Bryan W. Shaw, Ph.D., Chairman

Buddy Garcia, Commissioner

Carlos Rubinstein, Commissioner 

### -


### .

:**~~·.->** .:.\ \ .: I·**!d:~** 

## fJLr.;·u:i: . !·

Mark R. Vickery, P.G., Executive Director 

## 10 APR -9 Pii 

## 1:55

TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Protecting Texas bg Reducing and Preventing Pollution 

## April6,2010

Docket No. 2009-0802-SIP, Project No. 2009-017-SIP-NR**~** 

### Docket No. 2009-0932-RUL, Rule Project No. 2009-006-101-EN · Docket No. 2009-0867-RUL, Rule Project No. 2009-019-101-EN

A1 Armendariz, PhD, Regional Administrator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency- Region 6


### 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas, Texas 75202-2733

.

Dear Dr. Armendariz:

On March 10, 2010, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (Commission) adopted revisions to 

### the

State Implementation Plan (SlP) for the control of ozone air pollution for the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) 

### area.

The Commission adopted amendments to 

### 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 101, Subchapter A,
General Rules, Section 101.1; and Subchapter H, Emissions Banking and Trading, Division 6, Highly Reactive

Volatile Organic Compound Emissions Cap and 

### Trade Program, 

### Sections 101.390

- 101.394, 101.396, and


### 101.399

- 101.401; 30 TAC Chapter 101, Subchapter H, 

### Emissions Banking and Trading, Division 3, Mass
Emissions C and 

### Trade Pro 

### Sections 101.350 101.351 and 

### 101.353 and co · revisions to the SlP; and 

### GB Attsinment Demonstration SlP Revision for the 1997 Ei t-Hour Ozone Standard. These rule changes and SIP revisions demonstrate that the HGB area 

### will attain the 

### 1997 eight-hour ozone National
Ambient Air 

### Quality Standard by June 15, 2019.

Enclosed are 

### the proposed revisions to the SlP, a public hearing certification, a 

### complete record of the public hearings, and the accompanying orders.· I 

### look forward to your expeditious approval of these SlP revisions.

Sincerely, 

# B**~,;ktw.--·**

# B~haw,PhD.

Chairman

BWS/jmm

Enclosures

cc: The Honorable Rick Perry, Governor ofTexas

Mr. Toby Baker, Office ofBudget, Planning and Policy, Office of the Governor

Mr. Mark 

### R Vickery, P.G., Executive Director, Texas Cor!unission on Environmental Quality

P.O. Box 13087 Austin, Texas 78711-3087 512-239'1000 1ntemet address: www.tceq.state.tx.usTexas Commission on Environmental Quality

Public Hearings
Odober 28-29, 2009

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB)

Attainment Demonstration SIP Revision
for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard Projed Number 2009-017-SIP-NR

Volume 2 of2REVISION TO THE STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

FOR THE CONTROL OF OZONE AIR POLLUTION

HOUSTON-GALVESTON-BRAZORIA 1997 EI GHT-HOUR OZONE STANDARD

NONATTAINMENT AREA

TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

P.O. BOX 13087 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-3087

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Attainment Demonstration State Implementation Plan Revision for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard

PROJECT NO. 2009-017-SIP-NR

Adopted March 10, 2010xv LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Appendix Name

Appendix A Meteorological Modeling for the HGB Attainment Demonstration SIP Revision for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard

Appendix B Emissions Modeling for th e HGB Attainment Demonstration SIP Revision for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard

Appendix C Photochemical Modeling for the HGB Attainment Demonstration SIP Revision for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard

Appendix D Reasonably Available Control Technology Analysis

Appendix E Reasonably Available Control Measure Analysis

Appendix F Evaluation of Mobile Sour ce Control Strategies for the HoustonGalveston-Brazoria State Implementation Plan (With Detailed Strategies), Prepared for Houston-Galveston Area Council, Prepared by ENVIRON International Corporation

Appendix G Transportation Control Measures for the HGB Attainment Demonstration SIP Revision for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard (Excerpt from Evaluation of Mobile Source Control Strategies for the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria State Implementation Plan), Prepared for Houston-Galveston Area Council, Prepared by ENVIRON International Corporation

Appendix H Voluntary Mobile Emission Reduction Program for the HGB Attainment Demonstration SIP Revision for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard (Excerpt from Evaluation of Mobile Source Control Strategies for the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria State Implementation Plan), Prepared for Houston-Galveston Area Council, Prepared by ENVIRON International Corporation

Appendix I Corroborative Analysis for th e HGB Attainment Demonstration SIP Revision for the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard

Appendix J Recommendations for Best Ma nagement Practices to Control and Reduce Inadvertent Cargo Vapor Emissions in the Tank Barge CommunityAPPENDIX H

VOLUNTARY MOBILE EMISSION REDUCTION PROGRAM

FOR THE HGB ATTAINMENT DEMONSTRATION SIP REVISION

FOR THE 1997 EIGHT-HOUR OZONE STANDARD

Excerpt from

Evaluation of Mobile Source

Control Strategies for the

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria

State Implementation Plan

Prepared for Houston-Galveston Area Council Prepared by ENVIRON International CorporationThis appendix supplements the di scussion provided in Section 4.6.2.2, Voluntary Mobile Emission Reduction Program (VMEP), and deta ils the voluntary commitments made in this state implementation plan (SIP) revision. The VMEP emission reduction w as included in modeling sensitivity runs described in Chapter 3, Photochemical Modeling. The 2.25 tons per day tpd reduction of nitrogen oxides (NO X ) emissions resulting from these voluntary commitments are referred to as the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) reductions.

Alternative Commuting Bicycle and Pedestrian Actions Bicycle measures encouraged by bicycle and pedest rian action groups include new bicycle lanes, new bikeway plans, and encouraging greater use of exis ting lanes instead of vehicle use. Bicycle action groups and other bicycle measures included in the H-GAC Regional Bikeway Plan from the 2035 RTP are evaluated below. The Regional Bikeway Plan, descr ibed in Appendix G of the 2035 RTP is intended to serve as a guide for investment, interagency coordinati on, and best practices in developing facilities for bicyclists in the eight-county Houston-Galveston Tr ansportation Management Area (TMA). The plan acknowledges that the current level of bicycle travel within the TMA is not precisely known, making it difficult to define a benchmark for increases in bicycl e travel replacing vehicular travel. Unfortunately, the Houston-Galveston region also has one of the hi ghest rates of crashes involving motorists and bicyclists in Texas. The plan may be reviewed at http://2035plan.org/docs/final/Appendix%20G- %20Draft%20Ped%20Bike%20RTP%20Appendix.pdf

.

Notable examples of local bikeway networks include Al vin, Conroe, Houston, La ke Jackson, La Porte, Missouri City, Pasadena, Sugar Land, and The Woodlands . The H-GAC plans to continue to work with local entities to identify projects that further the deve lopment of local bikeway networks as part of the overall regional transportation system.

There are two employment centers within the TMA that generate a significant level of bicyclist commuters: the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in H ouston and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston. The TMC draws the greatest amount of commuter bicyclists of any employment center in the TMA. According to the 2000 census, th ere were 50,238 work trips, of which 36,973 drove alone, 7,927 carpooled, 4,018 took the bus, 430 walked, 379 biked, and 511 used other means (motorcycle, taxi, permanent telecommute). The 430 walking trips and the 379 biking trips represent 0.9% and 0.8% respectively of all trips. The TMC ha s the highest concentration of bicycle trips within a census tract in the region (even greater than downtow n Houston), and the third highest concentration of walking trips in the region (after downtown and th e UTMB in Galveston). Recent observations made by H-GAC and TMC staff indicate that over 1,000 bicyclists now commute to the TMC on a daily basis.

The 2000 Census indicated that UTMB had 10,470 da ily work trips. Of these 89% were by private vehicle, 1.3% by bus, 2.2% by bicycle and 5.3% wa lking trips. These are much higher than the regional average of 0.3% by bicycling and 2.1% by walking.

Cleaner Diesel Fuel/Alternative Fuels The cleaner diesel control measure would consist of a change in diesel fuel from Texas Low Emission Diesel fuel (TxLED) to either cetane additive enhanced (CAE) or Fischer-Tr opsch (FT) diesel fuel. It is anticipated that, due to the nature of CAE and FT dies el technology, this program may not be a mandatory change to CAE or FT diesel, but may more likely be for a localized or demonstration project on specific Class 8b Heavy Duty Truck (HDT) fleets.

TxLED fuel contains less than 10 percent by volume of aromatic hydrocarbons and has a cetane number of 48 or greater. CAE diesel would consist of di esel to which additives were supplemented, producing a cetane number increase of 5 points with no changes in other parameters from TxLED fuel. FT diesel fuel

H-1would consist of typical FT fuel with a cetane number of 74 and an arom atic content of 0.1 percent (Clark et. al., 1999).

Subscription Bus Service There are many types of subscription bus services offe red in the Houston and other metropolitan areas. The analysis presented here focuses on a subscription bus service catering to those that are least likely to

use transit – white collar workers w hose work load would make a quiet stress-free ride to work with internet access offered very attractive. Among the majo r obstacles to transit use are limitations in service between residential and employment areas. If transit service were designed specifically for certain residential areas to highly used but somewhat underser ved employment areas, transit use could increase substantially. An example of such a service would be between the Katy areas to downtown areas such as

the TMC.

There are a number of potential services that could assi st in transit use between such areas, including personalized rapid transit, subscription bus service, business first buses, easier access between METRO and other services such as those provided by TREK (such as a universal card), and personalized transit planning. There is a likelihood of some latent demand for transit service that specifically serves individuals because of time spent in traffic, gas prices, maintenance and parking costs that can be significantly offset by using an alternative mode of transportation such as transit. For example, personalized transit planners, somewhat like personal shoppers, could assist indivi duals by showing them how to easily use transit from one point to another (such as home to work, work to lunch spots or meeting locations, and work to home). Such a service could even be provided online. In addition, some buses could be equipped with fold-down tables and wirele ss internet connections (for example, through cellphone companies) so that people could work while on the buses, and feeder shuttles could bring people from transit stops directly to work centers.

This measure evaluates the benefits of a hypothe tical and ambitious program that would provide these services. It is assumed that 100 new business buses (buses equipped with fold-down tray tables and wireless internet) seating 35 people each providing service directly from neighborhoods to specific work locations would operate four trips per morning and f our per evening. Service would also be augmented by the addition of 100 shuttle buses to provide service between current METRO stops and (1) underserved residential area too far from transit centers or park and ride lots to utilize them; and (2) employment areas in downtown Hous ton which currently do not have sufficient transit access. The shuttle buses are assumed to seat 15 people each and operate six trips each morning and six each evening. For the purpose of simplicity it is assumed that curre ntly planned expansions to METRO service would accommodate the extra ridership creat ed by the shuttle services. If th is measure results in emissions significant enough to merit further review, this assu mption, along with the others would need to be

refined.

Public Transit Improvements There are two measures related to transit options in the list of measures that could produce measurable

emissions reductions shown below: • Electrified buses, and • Light rail expansion. The electrified buses or light rail require infrast ructure improvements (overhead catenary or rail construction), but would result in an elimination of the engine emissions on those routes served.

Compressed work week Compressed work weeks are among th e most effective transportation demand management measures. Many Houston area employers currently have compr essed work week programs. Employees in most of these programs either have a 4/40 schedule or a 9/80 schedule. A 4/40 schedule means they work four ten

H-2hour days per week and have one day off. A 9/80 schedule means the employees work 9 hours a day and take one day off every two weeks. Mo st programs operate on a 4/40 schedule.

Currently the H-GAC alternative work schedules program, which operates under the umbrella of the Commute Solutions program, helps employers implem ent several measures including telecommuting, carpooling, vanpooling, alternative parking, and compressed work weeks. A mandatory program specifically aimed at increasing the amount of compr essed work weeks is not cu rrently in place but could be implemented as a part of th e overall ozone attainment plan.

Internet Ridematching Services An H-GAC ridesharing program began in August of 2005, which utilizes computer-based methods similar to other online travel programs such as Travel ocity. The program is internet based and uses the consultant NuRide, Inc. ( http://www.nuride.com ), the nations first incentive-based rideshare network. NuRide’s innovative online program lets individuals use NuRide’s pa tent-pending technology to find the ideal partner with whom to share a single ride for wo rk or pleasure. Subscribi ng to the philosophy that people sharing rides provide a valuable service to th eir community, NuRide offers its members rewards each time they use the ridesharing program. By accumulating "NuRide Miles", members earn enough points to acquire gift cards and gift certificates from a variety of corporate sponsors such as Old Navy, TGI Fridays, Macy’s, and many other familiar retailers and restaurants.

The program’s incentives to ridesharers are significa nt enough to have made the program grow from a few hundred carpoolers to nearly 5,000 in August 2008. The incentives mentioned above earn points at dozens of participating retailers. Points are only earned when, for each ridesharing day, ridesharers match themselves with an online carpool and fill out a survey fo rm (all ridesharers must fill out the survey or no credit will be given).

It should be noted that in addition to NuRide, there are several other internet based carpooling websites. eRideshare.com is the leading carpool/ridesharing website, according to Yahoo and Google. It has been recognized as "Best of the Net" by About.com, and was featured in Al Gore's book, An Inconvenient Truth as a way to Take Action . GoLoco, Zimride (which uses a facebook application), Mycarpools.com, and CarpoolWorld.com are other examples of carpooling websites. These internet sites saw enormous growth during 2008 while gas prices were rising. Sp ecific statistics on Houston for all ridesharing sites

are not available.

Vanpooling The H-GAC administers a vanpooling program that consists of ongoing efforts to reduce congestion by providing alternative transportation through trip shari ng with vanpools. The pr ogram began operation in 1996 and is funded using Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds, METRO local funds and employer incentives, which provide reduced monthly costs to participating employees. As of August 2008, the vanpool program had 755 vans and 7,846 riders with an average of 10.4 riders per van. The vanpools average 54.6 miles per day (round trip).

The VMT reduction resulting from these vanpoolers will be about 54.6 miles per day, or about 100 million miles per year, assuming a 260-day work year. As vanpools are driven about 11 million miles per year to offset the 111 million miles that woul d have been driven in passenger vehicles.

Regional Traffic Flow Improvement Local Intersection Signal Improvements Traffic signalization improvements, reversible lane s, and intersection improvements are an ongoing part of the H-GAC plan and Transportation Implementati on Plan (TIP). According to evaluations of Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) project s, as well as straightforward logic, traffic flow

H-3improvements encouraged by improved intersections or tr affic signals provide benefits for 2 to 5 years (3 years was used for this analysis) before latent demand and growth in traffic cause the facility to return to approximately the same flow level as prior to the si gnal or other improvements (although better able to handle higher traffic volume).

Vehicle Retrofit and Replacement

Public and Private Sector Clean Fuel Fleets

This measure seeks to reduce on-road vehicle emissions by rapid turnover to newer lower emission engines, retrofit of existing engines with approved devices, or new lower emission technologies. These programs have been mandated or voluntarily implem ented with federal incentives or state funding from programs such as the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP).

In Houston, the H-GAC administers a program under The Clean Cities/Clean Vehicles Program ( http://www.houston-cleancities.org/# ) where CMAQ funds are distributed to replace and retrofit lower emitting heavy-duty vehicles.

In Texas, the TERP program has been successful in co-funding many different types of emission reduction projects including on-road trucks, construction and off-road equipment, marine vessels, and locomotives. To date, about $300 million of project s have been approved in the HGB area from 2002 through 2008 with most of the funding occurring in the 2004 through 2008 period. The most recent projects have just been approved, so not all of the emission reductions have been realized and are still pending.

Dedicated Funding for School Bus Replacement A fund dedicated to helping meet the costs of purch asing new buses to replace older buses has accelerated the replacement of older buses in school district fl eets. Buses that are replaced should be scrapped.

Electric Vehicles/Increased Use of Hybrid Buses

The electric vehicle control measure consists of the voluntary inclusion of a greater percentage of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) or zero emitting travel through the use of plug-in hybrids or other vehicles. This could occur through new purchases or a replacement program for existing vehicles.

The hybrid buses available have two main advantag es. No new (other th an the buses themselves) infrastructure is required and fuel consumption is re duced. The main disadvantage is that a fraction of emission reductions (about 25%) would be applied to already low emission new bus engines. Therefore, the emission reduction in tons per year would be lo wer than that for projects implemented through 2007.

Off-road Measures Voluntary Non-Road Replacement and Retrofit Programs Voluntary retrofit and replacement programs have been used across the US to reduce emissions using a variety of co-funding incentive programs to offset the costs incurred.

In Texas, the popular TERP program has been su ccessful in providing co-funding for many emission reduction projects of many different types of emis sion sources, including, on-ro ad trucks, construction and off-road equipment, marine vessels, and locomotiv es. To date, about $300 million of projects have been approved in the HGB area from 2002 through 2008 with most of the funding occurring in the 2004 through 2008 period. Because the most recent projects have just been approved, not all of the emission reductions have been realized and are still pending.

In addition, there are other funding sources for contro l strategy projects including the EPA grant program run by a local collaborative ( http://www.blueskyways.org/ ). The EPA funding program was relatively

H-4limited at $5,000,000 in 2008 ( http://www.blueskyways.org/pdf/clean-diesel-FY08.pdf ) for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Minnesota. Nationally this program was funded at $49.2 million in 2008, of which, $27.6 million was available for national Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. Half of the national Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program is dedicated to public fleets. Other monies were distributed to the States, research, and revolving loan program.

There may be additional funding sources available thr ough State and Federal actions and other programs.

Government Construction Incentives An incentive program or a requirement for publicly-funded (including just captive state, county, and municipal fleets of off-road equipment) or all construction projects could effect emission reductions by encouraging fleet turnover to those meeting lower emission standards. A TxDOT plan provides an example of an incentive program. Alternatively, many other states and localities have suggested or implemented emission standard (by model year) requi rements for construction contracts. (EPA, 2008, http://www.epa.gov/diesel/construction/contract-l ang.htm) While some areas target NO

x control and others PM control, the incentives or requirements fo r new equipment based woul d control both pollutants.

Promote Cleaner Lawn and Garden Equipment A program designed to promote the use of clean lawn and garden equipment. The primary benefit of these programs will be to reduce VOC and CO emissions.

There are at least two examples of a replacement/ purchase program to replace gasoline equipment with electric versions including several in California ( http://www.aqmd.gov/tao/lawnmower.html

, http://airquality.org/mobile/m owdown/mowdowngeneral.shtml ) and the Central Texas program ( http://www.cleanairforce.org/2008MowingFlyer.pdf ). These programs have worked out many of the

issues related to transfer of ownershi p and determining appropriate incentives.

Reduced Idling Idling is an inefficient use of equipment in gene ral and generates unnecessary emissions. Idling however cannot be avoided in all cases, such as during normal work when work is performed intermittently, and the time to restart the engine would be considered an annoyingly significant delay. This measure would seek to limit excessive idling when equipment is not required immediately. Suggested periods for limiting idling could be s little as 15 minutes maximum. Many on-road trucks have factory-installed engine shut down devices that automatically shut down the engine after a set period, or devices could be added to existing equipment.

To implement this measure, idle shut-off devices coul d be employed with idle timers set to a period that would not cause typical operational problems. But operator training could provide significant idle reduction perhaps beyond idle shut-off devices.

Development of Clean Air Action Plans for Regional Port and Marine Operations This measure seeks to adopt a plan that effects emission reductions from HGB area ports and private terminals. The plan could cover several or all emi ssions sources associated with marine activity include water and shoreside activities as outlined by EPA's Clean Ports USA ( http://www.epa.gov/otaq/diesel/ports/index.htm ).

A program might use California ports plans as a model of what might be accomplished. The most widely sample plan is that for the Port s of Long Beach and Los Angeles w ho have adopted the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), a plan aimed at significantly reducing the h ealth risks posed by air

H-5H-6 pollution from port-related ships, trains, truc ks, terminal equipment and harbor craft. ( http://www.cleanairactionplan.org/about/default.asp ) the primary purpose of this California plan is the reduction of particulate matter emissions where the primary purpose of the HGB plan might be VOC and

NO

x reduction for ozone attainment.

Rail Efficiency Measures This strategy suggests projects that might improve ra il efficiency requiring less activity from line-haul locomotives. Some measures to effect this improvement could be public/private pa rtnerships while others might be implemented by the railroads.

Railroads have been improving their efficiency th rough technology and operational measures. The technologies include wheel and rail lubrication, better bearings, more efficient engines, perhaps other technologies yet to be identified. The operation ch anges include idle reduction, improved aerodynamics, longer trains, and improved training and evaluation of engineers to reduce braking, idling, and other inefficient operations.

Program Type NO X Reduction Estimate (tons per day) Alternative Commuting 0.20 tpd Regional Traffic Flow Improvement 0.05 tpd Vehicle Retrofit and Replacement 1.30 tpd

Off-road Measures 0.70 tpd

Total 2.25 tpd