is a reasonable and
suitable approach to setting the area’s O3 Flex Plan boundaries. The
predominant sources of anthropogenic VOC and NOx in the region are on-road, non-road, and
area. The impacts of, and increases in, emissions from these sources are primarily
related to the urban character of the region (e.g., population densities, urban/suburban
growth, commuting patterns, etc.).
FIGURE 1.1