The South Coast Air Quality Management District Board on Friday unanimously approved new emissions standards for aggregate dryers in use at asphalt plants, culminating a multi-year engagement between air quality regulators and the asphalt industry.

The 12-0 vote to accept the staff recommendation and previous endorsement by the Stationary Source Committee will put in place more stringent emissions standards in the form of a new air district rule, 1147.1, which is specific to asphalt plants. A total of 43 dryers at 37 asphalt plants are potentially impacted by the new rule.

During the public hearing portion of Friday's meeting, only three speakers offered testimony, including Ken Barker (pictured), recently retired from CalAPA member Sully-Miller and a longtime member of the CalAPA Environmental Committee.

"I believe it will be an effective and efficient rule for everyone," Barker testified about the new rule. Following the hearing he told Asphalt Insider that the collaborative, fact-based approach championed by CalAPA helped lead to a positive outcome and vastly improved the regulation from earlier drafts put forward by the air district.

Since February of 2019 CalAPA and its members have been engaged in discussions with air district staff on the AQMD's Rule 1147.1, which updates and imposes more stringent limits on NOx emissions, plus new reporting requirements. CalAPA presented the air district with a letter on March 9 outlining industry's concerns with proposals initially put forward by the air district staff, which informed discussions at subsequent meetings with air district staff. The SCAQMD regulates air quality for a large area of Southern California, including parts of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, home to more than 17 million residents.

CalAPA's letter stated the industry's intention to "engage with the Air District in a productive dialogue about furthering Air District goals in a manner that is both reasonable, achievable and quantifiable." CalAPA provided air district staff with information with regard to aggregate dryer burner technology, manufacturing and operation considerations, similar to what the industry has done with other regional air quality districts.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a "virtual" plant tour, conducted by Sully-Miller's Barker was held last year to give regulators a sense of how aggregate dryers and emission-control technology are incorporated into overall asphalt plant operations. The tour was very well received and was mentioned positively by SCAQMD staff at Friday's meeting.

The draft rules encompassed in Rule 1147.1 essentially establish a new rule that will update NOx emission limits for aggregate dryers currently regulated under Rule 1147, including RECLAIM and non-RECLAIM facilities, and establish an implementation schedule and requirements for monitoring and record-keeping. The NOx limit of 30 ppm is below the original staff proposal of 25 ppm after industry presented additional data from a wide variety of facilities located in the SCAQMD jurisdiction. In addition, responding to information presented by industry, the implementation schedule was extended, and a previous staff proposal for facilities to be mandated to adopt continuous emission monitoring systems was dropped.

The draft rule language for AQMD's Proposed Rule 1147.1 can be accessed HERE The preliminary staff report is HERE. CalAPA's March 9 comment letter is HERE. A "Member Alert" on this topic was sent out on to CalAPA members on Feb. 12, and an update was sent May 13. A May 24 article on this topic that appeared in the Asphalt Insider newsletter is HERE. The development of the new rule and its impact to the asphalt industry is profiled in an article authored by CalAPA Environmental Committee Co-Chair Scott Taylor in the current environmental-themed issue of CalAPA's association magazine, California Asphalt, which can be accessed on-line HERE.

For the second time in two weeks, the U.S. Senate worked through the weekend on a bipartisan infrastructure bill that cleared key procedural votes on its way to expected final passage this week.

Key test votes last week in the evenly-divided Senate indicated there was enough support of Democrats and 18 Republicans to eventually advance the bill, which could generate more than $550 billion in new funding for transportation above current levels, including billions for California above what the state receives now. A White House fact sheet about the measure and how it will impact California is HERE.

On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said: “We’re working through yet another weekend here in Washington trying to finish this bipartisan infrastructure bill. As you might have heard, we took an important procedural vote yesterday, Saturday, that passed with 18 of our Republican colleagues joining the Democrats to move forward with the process, so we hope to wrap up the bipartisan package in the next couple of days, which has important funding for California.”

Transportation advocates stress it is essential for elected officials to hear from their constituents. The National Asphalt Pavement Association, a CalAPA partner, has created a simple web form to help you identify your member of Congress and send them a sample letter. The entire process takes about a minute. Agency personnel, who are also constituents, are also encouraged to make their views known via the portal. You can view the page HERE.

The CalAPA Legislative Committee, in coordination with the NAPA Legislative Committee, continues to monitor the federal infrastructure talks closely, and the association has sent numerous letters, fact sheets and other communications to members of California's Congressional delegation on infrastructure issues. Contributions by state asphalt associations, including CalAPA, to pooled funds help underwrite the national advocacy efforts.

For more information on this topic, contact CalAPA at (916) 791-5044. More information about CalAPA's advocacy efforts on behalf of the asphalt pavement industry can be found on the association's website HERE. Last week's Asphalt Insider coverage of the infrastructure bill, with additional details and links to source material, is HERE.

A special environment-themed issue of CalAPA's official association magazine, California Asphalt, is currently arriving in mailboxes across the state. An on-line version of the magazine can be accessed HERE.

The authoritative publication for the asphalt industry features a deep dive on Environmental Product Declarations, insight into air quality regulations and health risk assessments, a briefing paper on AB617 community air quality panels, and a report on the development of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's new rule regulating aggregate burners at asphalt plants.

With the topic of recycled plastic and asphalt in the news these days, the issue also features a report on CalAPA's engagement on a bill in the Legislature on this topic, as well as a profile of a CalAPA member company, MacRebur Southern California, which specializes in the use of recycled plastic in asphalt pavements.

An archive of past issues of California Asphalt magazine can be found HERE. For advertising information contact Kerry Hoover of Construction Marketing Services at (909) 772-3121.

PAVEMENT RECONSTRUCTION: Replacement of an existing pavement structure by the placement of the equivalent of a new pavement structure. Reconstruction usually involves complete removal and replacement of the existing pavement structure and may include new and/or recycled materials. 

Each week we highlight a key point or best practice of interest to asphalt paving crews, inspectors and others working in the field. We welcome suggestions. More tips can be found in our Asphalt Parking Lot Construction Checklist HERE.

SUBSOIL: Is the base layer/subsoil firm and unyielding under the pressure of repeated construction trucks? Is the soil dry enough to support heavy construction? Can the soil hold its shape under loaded trucks? If the site is wet, postpone until the site is sufficiently dry and can be proof rolled and uniform stability is obtained. 

-- Winston Churchill

We hope you enjoy CalAPA's Asphalt Insider newsletter. We are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information on technical issues, regulation, news, analysis, events and trends in California that is of interest to the asphalt pavement industry and our various agency partners. Click HERE to contact us with any comments or suggestions.

Sincerely,

Executive Director

California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®