AIR –

SJVAPCD Workshops

See:http://www.valleyair.org/Workshops/public_workshops_idx.htm#Rule%202201%20(New%20and%20Modified%20Stationary%20Source%20Review%20Rule)

·        Next Board Meeting will be held on April 24 at 9:00 AM in Oakland.

Location: California Department of Transportation
                111 Grand Avenue
                       1st Floor, Auditorium
                Oakland, California 94612

Agenda: http://www.arb.ca.gov/board/ma/2008/ma042408.htm

 This meeting will also be webcast.  Contact Lori Andreoni at (916) 322-5594 or landreon@arb.ca.gov

 Hazardous Waste Management 

DTSC will host a free, public three-day Remediation Technology Symposium from May 14 through May 16 in Sacramento and via webcast.   The target audiences are:  community members impacted by contaminated sites, interested Brownfields developers, cleanup consultants, DTSC cleanup and CUPA staffs and other state, local agencies.

http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Remediation.cfm

·        Next Regional Board Meeting
24 / 25 April 2008, 
Central Valley Regional Water Board
11020 Sun Center Drive #200
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670                          

·        Board Meeting Agenda: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb5/board_info/meetings/0804ag.pdf

 ·       

 BASELINE ENFORCEMENT REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006-2007

In late 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger directed the State Water Board to “develop a baseline of regulatory functions by all water boards and establish performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of [the Water Boards’] actions” and to “develop a comprehensive report on enforcement priorities, performance measures and targets.” This Baseline Report addresses the Governor’s direction about Water Board enforcement activities.

Separate from the Governor’s directive, the State Water Board had intended to prepare a baseline enforcement report using fiscal year 2006-2007 as the basis for evaluating the resources, outputs and outcomes of the Water boards’ enforcement efforts. While the Water Boards have issued previous enforcement-related reports, none addressed all of the Water Boards core regulatory programs and none provided a comprehensive picture of the Water Boards’ enforcement activities for these programs. In this report, the staff has endeavored to compile a baseline of information against which to measure the effectiveness of future enforcement initiatives and strategies.

The Baseline Report has five main purposes:

·         Identify the resources available for core regulatory enforcement and the enforcement actions achieved with those resources.

·         Illustrate the challenges faced by the Water Boards in bringing appropriate enforcement to ensure compliance.

·         Recommend metrics to measure the future effectiveness of the Water Boards’ enforcement functions.

·         Recommend improvements to the Water Boards’ enforcement capabilities

·         Provide statistics on rates of compliance for the core regulatory programs

The information presented in this report highlights the significant ongoing data and resource challenges of the Water Boards. For many of the core regulatory programs covered by this report, key data elements are either missing or incomplete. Variation in data entry is apparent from region to region and a lack of data should not be interpreted as inactivity by individual Regional Water Boards. An outcome of the broader Water Board initiative to make the California Integrated Water Quality System (CIWQS) functional to meet internal and external data management needs is to provide useful data on compliance and enforcement activities. This report recommends that CIWQS be required to maintain the data to support 10 specific measures of performance. These recommended performance measures will assist the Water Boards to monitor, manage and improve the Water Boards’ enforcement activities.

The State Water Board staff proposes to publish regular, comprehensive enforcement reports which evaluate the Water Boards’ progress in the enforcement arena.

http://www.epa.gov/earthday/

EPA Makes $50 Million Available to Clean Up Diesel Engines Nationwide

Release date: 04/02/2008 Contact Information: Dave Ryan, (202) 564-4355 / ryan.dave@epa.gov
(Washington, D.C. - April 2, 2008) EPA is announcing the availability of almost $50 million in grant funding to establish clean diesel projects aimed at reducing emissions from the nation's existing fleet of diesel engines.

The unprecedented sum, which was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and funded for the first time this fiscal year, will be administered by EPA's National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) and its network of seven collaboratives, made up of EPA regional offices and public and private sector partners.

"Under President Bush's leadership, America's air is cleaner today than it was a generation ago," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By encouraging innovations in existing diesel engines, EPA is driving the nation toward a clean, healthy, productive tomorrow."

Diesels are the economic workhorses of the nation, and over the past decade, EPA has set stringent new particulate and nitrogen oxide standards for most types of new engines. These regulations will annually prevent more than 20,000 premature deaths and yield more than $150 billion in public health benefits when fully implemented. The funding announced today, however, is aimed at reducing emissions from the existing fleet of 11 million diesel engines that pre-date these standards. Addressing the existing fleet is important because diesels remain in use for decades.

State, local, regional and tribal governments can apply for the grants, as well as non-profits and institutions with transportation, educational services and air quality responsibilities.

The grants are targeting school or transit buses, medium and heavy-duty trucks, marine engines, locomotives and nonroad engines. Grant recipients can use a variety of cost-effective emission reduction strategies, such as EPA-verified retrofit and idle-reduction technologies, EPA-certified engine upgrades, vehicle or equipment replacements, cleaner fuels and creation of innovative clean diesel financing programs.

Some EPA Regional offices have already started issuing requests for grant applications, called Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and, along with EPA Headquarters, will continue to roll them out throughout the spring.

NCDC uses a proactive, incentive-based approach to achieve environmental results. More than 400,000 existing diesel engines have already been retrofitted during the campaign's first few years, cutting harmful emissions by nearly 300,000 tons.
More information about NCDC and funding opportunities: epa.gov/cleandiesel

North American Occupational Safety and Health Week is May 4-10
    OSHA, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering will kick off a week highlighting how safety performance is good for business and for life. The North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week is May 4-10 in Washington, D.C., and is a joint venture with the United States, Canada and Mexico to raise awareness of occupational safety, health and environmental programs among employers, employees and the public. Winners of the ASSE kids' NAOSH "Safety-on-the-Job" poster contest and their families will celebrate at the National Zoo.

Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board - Public meeting/public hearing/business meeting -  Third Thursday every month

April 17, 2008 – Sacramento, CA  10:00AM

 http://www.dir.ca.gov/oshsb/agenda%20April08.html

Heat related illness prevention and information

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/hip.pdf

State Fund Rolls Out 24 “Heat Illness Prevention” Seminars Across California