Lana Meade

April 17, 2005

ENVS 151

Ignacio @ 12:30 Monday

Air Quality in Southern California—Time for a Paradigm Shift

a.q.= air quality

  1. Introduction
  2. Numbers—population has doubled and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tripled
  3. Region now meets fed air quality standards for 4/6 pollutants from orig. 1970 CAA, eliminated all 3 stages of air pollution alerts, and reduced ozone levels by more than 2/3.
  4. Role players
  5. Gov’t on all levels
  6. Public demand
  7. Ability of business and industry to respond to measures from CA Air resources Board (ARB) and South Coast air Quality Management District (SCAQMD)
  8. Hypotheses for improving a.q.:
  9. Can’t rely on technology alone for long term results
  10. Have to look to critical regional issues
  11. Transportation
  12. Land use planning
  13. Smart growth
  14. Energy conservation
  15. Fuel choices
  16. Envtl justice.
  17. Look at regional planning issues and issue of health effects from proximity of directly-emitted vehicle emissions
  18. Proximity to vehicle emissions and human health
  19. Ozone and secondary particles formed photo-chemically in atmosphere from VOCs and NOx from mobile sources
  20. Studies in Germany, England and Wales, Amsterdam, Finland and New York
  21. Myocardial infarction w/in one hour
  22. Men living within 650 feet of major roadway 7% more likely to die from a stroke than men living >3000 ft away
  23. Increased risk of dying from lung, heart disease
  24. Increased rates of infectious and chronic diseases
  25. Death rates from flu, pneumonia and stroke 2x NYC
  26. Children near major roadways experience higher prevalence of respiratory problems
  27. 1998 diesel exhaust particulate declared toxic air contaminant by ARB
  28. Role of smallest—or ultrafine—particles
  29. Capable of penetrating cell walls and the blood-brain barrier
  30. Not much research yet
  31. Levels of children on heavy roads 3x those on quiet streets
  32. Quantifying the spatial dimension and its implications
  33. Vehicle-related pollutant concentrations spike at roadways but hen fall of fairly rapidly with down wind distance, almost to levels before it reaches highway (upwind areas)
  34. Environmental justice
  35. Even though So Cal has met AQS for CO and NO2 regionally, concentrations elevated along roadways near minority and low income housing
  36. Non-white children 3-4x more likely to live in areas with high traffic density than white children
  37. In-vehicle exposure
  38. In-vehicle concentrations of exhaust pollutants several times higher than those measured at fixed site monitors and higher than along roadways
  39. Up to 10x higher concentrations of ultrafine particles w/in cabin compared to urban background concentrations
  40. Avg person in CA spends 1.5 hours/day in car (6% of day), accounts for 1/3 to 1/2 of 24 exposure to DEP
  41. Reducing vehicle-related emissions: a triple win
  42. Focus needed on eliminating “super-emitting” passenger vehicles
  43. Constitute 10% of vehicle fleet but represent ~1/2 CO emissions and VOC’s and 90% of particulate emissions
  44. Smog check needs reform
  45. Include all vehicles, including old
  46. Require longer warranties for emission control systems
  47. Implementing “buy-and-crush” programs for older vehicles
  48. Adopting more stringent fuel standards will help somewhat, even just enforcing existing fed standards
  49. Electrification of truck transfer stations and cargo ship docks
  50. Limits of technical fixes
  51. 2003 Air Quality Management Plan
  52. 1/2 of emissions reductions required to meet AQS for ozone and fine particles in “black box” of undefined control measures
  53. Most of today’s new passenger cars already ultra-low-emitting (ULEVs) or ultra-low emitting (SULEVs), limiting future meaningful reductions in tailpipe emissions
  54. Hybrid vehicles do not offer dramatic improvements in emissions over conventional SULEVs
  55. Other problem sources
  56. Heavy-duty diesel (on and off road)
  57. Marine traffic
  58. Aircraft
  59. A.q. agencies will find reducing emissions per VMT difficult. Need to create transportation, smart-growth, and land-use strategies that will reduce amount of VMT itself.
  60. Transportation policies
  61. Even with 30 years of transportation control measures, avg occupancy of passenger cars 1.2
  62. Moving to heavier, larger, less fuel-efficient, higher emitting SUVs and light trucks, shows public and manufacturers not ready for change
  63. Available transportation policies:
  64. Increased carpooling and vanpooling
  65. “Congestion pricing”
  66. Use of smart shuttles at community level
  67. Intro of “intelligent transp. Systems”
  68. Light rail
  69. Compressed natural gas (CNG) buses most cost-effective and air quality-beneficial alt. to automobiles
  70. Need to enhance by coordinating services wider adoption of express lanes, and modernizing/expanding bus fleet
  71. Smart growth implications
  72. Key features
  73. Creating housing next to jobs
  74. Using mass transit hubs as foci for residential housing
  75. Basically reduce dependence on auto
  76. Issues:
  77. Proximity to roadwayshealth risks?
  78. Housing next to commercial, industrial, retail businesses, increased toxic air emissions (e.g. dry cleaners and perchloroethylene)
  79. Land use implications
  80. Need for buffers along major roadways, esp. freeways
  81. Prevent housing, schools, and child-care facilities 650 feet from major roadways
  82. Social and economic impacts of reducing housing near roadways
  83. Reducing photochemical smog
  84. Previous strategies to reduce VMT and per vehicle emissions will also benefit regional photochemical smog problem
  85. SCAQMD and ARB must press for more regulatory control from EPA for aircraft and marine emissions
  86. Address more effectively faulty vapor recovery systems at gas stations, mandating portable gasoline containers that trap evaporative emissions and continue efforts to educate about not topping off tanks or spill gas accidentally.
  87. Benefits
  88. Atlanta games 1996
  89. People encouraged to take bus and not drive
  90. Concentrations of traffic-related pollutants up to 50%
  91. ER acute care visits for asthma reduced by 40%