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Cleaner Air Oregon Regulatory Overhaul

Adopted rule

Administrative Order No. DEQ 197-2018
Filed and effective Nov. 16, 2018
 
Joe Westersund, 503-229-6403
 
Cleaner Air Oregon adopted rules to set health risk limits on pollutants that industrial facilities emit so that neighbors and vulnerable people (such as children) are protected from potentially harmful levels of exposure.
 
 
 
2018 Public Notice Documents
​
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - a description of the proposal, including fiscal impact statement
 
Proposed Cleaner Air Oregon Rules
 
Additional material for public comment:

Supplementary Materials

2018 Public Hearings
​
Hearing 1 – Portland
Thursday, July 12, 2018, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
This hearing was part of the Environmental Quality Commission meeting
 
Hearing 2 – Eugene
Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30p.m.
Lane Community College - Mary Spilde Downtown Center
Rooms 112 through 114
101 W. 10th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97401
 
Webinar information
Meeting Call-In Number: 888-278-0296
Participant Code: 8040259
Advisory Committee Meetings Schedule

Past Meetings

Meeting 8 - May 8 and 9, 2018
 
Meeting Materials
Supplemental Materials
Presentations
 
Meeting 7 - Aug. 29 and 30, 2017
Agenda | Notes
 
Meeting materials:
Presentations:
Meeting 6 - July 28, 2017
Agenda | Notes
Meeting materials:
Presentations:
 
Meeting 5 - June 20, 2017
Meeting Materials:

Presentations:

 

Meeting 4 - April 4, 2017
Meeting Materials:
Presentations:
 
 
Meeting 3 - Feb. 2, 2017

Meeting materials:
Presentations:
 
Meeting materials:
Presentations:
 
Meeting 1 - Oct. 18, 2016
Agenda | Notes
Meeting materials:
Presentations:
2017 Public Notice Documents
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking- a description of the proposal, including fiscal impact statement
 
Proposed Cleaner Air Oregon rules:

Proposed changes to existing rules in other rule divisions:

Additional materials for public comment:

Supplementary materials

2017 Public Hearings
Hearing 1 - Medford
Wednesday Nov. 15, 2017, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Ramada Medford Hotel and Conference Center
2250 Biddle Road
Medford, OR 97504
 
Hearing 2 – Coos Bay
Thursday Nov. 16, 2017, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Coos Bay Library, 525 Anderson Avenue
Coos Bay, Oregon 97420
 
Hearing 3 - Corvallis
Monday Nov. 20, 2017, 5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Walnut Community Room, 4950 NW Fair Oaks Dr.
Corvallis, OR 97330
 
Hearing 4 - Pendleton
Tuesday Nov. 28, 2017, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Pendleton Library, 502 SW Dorion Ave
Pendleton, OR 97801
 
Hearing 5 - Portland
Wednesday Nov. 29, 2017, 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
PCC SE Campus, Community Hall, 2305 SE 82nd
Portland, OR 97216
 
Hearing 6 - Portland
Saturday Dec. 2, 2017, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Portland, OR 97232
Public hearing room C124

Q and A room C125

Hearing 7 - Eugene
Thursday Dec. 7, 2017, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.,
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,
Willamette Conference Room,
165 E. 7th Ave.
 
Hearing 8 - Salem, in conjunction with the Environmental Justice Task Force
Friday, Dec. 8, 2017, 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Department of State Lands Building
775 Summer Street, NE
Suite 100
Salem, OR 97301
 
Hearing 9 - The Dalles
Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Columbia Gorge Community College Lecture Hall,
Building 2, Third floor
The Dalles campus,
400 East Scenic Drive
 
Technical Workgroup
​Contact:
Joe Westersund, 503-229-6403
 
On April 6, 2016, Governor Kate Brown announced the launch of Cleaner Air Oregon, a new initiative to reform industrial air toxics regulations and align them with public health. DEQ and OHA have begun a formal rulemaking process to engage the public in creating human health risk-based rules for industrial facilities, for consideration by the EQC.
 
DEQ and OHA convened a technical workgroup in June and July of 2016 to contribute to this rulemaking effort. The workgroup discussed and provided an evaluation of human health risk-based air toxics programs for industrial facilities in other states, and discussed and evaluated key technical issues.
 
All workgroup meetings were open to the public with time scheduled for public comment. Meeting agendas, notes, presentations, recodrings and other materials are posted to this page, and accessible through the Cleaner Air Oregon website. Meeting notifications were sent out ahead of time to those who signed up to receive updates through GovDelivery, as well as on DEQ’s Facebook/Twitter account.
 
The workgroup was not a decision-making body. It was tasked with providing focused and specific input to help DEQ prepare policy issues for discussion at public policy forums and advisory committee meetings in the fall of 2016.
 
Final Report
 

Technical Issue Papers
 
Meetings
Meeting 1 
June 29, 2016: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Agenda  |  Notes  |  Audio
 
Presentations
 
Meeting 2 
June 30, 2016: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Agenda  |  Notes  |  Audio
 
Meeting 3
July 27, 2016: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Agenda  |  Notes  |  Audio
 
Meeting 4
July 28, 2016: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Agenda  |  Notes  |  Audio
 
Presentations

The Technical Workgroup Meetings are open to the public. DEQ publishes meeting notices on the DEQ Events Calendar. Please notify DEQ of any special physical or language accommodations or if you need information in large print, Braille or another format. To make these arrangements, contact DEQ, Portland, at 503-229-5696 or call toll-free in Oregon at 1-800-452-4011, ext. 5696; fax to 503-229-6762; or email deqinfo@deq.state.or.us. Hearing impaired persons may call 711.
Public Policy Forums
​
Background
 
In April, Governor Kate Brown announced the launch of Cleaner Air Oregon, a new initiative to reform industrial air toxics regulations and align them with public health. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Health Authority have begun the formal rulemaking process to assemble the Cleaner Air Oregon Advisory Committee as part of the effort to engage the public in creating human health risk-based rules for industrial facilities, for consideration by the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission.
 
 
Agencies seek public input
The public policy forums provided an overview of ways health risk-based standards would address gaps in current rules for industrial facilities. State environmental quality regulators and health experts are also sought public input on issues related to the regulatory overhaul, including:
  • What are your priorities in new industrial air emissions rules?
  • How should the rules address the values of human health, environmental quality and economic vitality?
  • What questions do you have about rules governing industrial air toxics emissions?
DEQ and OHA invited the public to attend four Cleaner Air Oregon regional policy forums in September and early October.
 

Forum Schedule
  •  Medford - Tuesday, Sept. 13, 6-8:30 p.m. at Jackson County Library
  •  Bend - Tuesday, Sept. 20, 6-8:30 p.m. at Central Oregon Community College, Wille Hall
  •  Pendleton - Wednesday, Sept.28, 6-8:30 p.m. at  Pendleton Convention Center
  •  Portland - Wednesday, Oct. 5, 6-8:30 p.m. at Oregon Convention Center, Oregon Ballroom

Public input from the four policy forums will be shared with the Cleaner Air Oregon Regulatory Reform Advisory Committee. That advisory committee will meet from October through June 2017 and provide input into the drafting of new air toxics rules.

 

The Regional Forums were open to the public. 

DEQ publishes meeting notices on the DEQ Events Calendar. Please notify DEQ of any special physical or language accommodations or if you need information in large print, Braille or another format. To make these arrangements, contact DEQ, Portland, at 503-229-5696 or call toll-free in Oregon at 1-800-452-4011, ext. 5696; fax to 503-229-6762; or email deqinfo@deq.state.or.us. Hearing impaired persons may call 711.

Advisory Committee Background
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Health Authority held seven advisory committee meetings between October 2016 and August 2017. The advisory committee was part of the Cleaner Air Oregon initiative Governor Kate Brown announced on April 6, 2016. As part of the initiative, the agencies began  a formal rulemaking process to reform industrial air toxics regulations and align them with public health. Input from the advisory committee and the public are an essential part of the rulemaking process
 
Advisory committee members evaluated input solicited in a series of regional public policy forums that took place in different parts of the state in September and October. The committee  also evaluated input from a technical workgroup, which met in June and July. Their discussions informed policy decisions and the development of draft regulations. DEQ and OHA asked for input from each committee member and reflected the committee’s overall level of support for the different components of the Cleaner Air Oregon draft regulations. The draft regulations  are now being proposed for broader public review and comment as part of DEQ’s rulemaking process. For more information on the committee, please see the advisory committee charter.
 
For the list of who served on the advisory committee, please see the advisory committee roster.
 
To view information and comments submitted by the public to the advisory committee, please see Public Submittals.
Advisory committee selection process
 
The advisory committee selection process was designed to reflect the range of stakeholders who will be affected by implementation of a new air toxics permitting program. DEQ and OHA identified 14 committee seats, which were filled by nominees from stakeholder organizations. An additional 10 seats were created based on input received from the public during a comment period that was open between May and July. For information on what input was requested, please refer to Cleaner Air Oregon: Request for Input on Advisory Committee Positions.

A total of 41 applications were received for the following 10 seats established in response to public input:
  • Physicians association or healthcare advocacy organization
  • Professional health association
  • Neighborhood-level community based group (Preference will be given to groups willing to represent multiple geographic community-based coalitions.)*
  • Neighborhood-level community based group (Preference will be given to groups willing to represent multiple geographic community-based coalitions.)*
  • Business owner of a small business with fewer than 50 employees*
  • Business owner of a small business with fewer than 50 employees*
  • Business owner of a large business with more than 50 employees*
  • An industry union representative
  • An engineer or individual with experience in pollution control technology for air toxics
  • An academic with expertise relevant to this rulemaking
Each of Oregon’s nine federally-recognized tribes also had the opportunity to designate an additional committee member.
 
Additionally, agency directors appointed two co-chairs to the advisory committee: Jackie Dingfelder and Claudia Powers. The role of the co-chairs was to implement a process that focused the committee on intended outcomes and ensured all perspectives were considered and provided transparency.
 

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​Public involvement

View public comments​ 

The public comment period closed at 4 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2018

EQC action

The EQC adopted the proposed rules on Nov. 15, 2018.
 

Related links