iPRMT

Now available for users is the iPRMT PowerPoint shared at the May RAMP meeting.

Scott Boettcher, ORA Special Projects Consultant with the Governor's Office of Regulatory Assistance, was the presenter.  As explained, the iPRMT is the Governor's One Front Door initiative to make the environmental permitting process easier and faster while protecting our natural resources.

The process is a multi-agency effort that incorporates early  project review, mapping, is "wizard driven,", includes messaging and document management as well as "Next Steps" functions. 

Port of Tacoma Distributes Clean Truck Stickers

The Port of Tacoma is making special stickers available as part of its clean truck program.

The stickers can be placed on the driver-side door of trucks that have 1994 or newer model year engines, the port said in a statement. The deadline to comply for all trucks delivering or picking up from Port terminals is January 1, 2011. More than 500 stickers have already been distributed to trucks that are preregistered under the Port’s best management practices list.

Between October 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010, the Port of Tacoma will begin identifying trucks without stickers and informing drivers of the clean truck program standards and the requirement to display the clean truck sticker.

RAMP Meeting Highlights Winter Flood Preparations

In light of last year’s winter storms that resulted in miles of road closures and thousands of dollars of lost revenue, Pierce County and WSDOT are planning for the worst case scenario this year. Flooding of the Puyallup, Carbon, White and Nisqually Rivers is a constant concern of the adjacent communities. Pierce County’s Surface Water Management Division developed a map describing the impacts of 100 year flood events, which have been occurring more frequently.

Flooding of the Puyallup River is of particular concern to the Port of Tacoma, the cities of Sumner and Fife and the thousands of commuters and freight service companies that depend on I-5 access daily. Pierce County estimates that the levies on the lower Puyallup River require $150 million in capital investments. The potential financial impact of Puyallup flooding is estimated to cost the community $1.3 billion.

In response, Pierce County has established the Puyallup River Basin Executive Taskforce. The aim of the taskforce, comprised of a diverse group of stakeholders, is to develop a plan and a funding strategy to minimize the impacts flooding along the Puyallup River.

Similarly, WSDOT has developed solutions to two major flooding problems in Pierce County. In Sumner, along Traffice Ave. near by storm water pipes were retrofitted to more effectively drain roadway run off. Near SR. 161 the banks of the Mashel River were armored to prevent erosion and minimize flooding.

Cash for Clunkers

NASCAR may no longer have the fastest track. The House may vote as early as next Tuesday on a bill to provide a cash-for-clunkers trade-in proposal.

The bill is expected to be considered under suspension of the rules, a fast-track procedure barring amendments and requiring a two-thirds vote for passage. This updated version of an earlier bill is an amendment to the climate change bill (HR 2454). A matching bill (S 1135) has been introduced in the Senate and may be added an amendment to a tobacco regulation bill (HR 1256).

These authorizations are being complemented by House and Senate appropriators adding ~$2 billion to the fiscal 2009 supplemental war funding bill (HR 23346).

Consumers would receive a voucher for up to $4,500 to purchase or lease a new, fuel-efficient vehicle (car, SUV or truck).

The old car must get <= 18 mpg and receive $3,500 for an improvement of 4 mpg or $4,500 for an improvement of 10 mpg.

For a light-duty truck or SUV, the old vehicle must get <= 18 mpg and the purchaser will get $3,500 for a 2 mpg improvement and $4,500 for 5 mpg more. The rationale:

• Helping the auto industry and dealers
• Helping the Rust Belt
• Helping the nation's economy
• Getting cleaner air
• Getting better fuel economy in the nation's vehicle fleet
• Lessening dependence on imported oil

Interested? Check out old car and new car mpg ratings here.

Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen Are in Tacoma

Carlile Transportation Systems today welcomed to its Tacoma fleet the first Kenworth Medium-Duty Diesel-Electric Hybrid Tractor to serve any West Coast Port.

Photo courtesy KathyTomandl, Port of Tacoma

The "tractor" is equipped with a fifth wheel to haul trailers for drayage business at the Port of Tacoma. I had the privilege of a short excursion aboard the new Kenworth T370 with Carlile Transportation Systems CEO Harry McDonald as chauffeur. McDonald said they expect a 20+% increase in fuel mileage from the hybrid for local haul applications.

This hybrid is a welcome addition to the commercial center of the port-industrial area. It will demonstrate the viability of hybrid commercial vehicles for this purpose - and we wish both Carlile and Kenworth be best of luck. In addition to having far more immediate applications than the $100,000 Tesla, the port-industrial area has been recommended for non-attainment status for PM-2.5 even though continuing monitoring shows results below federal thresholds. That final designation is expected from EPA Thursday, Dec. 18

Our Own Economic Stimulus Package

This community is about to embark on its most massive construction project ever; the Blair-Hylebos Terminal Redevelopment Project (BHTRP). At an estimated $1 billion, it dwarfs the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge at $800 million.

Early news reports were filled with the economic opportunity associated with this redevelopment, accommodating new terminal expansions and the redevelopment/repositions of others. Other businesses have been impacted and we've seen several pursue new facilities as this Port development has spurred other improvements.

The people of Pierce County, justifiably proud of the economic engine of the Port of Tacoma, have been treated to numerous opportunities to learn more about and to express preferences for how things are done as the project is improved. This Monday is the new deadline - extended from an earlier benchmark - now (Dec. 8) until 4:00 p.m.; everyone has another chance to share their opinions, concerns, preferences, choices and other perspectives about the BHTRP.

If you having yet caught onto this project - and are a quick study - you have just a handful of hours from this posting to do your homework and make a meaningful contribution. Comments may be online or via email.

Riding the Circuit - the Road to Everywhere

The Transportation Club continues to attract quality speakers with gravitas, featuring Ray Kuntz, Immediate Past President of the American Trucking Association yesterday.

But after his year on the rubber-chicken circuit, our audience was treated to a well polished presentation of the challenges confronting the trucking industry from a front-line fighter, plus a few glimpses into his vision for the future.

As Chairman of the Board and CEO for Watkins Shepard Trucking of Helena, MT, we can be gratified to have a Westerner at the forefront of trucking's issues. There wasn't much doubt that he considers the U.S. infrastructure system to be failing - the foundation of our status as a global power. Kuntz gave a review of several national (and state) systems that have gone to hi-way privatization for infrastructure. Uniformly, he forecasts private tolling fees of $1/mile, forcing trucks to use adjacent arterials systems.

And, he had a special forecast for Mexican trucking issues. There is no low-sulfur diesel refined or planned for in Mexico, although one firm plans to supply truckstops with tanker-trucked diesel. Mexican trucks will use non-low sulfur diesel, making them "dirty" trucks when traveling in the U.S. (via the FTA provisions). U.S. trucks, built after 2007 will have to pay the higher diesel costs of limited supplies when in Mexico. Kuntz laments that the real issues of NAFTA are never part of the public discourse.

Kuntz also is troubled by the cost of the next highway bill, which he puts at $400+ billion. He asks: "How do we fund this?" Plus, he asks how the trucking industry will respond to sustainability and climate change legislation, probably mandating carbon credits. He said the National Association of Manufacturers puts this toll at $1 billion.

Kuntz offers these solutions:

1. FIX CONGESTION. Focusing on congestion problems will cost $80 billion, with 3/4ths of that in the top 20 metro areas;
2. NATIONAL 60 MPH SPEED LIMIT. This will give greater fuel efficiency and reduce our consumption;
3. DO ALL OPTIONS FOR FUEL SOURCES. Do conservation. Do alternative fuels. Do drill more.

His observation - National legislation has proposed to eliminate larger companies (more than 50 trucks) from incentives, yet those larger companies are the ones doing fuel conservation:

• Adding APUs
• Buying fuel efficient tires
• Giving drivers fuel bonuses

These activities are saving his 700-truck firm $500,000/month. And, from us he got more than rubber chicken - he got salmon!

Bow Down to Foss

Hard on the heels of a NOAA study apportioning a greater share of airborne soot among tugboats and large cargo ships, comes the welcome news that one of our own sets the standard.

Foss Maritime tugboat company, which has its roots and history in Tacoma, announced that it has been awarded the 2008 William M. Benkert gold award for marine environmental protection by the US Coast Guard. Foss was also chosen by the California Air Resources Board Carl Moyer Program to fund the Green Dolphin hybrid tug project.

According to the NOAA study, tugs put out more soot for the amount of fuel used than other commercial vessels. Large cargo ships emit more than twice as much soot as previously estimated, it said.

Environment Trumps Growth and Development

J. Christopher Lytle, Deputy Executive Director and CEO of Port of Long Beach (PoLB) said at today's Transportation Club of Tacoma that environmental challenges trump container volume growth or infrastructure development.

Lytle, well traveled among international lines, including some time in Tacoma, spoke of the overriding concerns the Port of Long Beach had with its future development. Their priorities are of no small import (pun intended) given their prominence as a premier port on the West Coast. Begun in 1911, the PoLB is now the 2nd busiest U.S. port, and the 16th busiest in the world. It has 3,600 A., 7 container terminals, 72 cranes. 82% of its revenue comes from containers. Along with 70 million tons of bulk cargoes, the port handles 7.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). That represents $140 billion in cargo value. For the future, the forecast is that containers at PoLB will increase from 15.7 million in 2007 to 42.7 million TEUs by 2030.

Lytle said projects aren't getting done because of environmental issues, and air quality is the top issue of the top environmental issues. In 2005, the PoLB adopted its Green Port Policy, and in 2006, its Clean Air Action Plan, along with its regional partners including the Port of Los Angeles (PoLA). Among its goals, reducing San Pedro Bay pollution by 45% within 5 years, cleaning up trucks and equipment, adopting shore-side electricity and low-sulfur fuels.

PoLB recognizes that vessels are 50% of its problem with trucks 25%. To accomplish these goals, the PoLB has adopted an incentive plan to encourage vessels to reduce speed, and 90% of lines have complied to get reductions in fees. The port has also instituted green leases, a new locomotive fleet and low-sulfur fuel incentives. (The PoLB will pay the difference between low-sulfur and other diesel fuels, a $10 million expense.) The port has even partnered with others in funding a hybrid tug!

Lytle also said the PoLB expects its lines to be good community partners. (I suggest joining the Chamber.) He gave examples of OOCL donating $140,000 ($100,000 to an ADA-park; $40,000 for school computers) and Hyundai $100,000 (for a local high school).

To address that 25% of the problem that are trucks, the PoLB has instituted an incentive program to remove all pre-2007 trucks by 2012, to replace dirty diesel within 5 years, and to use a TEU fee to refinance/retrofit truck replacement/participation loans.

He was questioned about the move to convert truck owners/operators to employees. He said the PoLB and the PoLA have different philosophies. The PoLA is supporting the change in the economic model for owners/operators becoming employees of truck lines. The PoLB believes the users of truck services should have choice as part of their economic model. He did agree the old model is broken, and spoke of the concession agreement of providing $150/company or $100/truck for the replacement program. A link quid pro quo is required that truckers meet all federal standards, truck maintenance and NO STREET PARKING that upsets the neighbors. Lytle did clarify that owners/operators would be subsidized with $1,400, splitting 50% each, with the revenue source as the TEU fee (paid by the beneficial cargo owner). And finally, that trucking fees must go up - significantly.

A final question to Lytle was concerning the nature of container fees. While he saw no reason such fees couldn't be used here - (he's been gone too long) - several in the audience quickly explained to him the nature of discretionary cargo (low metro population) and close international competition (Vancouver and Prince Rupert).

EIS Scoping for Blair-Hylebos Project

The Port of Tacoma is gathering input as it begins considering potential environmental impacts of redeveloping terminals, roads and railways on a Tacoma Tideflats peninsula.

Redevelopment plans on the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula include:
· Relocating the Totem Ocean Trailer Express marine terminal
· Building a new container terminal for NYK Line
· Widening a section of the Blair Waterway
· Lengthening a wharf at Washington United Terminal
· Improving road and rail infrastructure

Given the scope of the redevelopment proposal, the Port of Tacoma plans to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS). The environmental review process provides several opportunities for the public to comment on the proposed project:

· May 2008: Scope of environmental analysis
· September 2008: Draft Environmental Impact Statement
· February 2009: Final Environmental Impact Statement

The Port has scheduled a meeting May 29 as part of the public review process for the redevelopment project. The meeting is set for 4:30 to 7 p.m. in Room 104 of The Fabulich Center, 3600 Port of Tacoma Road in Tacoma. Sue Mauermann, Director, Environmental Programs says staff from the Port’s Sustainable Development department will be available in an open house format to discuss various aspects of the project. Project managers are scheduled to deliver a short presentation at 6 p.m. and take public comment.

Comments on the scope of the environmental analysis, to be prepared later this summer, must be received by 5 p.m. June 6 to be considered in drafting the EIS. Comments may be sent by mail to: ATTN: Matoya Scott, Port of Tacoma, PO Box 1837, Tacoma, WA 98401-1837, or by e-mail.

A Peel(ing) to the Core

Thanks to my membership of the LeMay Museum, I receive an online newsletter from Ken Martin's Sports Car Market. Always full of at least one entertaining article, the recent edition contained a gem.

For those of you who remember our earlier blog on the Opel mileage king, take a gander at this prize auto that makes a Mini look like a Suburban.

Trend Setting Environmental Initiatives

The ports of Long Beach and LA Boards of Harbor Commissioners will vote Mar. 24, just four days after getting public input on other environmental programs, on an incentive program to pay vessel operators to use cleaner-burning, low-sulfur fuel in their main engines.

Cargo ships generally use highly-polluting bunker fuel. The Ports propose to pay the difference between the price of bunker fuel and the selected low-sulfur distillate fuel.

Even though the Washington State Department of Ecology has recommended to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the port-industrial area be included in a proposed designation for a Wapato Hills-Puyallup River Valley non-attainment area, the marine related contribution is thought to be only about 10% of the PM2.5 contamination as measured by the Alexander Avenue sampling station. And, that's of an area that continued monitoring through 2007 is demonstrated to be below the new, lower allowable limit as set by EPA.

LA's Clean Truck Program

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission is about to consider a new Clean Truck Program at its next meeting March 20.

This program, to be financed by a $35/TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container fee, seeks to transform the drayage industry rather than fix transportation infrastructure as a similar proposal before Washington's 2007 legislature. The LA CTP addresses public safety (by upgrading the trucking fleet), public health (by requiring clean emission vehicles) and workforce equity (by requiring employee drivers).

These issues were recently surfaced in our community by speakers at the National Defense Transportation Association and the Transportation Club of Tacoma, covered in this blog.

The recommendation from the Washington State Department of Ecology to include the port-industrial area in the non-attainment area for PM2.5 opens the regulatory door for similar actions here.

A Practitioner's Challenges

Ed Tolan, Nippon Paper Industries rose to his own challenge by the Transportation Club of Tacoma and challenged members attending today's meeting with evaluating their strategic planning for the future.

Basically, Tolan listed a dozen strategically important future issues. Listed in no particular order and condensed around similar topics:

1. Railroad stock is transitioning to 60 feet lengths from the former standard of 50 feet. Companies should be asking how they will manage this change as it will impact their bay access points, with car lengths overlapping the physical location of openings, etc.
2. The looming debate of re-regulation, especially as it applies to railroads. At first, railroads were totally unregulated, then totally regulated, now unregulated again. The question that looms is will the pendulum swing back to regulation and if so how far.
3. The aging workforce presents its challenges more as to the retention of a skills base, both in technical and professional knowledge base so as to provide good customer support, effective workforce actions and sufficiency to match demand. The workforce shortage is most acute in the truck driver job. There are a host of factors affecting the ability to pay and retain drivers. Included are: immigration issues, professional criteria and work environment.
4. Steamship lines also have challenges ahead. The weakening of the US dollar has spurred exports, which has lead to a shortage of containers, once only 20% filled on return voyages but now approaching parity. The growth of international trade has also lead to the adequacy of ship capacity to carry containers. As an overall result, lower value products are being priced out of the export market.
5. The planned improvements to the Panama Canal, which was said is using Chinese financing, will give Chinese shippers the opportunity to miss both U.S. West Coast ports, roads and railroads.
6. Citing a string of just Washington State bridges, the point was made that our infrastructure is facing both capacity and adequacy challenges. In the relatively short term, all should expect pre-tolling and its additional cost pressures.
7. Vehicle and equipment costs, especially for the small business owner/operator is getting out of an affordable range. And fuel costs was an "oh, yeah..."
8. Shippers and receivers need to form a partnership with carriers to do an overall better job. The issues of workforce and benefits must be addressed in the expected driver shortage. Other issues favor cooperative problem solving.

In responding to a question about the Green movement, Tolan said that the industry should be cautious of paperwork that only documents what's already being done and is not an impact on environmental issues.

Contact Gary Gieser if you wish to know more about the Transportation Club of Tacoma.

Going With the Flow

Transportation fluidity was the topic of today’s roundtable at the National Defense Transportation Association (NDTA) Puget Sound Chapter meeting.

The overall theme was how will we keep freight moving. These viewpoints dominated the conversation:

1. that the driver workforce is becoming the biggest challenge for the trucking industry,
2. that technological and operational responses to the challenges of freight movement will also change the local industry, and
3. that our regional infrastructure has the potential to meet the needs of the future.

Moderated by Lt. Col. Lydia Reeves, Commander, 833d Transportation Battalion, Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), observed in conversation that the commercial and military freight share the same ground. She added that national responses to priority objectives can result in hardships to either of these sectors. And, that it is relevant for the military to be involved in regional transportation issues.

The panelists themselves provided much of the insight into the challenges of moving freight, as they were charged to do. Dennis Hedlund, General Freight Services, representing transportation services, Dan Gatchet, Washington Trucking Assn. representing the trucking firms and Eric Nowak, Performance Team, for warehousing and distribution centers.

Gatchet early on identified the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) requirement by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as precipitating a crisis in qualified, certified drivers. In the LA area, many drivers are eastern Europeans, using English as a second language. Along with other criteria for the TWIC, as many as 15-20% of all LA's drivers are forecast to fail to qualify. This result will itself put upward pressure on wages as companies strive to attract, qualify and train drivers.

Also, Gatchet spoke to the clean air initiatives being implemented in the LA basin. The recently imposed container tax will drive up costs. The application of the revenues from the container tax back to the industry is being encouraged to mitigate fleet requirements imposed on these independent drivers and rigs. The goal is to have all or newer 2007 engines by 2012.

Together these impacts may have the unintended consequences of shifting freight to the Pacific Northwest. However, the size of the local LA market will command the large volume of containers be delivered there.

Speakers expressed concerns that the PNW can handle any freight shift. In round numbers, the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma throughput 4 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) each year. Concern was expressed that the physical limits of port gates and operational standards would allow an increase of 1 million TEUs. Those operational standards reflect the hours of operation; warehouses are open 24x7 and ports are daylight operations only, they said.

The forecast was made for operational changes that will have workforce impacts. As companies respond to incentives to move freight during off-peak hours, as is being done in LA now, workers must be found to work those hours and supportive industries must also shift to accommodate the new routine. Already mini-economies are developing in LA as independents will rent their trucks to drivers during their off hours.

When asked what logistics innovations are proving good, speakers replied:

1. TWIC cards will prove beneficial in the long run because it will lead to operational efficiencies.
2. The usefulness of GPS, to know where loads and equipment are, even down to the location in the yard will become a big improvement.

As for Canadian port competition, speakers believe they are very close to becoming competitive and are now mainly bargaining chips in negotiations involving U.S. ports. However, as the needed infrastructure is built-out and Canadian regulatory initiatives gain more value, they will be competitive.

Finally, for an observation about the PNW surface network, speakers offered:

Eric Nowak: The potential is there. There is a need for industry attention to interface with the community to solve or avoid issues like in LA.

Dennis Hedlund: We need to maximize the physical infrastructure and the technology that is available.

Dan Gatchet: The trucking industry needs to engage with the community and embrace training for its drivers.

For those who wish to learn more about NDTA and its Puget Sound Chapter, contact Susan Pearson

Hummers Beware. Opel rules.

A combination of hot rodding and mechanics tricks led to a record 376.59 mpg – 35 years ago! And accomplished by an Opel of all makes! By an oil company – Shell!

This legendary car, the stuff of urban myths, a 1959 Opel T-1 was rescued from the unappreciated obscurity of the Talladega museum and the uncaring cohorts of Ricky Bobby. The rescuer, Cosmopolitan Motors, has the car up for sale. Maybe another attraction for the LeMay Museum!

SSLC 2nd Meeting Siting Incites

The Port of Tacoma and Port of Olympia have scheduled a second Joint Commission Study Session regarding the feasibility of siting an integrated rail logistics center in the South Sound region (South Sound Logistics Center). A previous Study Session was held Jan. 31.

The upcoming meeting will be held Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 6-9 pm, at the St. Martin's University, Worthington Center, 5300 Pacific Ave. SE, in Lacey.

At the meeting, the Ports will briefly summarize why a South Sound Logistics Center is being considered, outline future planning steps and address key questions raised by participants at and subsequent to the first Joint Port Commission Study Session. The remainder of the meeting will be dedicated to hearing additional public questions and comments.

The Port Commissions will not make any decisions or take other action at the Feb. 20 session. The primary focus of the meeting is to take public comment and identify any additional questions related to findings from preliminary concept studies, including a market analysis, integrated logistics center research study and an alternative sites analysis. Questions received at or subsequent to the Jan. 31 session will be addressed in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to be posted on-line at http://www.sslcports.com/ prior to the Feb. 20 session, and provided in hard copy at the meeting.

This public process is part of the Port of Tacoma's research into the concept of a South Sound Logistics Center to determine what it might include, how it would function, what benefits or impacts it might generate, and where it could be sited. The Port of Olympia joined the Port of Tacoma in this research effort through an Interlocal Agreement. The agreement, valid through June 2008, provides a means for the two Ports to work collaboratively during the exploratory stage of the project.

Additional information about the SSLC process may be found at the project website, or by contacting one of the Ports directly.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

• Patti Grant (360) 528-8012 Port of Olympia
• Tara (Hazarian) Mattina (253) 428-8674 Port of Tacoma

Demand Management to Get New Push in 2008

In order to address growing congestion across the region, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has established a triad of key congestion management objectives:

• Managing demand (i.e., building HOV lanes, supporting Commute Trip Reduction efforts, and using technology to offer more real-time information);
• Operating efficiently (i.e., installing ramp meters, synchronizing traffic signals, and deploying incident response units);
• Adding capacity (i.e., completing capital projects).

Managing demand will get renewed emphasis in Pierce County in 2008, as City of Tacoma and transit officials are planning to launch a new push to get workers out of their solo drives and into commute alternatives. Local business leaders are also coming to the table with a new program--Destination Downtown Door-to-Door (DDDD or "D to the fourth")--which takes its name both from Tacoma’s current urban center plan (“Destination Downtown”) and from the observation by City Manager Eric Anderson that an effective transportation demand program will provide downtown stakeholders with a variety of travel choices “from door to door.”

Both public and private transportation leaders are keen to implement successful strategies to manage transportation demand already tested in Portland and Seattle. Funding for these new programs is derived from WSDOT's Trip Reduction Performance Program (TRPP).

South Tacoma Tagged for Non-Attainment

As reported in an earlier post, the Washington Department of Ecology is considering designation of most of the Pierce County metropolitan area non-attainment area. The proposed area includes the entire Pierce County Comprehensive Urban Growth area (CUGA), except for areas to the south and southwest (including Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base), and areas to the east of the Puyallup River-White River valleys (including Sumner, Auburn, Pacific, Bonney Lake, and Orting).

Cities within the proposed non-attainment boundary include Tacoma, Lakewood, Steilacoom, Fircrest, University Place, Ruston, Milton, Edgewood, Puyallup, and Fife, as well as the unincorprated areas of Frederickson, Parkland, Spanaway and South Hill.

Ecology will hold a hearing to receive public comment on the draft PM2.5 recommendations and the proposed non-attainment area boundary on Wednesday, December 5th, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Pierce County Library & Administrative Center (3005 112th St. E.) in Parkland. Comments can also be sent by mail, e-mail or FAX until 5:00 p.m. on December 10th; comments should be directed to:

Doug Schneider
Department of Ecology
P.O. Box 4700
Olympia, WA 98504-7600
FAX: (360) 407-7534
Email: dsch461@ecy.wa.gov

Another Level of Attainment?

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) is in the process of developing an action plan implementing new federal standards for clean air, incorporating such factors as ozone and particulate matter (2.5 microns or smaller).

The federal Clean Air Act requires “transportation conformity”--assuring that local and regional transportation plans, improvements and projects conform to the federal regulations. Current data locally indicates that the implementation plan's new emphasis will no longer be on stationary sources (plants), but rather on transportation conformity (trucks, locomotives, ships) for diesel engines.

Currently, the Tacoma area exceeds the new federal limit on particulate matter in an area centered on S. 78th & 'L' St. This level of pollution has been determined by its characteristics and timing to be the result of residential wood smoke; a study is underway to determine whether or not other sources may contribute to this problem.

This seemingly obscure decision to designate the boundaries of a non-attainment area, separated by a few years from potential effects, carries real consequences. A non-attainment designation can adversely affect economic development, transportation infrastructure development and growth in military installations.

The timeline for this process is as follows:

1. October 26th
   PSCAA completes initial analyses for designation and informal consultation with Tacoma/Pierce County stakeholders
2. November-December
   WA DOE holds public comment sessions, then sends draft recommendations to Governor
3. December 1st
   Legislative Workgroup to recommend wood smoke reduction plan
4. December 18th
   Governor submits designation areas to EPA based upon monitoring data from 2004 - 2006
5. December 18th, 2008
   EPA designates final areas--could consider data from 2005 – 2007

States have three years after designation to develop a plan and two or more years longer to meet the standards.