DRAFT MINUTES
of the
POTRERO POWER PLANT CITIZENS ADVISORY TASK FORCE
Thursday, September 28 2000
City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 82
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order by Chair Philip DeAndrade.at 4:25p.m.
Present: Sarah Ames Larry Klein
Joe Boss Richard Lee
Philip DeAndrade, Chair Francesca Vietor (Mayor)
Babette Drefke
Absent: Robert Boileau, Vice Chair Jim Firth John Borg Richard Millet
Angela Calvillo (Supv. Ammiano) Claude Wilson
2. PRESENTATION: PERMITTING PROCESS REQUIREMENTS BY STEVE HILL, BAY AREA AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
Mr. Hill appeared before the Task Force to explain the permitting process and where the approvals of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District fit into the CEC siting process.
A. District's permit program has several different functions: register sources, educate the operators on compliance issues, compliance determination process where designs are reviewed to ensure they comply with the regulations and an ongoing enforcement activity, public records review component, collect money to fund the act.
Potrero Power Plant
Minutes
September 28, 2000
B. Three major components of the District's permit program:
1. On-going operating permits for facilities
2. Pre-construction review process for new sources
3. Title 5 permit-federal operating permit program. Applies to major facilities in this area
C. New Source Program
It is easier for a facility to comply if it know the rules before construction. If there are needs for emission controls, easier and cheaper to design them at the inception. Also provides an opportunity to review all of the environmental impacts before facility constructed and provides opportunity for public participation at a time when it can affect the design of the project.
D. Compliance Review
Three major review components. Look to make sure that a large facility uses best available control technology; that offsets are available and provided for emission increases; and there is a requirement for a large facility to do dispersion modeling to ensure that the impacts are acceptable (PSD modeling (prevention of significant deterioration). With the Potrero Plant, the Board will look at the increase in emissions from that location. The standard-new operation cannot result in an increase that threatens attainment status. Attainment refers to federal standards for air quality, for nitrogen oxide concentrations.
State has no net increase program. Because of concern for regional pollution, reduction in emissions, programs have be designed to make sure that there is no net increase in emissions from facilities that are under permit from the district. Any new facility that comes in must be offset by some other facility that is going out of business or reducing its emissions beyond the requirements.
The facility will be required to provide offsets for certain pollutants at a 1.15 to 1 ratio to ensure that there are more reductions than there are increases.
Once application approved, Air Quality will issue a Preliminary Determination of Compliance (PDC): a draft permit that will be distributed widely and will be subject to public comment. Once public comment is incorporated, final DOC will be issued, a document that the CEC needs in order to issue certification. DOC will have Air Quality permit conditions in final form
Potrero Power Plant
Minutes
September 28, 2000
Mr. Mark Harrar, project manager for the Potrero Power Plant application to the CEC will invite the project's air consultant, Mark Strehlow to the next meeting.
Mr. DeAndrade suggested that three members of the Task Force meet with Richard Lee to pursue air quality issues. They will meet October 18th at 3:00 p.m.
3. PRESENTATION: PERMITTING PROCESS BY WILL BRUHNS, BAY AREA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD
Job is to protect the natural resource of the Bay by regulating intentional discharges and to clean up leaks, spills. Legal authority comes from both federal Clean Water Act and state water quality laws. When they issue a permit it is a federal permit and state permitting simultaneously. Enforcement is done under state law.
The Board consists of nine political appointees, nominated by the governor and confirmed by the state senate.
Re Potrero Plant, Board is regulating the cooling water that goes through the plant. It is currently running at 157,000 gallons per minute. The proposed addition is 158,000 gallons per minute, just over twice as much. All other discharges go through the City sewage system which the Board also regulates.
The expansion will require a permit and primary issues include biological concerns relating to the Bay fish being drawn in to the cooling system and the regurgitation of same back into the Bay; the Board will rely on the state Fish and Game to assess those issues. Also at issue will be the temperature of the water discharged back into the Bay; and whether it impacts the biology exemptions are granted when the applicant can prove that the temperature will not be a problem.
Mr. DeAndrade suggested that a representative from the State Fish and Game agency address the Task Force to respond to the aforementioned concerns regarding the effects of the Potrero Plant cooling system on the biology of the Bay.
4. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.
