As
of May 2018, reissuance applications for individual air permits may be
completed through the MPCA’s online service (e-Service).
Benefits Online submission makes permitting reviews faster by
streamlining processes and decreasing data entry by populating forms with
permitting data, thereby reducing the time required to issue air quality
permits.
Getting started First-time users of air quality e-Services should go to
the MPCA’s Air permit forms and online submittals webpage for help getting started. The forms page has links to
all available air e-Services, instructions on setting up an account and getting
facility access, and a list of information needed for each page in the
e-Service. Once in the e-Service, users will have access to help files for
every page and field. If the help pages do not have the information you need,
contact the MPCA at onlineservices.pca@state.mn.us.
An
e-Services account can be created at any time. Existing users can use the same
account they already created for individual air administrative amendment
applications to submit individual permit reissuance applications.
Although Minnesota’s changing climate affects all of us,
some groups are more at risk. These include the elderly, children, people of
color, and people with chronic health issues, lower-income, outdoor
occupations, or other risk factors. MPCA
works in a multiagency partnership to help communities build resiliency to
climate change, but they are only as resilient as the most vulnerable within
them. MPCA provided funding for studies of 23 cities throughout Minnesota to
identify climate-vulnerable populations, resilience indicators, and strategies
to reduce risk.
Air quality is an important resilience indicator. People
historically exposed to poor air quality tend to have a higher incidence of
related health issues such as asthma, which makes them more vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change. These impacts include more mold from heavier rains
and flooding, increased pollen counts during longer growing seasons, more
wildfire smoke from longer fire seasons in other parts of the country, and
increased ground-level ozone caused by higher temperatures.
These city-specific Climate-Vulnerable
Population Reports highlight data on particulate matter, ozone, diesel
particulate matter, and traffic proximity to identify increased air quality risks
for climate-vulnerable populations. The reports assess the relative sensitivity
for that city’s vulnerable populations to air quality issues, describe sources
of pollution, and provide information about potential health effects from increased
risk.
The reports set out goals and strategies to help these
cities increase the resilience of their vulnerable populations. The main
air-quality goals are:
- Reduce vehicle-related
pollution, waste, and ozone formation.
- Improve and maintain air
quality for residents and businesses.
Many of the strategies listed to accomplish these goals are
“no regrets” actions that can improve daily quality of life for everyone in the
community. The city reports and the Menu
of Climate Adaptation Strategies are available on the MPCA's Community resilience webpage.
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The MPCA recently opened grant application opportunities to
install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations around the state using
Volkswagen settlement funds. Support for
funding to expand access to electric vehicle technology both through charging
stations and replacing heavy-duty diesel equipment with EV alternatives was by
far the most common comment MPCA received during our outreach and engagement
process.
$1.4 million is available for EV fast-charging corridor
grants, which will help Minnesotans travel by EV over longer distances across our state. This grant is expected to fund the
installation of 22 fast charging stations.
Applications are due August 21, 2018.
Approximately $158,000 is available for Level 2 EV charging stations
in public places, workplaces, and multifamily dwellings. These stations are perfect for locations where
drivers plan to park for longer than 15 minutes. Applications are due September 5, 2018.
The MPCA just closed a grant opportunity to replace old
diesel school buses with new, cleaner buses.
The MPCA is reviewing applications and will be notifying applicants
whether they will receive funding or not in the coming weeks.
The next grant opportunity using VW funds will be for
non-road equipment through MPCA’s Diesel
Emission Reduction Act grants program. We expect to open applications for this
funding in the fall. Visit the website
to sign up to receive email updates and be the first to know when the grants
open!
Learn more about the grants, sign up to receive email
updates, and apply on our grants
website. To learn more about
what the MPCA heard from Minnesotans on how we should spend the VW funds and to
read our plan for Phase 1 of the grants, visit our webpage.
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The redesigned website uses plain language and divides
content based on user needs. Citizens may learn how to get involved, and
project proposers may find guidance to assist them in their project submittals.
Check it out
here.
Did you know that the data we collect from our monitors, as
well as emissions reporting and modeling results, are available on our website?
The MPCA recently revamped our air data tools to make them even easier to use.
You can use the tools to look at current air quality, the potential health
risks of certain pollutants to you and your family, or what sort of air
pollution is being emitted near where you live, work, and play. To explore our air monitoring, emissions and
modeling tools, go to our Air data tools webpage.
The EPA also has interactive online tools you can check out
to learn about nationwide emissions and emission trends. See their National
Emissions Inventory Report (2014
data).
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Clean Air Minnesota and Environmental Initiative’s Project
Green Fleet program along with funding from EPA’s Diesel Emissions
Reduction Act recently helped replace the engines on the Itasca, a 45-year-old towboat operated by Upper River Services on
the Mississippi in St. Paul. Old engines
like those on the Itasca can operate
for many decades but lack the emissions controls and efficiency of modern
engines. Replacing them can achieve
significant diesel emissions reductions, benefiting the business, its
employees, and the community. The Itasca’s new engines will run so much
cleaner, it will be the equivalent of taking 16,000 cars off the road
annually. It will also save the company
1,020 gallons of fuel each year. Diesel particulate
emissions are particularly important to reduce because they can contribute to
heart and lung disease. Project Green
Fleet helps businesses make this cleaner choice by funding part of the up-front
cost of replacing these engines. Learn
more about the project on Environmental
Initiative’s website.
Clean Air
Minnesota is a collaborative partnership including governments,
for-profit businesses, and non-profit organizations that come together to
implement voluntary emission reduction projects and help clean the air for
Minnesotans.
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In Minnesota the electric power sector is the largest
emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, but it is also the sector that has
achieved the greatest emissions reductions in recent years. The sector will continue to be a key piece in
the puzzle to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve
Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act goals.
To help explore pathways to achieving those goals, the MPCA partners
with organizations in the state and around the region, including the
Midcontinent Power Sector Collaborative (MPSC). MPSC brings together a diverse group of organizations to explore optimal
pathways to achieving substantial and cost-effective decarbonization in our
region.
In July, the MPSC released A Road Map to Decarbonization in the
Midcontinent: Electricity Sector.
The Road Map includes a snapshot
of the power sector today along with modeling that explores both where the
sector is headed without additional actions to reduce emissions, and pathways
to achieve 80% and 95% carbon reductions by 2050 – what is often called “deep
decarbonization.” Check out the website
for interactive tools and the full report.
The collaboration plans to release additional road maps for other
sectors in the future, so stay tuned!
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Fourteen Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP)
interns spent their summer helping companies save money and improve the
environment with water conservation, pollution prevention, and energy
efficiency projects. This group of
highly qualified engineering students will present the results of their
projects at the 2018 Intern Symposium on Thursday, August 16, from 1:00 - 4:00
p.m.
The intern symposium will take place at the McNamara Alumni
Center on the University of Minnesota East Bank Campus. The event includes poster sessions and breaks that will provide opportunities to network and
interact with the interns. Click
here to register for the symposium.
For more information about the intern program, visit MnTAP’s website
or contact Nathan Landwehr at MnTAP, 612-624-4697 or 800-247-0015.
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In 2007 Minnesota passed the bi-partisan Next Generation
Energy Act, which set greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals for the
state. Minnesota’s Greenhouse
Gas Emissions Reduction Report (January
2017), shows that overall greenhouse gas emissions from activities throughout
the state have decreased slightly, about 4%, from 2005 to 2014. The report
concludes it is unlikely that we have achieved the 2015 emissions reduction
goal, and that without significant and concerted effort, Minnesota will not
reach future emissions reduction goals.
High global warming potential (HGWP) GHGs are chemicals that
trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere even more than carbon dioxide, the most
common GHG. These emissions are becoming
more common because they often come from chemicals that were developed to
replace other chemicals that have been found to deplete the earth’s ozone
layer. These chemicals are often used in
air conditioning and refrigeration. Learn
more about HGWP GHGs on our
website.
Businesses can act today to reduce HGWPs. To start learning
what you can do to reduce emissions, sign up for this
free
webinar on reducing HGWP GHGs
sponsored by the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council.
MPCA staff participated in this year’s Owámni
Falling Water Festival in
Minneapolis. The Owámni Festival celebrates indigenous Minnesota culture with
music, art, food, and more. Staff spoke with community members about
understanding pollution, how people can stay informed about air quality in
their communities, and what actions they can take to reduce both their
contribution to air pollution and climate change and their exposure to air
pollutants.
To learn more about air quality and your health and actions you can
take in your own home and community, visit the MPCA’s Air quality and
health webpage.
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EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
released a new proposal to replace fuel economy standards for light-duty
vehicles that were finalized under the Obama administration. The proposal would freeze the standards at
2020 levels through 2026 rather than continuing to require improvements over
that timeframe. It would also revoke
California’s ability to set more stringent vehicle greenhouse gas (GHG) standards
and electric vehicle requirements and withdraw states’ abilities to adopt
California’s standards. Fuel economy
standards reduce emissions of both GHGs and other air pollutants. These regulations are critical for protecting
the health of communities exposed to vehicle pollution and to achieving
Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act GHG emission reduction goals. The MPCA and Minnesota Department of
Transportation have participated in the rulemaking process so far, and strongly
oppose loosening these standards and will provide comments on this
proposal. The Minnesota Attorney
General, on behalf of the MPCA, has joined a lawsuit to halt the rollback of
these standards. Read the MPCA and MnDOT
comments on EPA’s announcement of reconsideration of the standards from October
2017 on Regulations.gov. EPA’s proposal can be found on their website.
Gliders are heavy-duty trucks manufactured using new truck
bodies with old, higher-polluting diesel engines. These vehicles have been produced and
marketed under a loophole in the federal regulations that limit pollution from
new heavy-duty diesel trucks. These
glider vehicles typically produce emissions that are 20 to 40 times that
allowed from modern heavy-duty trucks.
The existing Phase 2 heavy-duty truck rule closed this loophole
beginning in January 2018. On November
16 2017, EPA announced a proposed rule that would repeal these glider rules and
maintain the loophole that allows their production. MPCA opposes this rulemaking and has supported comments submitted by the National Association of Clean Air
Agencies. Read the proposed repeal and
NACAA’s comments at Regulations.gov.
On July 6, 2018, EPA announced it would not enforce the
glider rules while the agency continued to work on its repeal of those rules. The Minnesota Attorney General, on behalf of
the MPCA, along with a coalition of other states filed requests both with EPA
and the D.C. Circuit Court to force EPA to enforce the rule. On July 26, 2018, EPA announced it would
continue to enforce the rule, but would act quickly to finalize the rule’s
repeal. Read more from Reuters.
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set federal air quality
standards for six common air pollutants (called “criteria” pollutants) to
protect human health, the environment, and property. States must then work to ensure that their
air quality complies with these standards. EPA is required to review their air quality
standards every five years to make sure they reflect the most up-to-date
science on the health and environmental impacts of these pollutants. EPA has been reviewing the recent science on
impacts of sulfur dioxide and, based on the recommendation of the agency’s
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, proposed to keep the existing standards
in place. The MPCA supports this
decision and supported comments submitted by the National Association of Clean
Air Agencies. EPA is subject to a Consent
Decree, which requires them to finalize their decision about the sulfur dioxide
standards by January 28, 2019. EPA
currently expects to meet that deadline. EPA’s proposal and supporting documents are on
their website.
On April 30, 2018, EPA announced a proposed rule titled
“Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science.” The proposal would prevent EPA from using
epidemiological studies that rely on private health data in developing
health-based environmental regulations. The
MPCA strongly believes that regulations should be developed using the best
science available and that data and scientific studies should be accessible to
the public, but that this proposed rule would undermine the use of
peer-reviewed scientific research. MPCA
and the Minnesota Department of Health filed joint comments critical of this
proposal. MPCA Commissioner Stine and
MDH Assistant Commissioner Allwood also testified at EPA’s hearing on the rule. Read the proposal and the MPCA and MDH
comments at Regulations.gov.
On June 13, 2018, EPA announced a proposed rule titled
“Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Costs and Benefits in
the Rulemaking Process.” The stated
intent of the rule is to use cost-benefit analysis consistently across federal
environmental statutes. Cost-benefit
analyses are an important part of many regulatory processes and the MPCA supports
rigorous analyses that consider all the costs and benefits of environmental
regulation, including the costs and benefits to society as a whole. The MPCA is still considering this proposal
and plans to submit comments to the docket.
Read the proposal at Regulations.gov.
Air Mail is a quarterly,
email-based newsletter featuring updates on air quality issues and the work of
the MPCA and our partners. Subscribers to this list also receive Air Mail
Bulletins, which provide time-sensitive regulatory and technical updates.
To see past issues, Air Mail
Bulletins, or to subscribe, visit the MPCA's website.
If you have questions
or comments about Air Mail, please contact Amanda Jarrett Smith at amanda.smith@state.mn.us.
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