Bob van der Valk to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – Capitol Building – Sacramento, CA
April 1, 2009
Today anywhere from 1000 to 4500 gas station owners will have to make a decision to close down or pay hefty fines to their local air quality management districts. They did not meet the deadline imposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) mandate, which requires all service station owners in California to install new enhanced vapor recovery (EVR) nozzles and scrubbers to capture 98% instead of the current 95% gasoline vapor emissions.
A bi-partisan group of California legislators has already called on CARB and you to extend the deadline for compliance by one year to April 1, 2010.
The unfairness in the current CARB edict is that the technology had not yet been refined to meet this newly required standard when the mandate was passed the legislature in 2000. Then those same people decided that by delaying implementation until April 1, 2009 the petroleum equipment industry would eventually solve the problem for them and it would result in finding a solution to meet the stricter requirement.
Major oil companies and other service station owners, with the financial ability to do so, retrofitted their pumps with EVR Phase II nozzles and vapor scrubbers expending about $11,000 per dispenser.
Along with the rush to supply the demand product quality problems have been encountered including shoddy workmanship of the new EVR nozzles. Nozzle spouts can be twisted off by hand and nozzles malfunctioned causing the system to close down. The nozzles and scrubber system are under warranty for one year but after that the station owners are responsible for repairs or replacement of defective parts.
CARB needs to review the concepts of "benefit cost analysis" and "diminishing returns" when these EVR nozzles capture just another additional 3% of the gasoline vapors escaping while filling up our tanks. In this case the costs should also include shutting down businesses and workers losing their jobs.
Governor Schwarzenegger push is now coming to shove and about one-third of the station owners of the over 11,000 stations in California did not comply by the April 1st deadline for one reason or the other. It is estimated by conservative standard that an estimated 1,000 service stations in California will not be able to comply with the mandate at all. This will result in some, including those with major oil company brands, to shut down permanently and not be re-opened.
California Assembly Member Anthony Portantino sent you a letter on February 23, 2009 requesting that you issue an executive order directing CARB to extend the deadline for EVR Phase II compliance deadline date until April 1, 2010. This letter was sent on behalf of the Assemly Member’s constituents including independent service station owners.
That resulted in you belatedly sending regulators and legislative leaders a letter on March 27, 2009 urging a six-to-12-months delay in Enhanced Vapor Recovery (EVR) Phase II enforcement.
You wrote: “I am not writing to argue against the value or soundness of the measure,” to California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chairwoman Mary Nichols. “But I am writing to suggest that more time is needed before it can be successfully enforced without significant negative effects on our state's economy.”
The CARB board, appointed by you, pledged in response to “work closely with the air districts throughout the state to extend the April 1 enhanced vapor recovery enforcement deadline while still striving to meet our collective air quality goals."
Richard Cochrane on his "Conservatively Speaking" blog said that anything short of CARB granting that delay will result in:
• Closure of service stations serving the Inner City: Stations, who cannot meet the deadline, will be forced to shut down - creating a major a void in inner-city communities and resulting in dramatic prices increases at a time when our hardworking families can least afford new costs.
• Loss of revenue for the State and increased unemployment that is already shooting towards 12%: Service station closures will further hurt our struggling economy and aggravate an already dismal budget situation by putting more individuals out of work and reducing critically needed tax revenue - resulting in less money for the State's general fund and ultimately lead to further decreases in badly needed community, health and educational programs.
• Increased blighted areas and increased pollution: Station closures will become community eyesores, set back our efforts to revitalize our inner city community's and most ironically, likely result in increased pollution as individuals drive more to find an open gas station - undermining the original intent of the regulation.
• Hardship on minority owned small businesses: Major oil companies have divested some of their service stations to minority, disabled veterans, women and others individuals over the last several years. Without an extension of the compliance deadline, these small business owners will be financially ruined and their dreams of a better life for their families vanquished.
Governor Schwarzenegger it is time for you to cut this bureaucratically created Gordian knot by issuing an executive order to CARB to delay implementation of the EVR Phase II program. A thorough study should be made about the way this issue has been handled by an intransigent board appointed you and request Chairwoman Mary Nichols’s resignation for her intransigence in dealing with this very important issue.
The solution to avoid this crisis is very simple – issue the executive order extending the deadline by one year and give everyone a chance to catch their collective breaths.
You may contact me at: bvan@4refuel.com or phone (971) 678-2975
Bob van der Valk is the fuel pricing and petroleum industry analyst with 4Refuel LLC in Lynnwood, WA. 4Refuel provides on-site fueling and fuel management systems to businesses and governmental agencies in the State of California.
This letter was submitted to the Governor of California on his official web site at: http://gov.ca.gov/interact
This is going to destroy alot
This is going to destroy alot of peoples businesses. There are so many gas stations that cannot meet this. I am not sure what the governor is thinking when he does this. He needs to change this around.
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Heh....
Well, there's the government for you. Its solution to every problem seems to be to order people, companies, and even schools, to follow new rules or reach new standards--but then provide no help, advice, or assistance in complying. 1000 gas stations closing (because they can't, for one reason or another, comply with these new rules) is a major loss of jobs. I do hope Governor Shwarzenegger will intervene. Jonathan
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Wow, he could be my favorite
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Good post
Agreed. Even more wonderous how the letter was precieved and made it to the media. Most cool letters in here get banned or not noticed at all. People just shrug them off as some spam mail. :( Great to hear atleast somewhere people are getting through.
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but at the same time it is
but at the same time it is totally unfair for the people who have done the EVR upgrade. Air Quality is taking it easy on some stations and extending deadline a lot. If I knew this a head of time, I would of held on to my cash money and used it for other emergencies I had to pay off. But no AIR QUALITY had to make a BIG DEAL out of this and get everyone scared.
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I find this post really
I find this post really interesting, I'd like to now what Governor Schwarzenegger answered for this letter.
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Fascinating Post!!!
Yeah, my read of the day or months definitely, very interesting topic, but I would also like to know the so called "second part" What happened, what did gov Arnold replied or did he reply, please tell us! (or is it now top secret and they paid you to shut it... :):)
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not fair
Overall this whole EVR thing is B.S.*,,,
but at the same time it is totally unfair for the people who have done the EVR upgrade. Air Quality is taking it easy on some stations and extending deadline a lot. If I knew this a head of time, I would of held on to my cash money and used it for other emergencies I had to pay off. But no AIR QUALITY had to make a BIG DEAL out of this and get everyone scared.
And now they are allowing people extension times, and taking it a little easy on some.
Want good, but comes out....
The problem is that our leaders dont think of people most of the time. When they decide to cut down on greenhouse gases one day, they just do it, no problem for them to make laws, but they dont think of how it will affect people, small companies, or is it really possible in a proposed time-frame. It is good that we are starting to care about the environment, but leaders should examine real-life before taking any quick actions that may have a bad affect.
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Martin Garrick says "NO."
Carlsbad Assembly Member Garrick thinks the forced closure of gas stations is wrong. he did an interview on KQED here .... http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/2009/04/01/he-asks-for-delay-she-urge...
The public policy battle of the week has featured a looming deadline for California gas station owners... and demands that the deadline be extended.
But more interesting politically is what kind of official response would be given to one of those asking for an extension -- Governor Schwarzenegger.
And today, the governor's choice to lead the agency in question sort of went along with his request. Yes, sort of.
The governor, in a letter five days ago to Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, asked the agency to delay enforcement of a new mandate requiring the installation of new gas pump nozzles.
Those nozzles are being installed to catch more of the gas vapors that can cause air pollution. (For more on the environmental issues at stake, our crackerjack team at KQED's Quest team produced a radio story you can hear on their webpage.)
The deadline for installation was today, and even air board officials admit that many gas station owners aren't going to make it. As of this afternoon, officials say that only 41% of the state's gas stations have installed the enhanced vapor recovery (EVR) nozzles.
That's led to calls for help. And last week, Schwarzenegger asked ARB chair Nichols to delay the program.
"California's current economic conditions," wrote the governor, "require extreme caution in implementing new regulations that call for this type of investment by small business owners right now."
Today, Nichols issued a statement, which a spokesman says should be considered to be her formal response to the governor's letter:
"I share the concerns expressed by the Governor and the Legislature in enforcement of California’s Enhanced Vapor Recovery Rule in light of the current economic situation... As such, I directed Executive Officer [James] Goldstene to urge the [local air quality] districts to exercise their enforcement authority with discretion and restraint."
In other words, no delay... but rather, a case-by-case evaluation. Air Board spokesman Dmitri Stanich says that a full 80% of gas station owners across the state have been issued a permit for the new nozzles. Those that are trying to comply, he says, should be shown leniency by local regulators; only those that are thumbing their nose at the regulation should be levied stiff fines for non-compliance.
Meantime, a group of Republican members of the Assembly (joined by a few Democrats) today introduced legislation to delay the EVR installation for one year. "We simply cannot allow the potential for massive job losses or higher gas prices," said Assemblymember Martin Garrick (R-Carlsbad).
The request from the guv, and the response from the woman he appointed to lead the ARB are worth noting. After all, Nichols got the job almost two years ago after a disagreement between Schwarzenegger and the last top air regulator resulted in a highly publicized firing.
Since then, Nichols and Schwarzenegger have both been praised around the world for their environmental stewardship and, by extension, for their work together. No signs for now that this disagreement is on the same level, though some have suggested it should be.
Law of Diminishing Returns
From 95% to 98%. And at what cost? The cost of the pumps alone could substantially hurt many station owners, but the need to tear up the islands to modify the underground side of the connection could bankrupt even more. All this for a mere 3%! This is where it's got to stop. It's not reasonable given the timetable and availability of contractors qualified to perform the work.
And does this include the pumps that will automatically adjust pricing based on the temperature of fuel? That is another bone of contention that needs to be addressed at the same time. Again, diminishing returns and if done separately the cost will be prohibitive. Have you ever seen one company come right behind another to dig up the same street again? This has that same feeling.
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Governor Schwarzenegger Will Do The Right Thing
I think that Governor Schwarzengger will do the right thing in the end.
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