ft Excellence Awards Office of Air and Radiation ------- ------- About the Clean Air Excellence Awards Program The Clean Air Excellence Awards Program is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Air and Radiation. The program was suggested by the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC), a senior-level federal advisory committee that provides advice to the EPA on Clean Air Act issues and the Awards Program. The Awards Program, now in its sixteenth year, recognizes and honors both individuals and organizations that have undertaken the risks of innovation, served as pioneers in their fields, advanced public understanding of air pollution, and improved air quality. Each award recipient has either directly or indirectly reduced emissions of criteria pollutants, hazardous air pollutants, and/or greenhouse gases. The award recipients are chosen through a multi-step judging process. The EPA staff conduct an initial technical screening of all applications. Selected entries are then reviewed by a CAAAC panel, which provides advice to the EPA on the candidates' programs. The EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance then provides additional comments on entries. The EPA's Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation makes the final award determinations. The EPA posts information about current and past award recipients on the Clean Air Excellence Awards Program web site, located at http://www.epa.gov/ air/cleanairawards/. ------- 2019 Clean Air Excellence Award Recipients Clean Air Technology Calren Dairy Fuels Digester Pipeline Cluster Calgren Renewable Fuels, Maas Energy Works Community Action Okanogan River Airshed Partnership The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and Airshed Partners Education Outreach Eco-Healthy Child Care® Children's Environmental Health Network State/Tribal/Local Air Quality Policy Innovations StorageTank&Vapor Control System Guidelines Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Transportation Efficiency Innovations RideFinders Commute Green Summer Challenge RideFinders Thomas W. Zosel Outstanding Individual Achievement Award Ned Sanders 3 ------- ------- ------- Clean Air Technology Award Awards Calgren Dairy Fuels Digester Pipeline Cluster Calgren Renewable Fuels, Maas Energy Works The Calgren Dairy Fuels (CDF) digester pipeline cluster is the first and only California dairy digester pipeline cluster thus far that is currently upgrading dairy biogas to biomethane for utility pipeline injection. It is also the largest dairy biogas operation in the country! There are currently 22 participating dairies in this cluster (20 digesters). Currently, 8 digesters are operational and sending biogas to the CDF centralized conditioning facility via private gathering lines. Another 4 digesters are under physical construction and will come online in 2019. There are 9 additional expansion dairies that joined the cluster in 2019 and are all in active development. CDF's renewable power plan is to employ 100% of the digester's biogas to make Renewable Compressed Natural Gas (R-CNG) transportation fuel. The gas is transported to the cluster Hub via private, low pressure gas pipeline. Once at the existing CDF biogas conditioning facility, the biogas is upgraded to pipeline quality and supplied to remote CNG stations across the state via the SoCalGas utility pipeline connection at the Hub. When Phase 1 (first 12 digesters) is completed later this year, CDF will be capturing over 150,000 tons of carbon from over 70,000 cows that would have been released into the atmosphere and utilizing it by delivering over 3,000,000 gallons of fuel a year into the California CNG market. The cluster's conditioning facility and SoCalGas injection point is located at the Calgren Ethanol Refinery in Pixley, CA and is fully operational.The CDF cluster has successfully demonstrated the ability to deliver dairy CNG clusters to market, near-term achievement of GHG benefits, and criteria pollutant emissions reductions both on dairies and on the California roadways. 6 ------- Community Action Award Excellence Awards Okanogan River Airshed Partnership The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and Airshed Partners The Okanogan River Airshed Partnership formed in December 2015, with this mission statement: We are seeking non-regulatory community projects, programs, partnerships and outreach opportunities which increase our understanding of PM25 air pollution in the Okanogan River Airshed and help to reduce it. To date, over 90 participants including the Colville Tribes, Washington State Department of Ecology (WADOE), EPA, Okanogan County Commissioners, Okanogan Conservation District (OCD), the Cities of Okanogan and Omak and many more local governments, non-profits and businesses are partners. Projects and programs the partnership is presently engaged with: • Community clean up and leaf pick up events in Omak and Okanogan have been expanded and remove tons of material from being burned • Ecology gathered air quality information in a county wide survey that has been instrumental in guiding projects • Okanogan Conservation District held wood debris chipping events that diverted material from being burned or sent to the landfill.The chips are available to the community at a central location. • Establishment of a PurpleAir sensor community network that provides the area with neighborhood scale PM?S information. • Upgrading agency PM25 monitor to an FEM BAM 120 • Conduct a woodstove changeout and buyback program by replacing non-certified stoves for new more efficient models and removing old stoves from the area. All stoves were recycled. • Implement media campaigns to increase awareness and promote alternatives to outdoor burning and woodstove use. • Presently pursuing community composting facility and other methods to make soil not smoke including school gardens. With the strong support of all members, the Okanogan River Airshed Partnership will help decrease our exposure to PM25 and improve our health. ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- Awards Eco-Healthy Child Care® Children's Environmental Health Network Eco-Healthy Child Care® is an award winning and science-based program of the Children's Environmental Health Network, It is the only national environmental health endorsement program for early care and education providers. Eco-Healthy Child Care® partners with child care professionals to reduce environmental hazards found in and around child care facilities. Creating environmentally healthy early learning environments is key to protecting our nation's children. Eco-Healthy Child Care® offers a 2-year endorsement to child care facilities (both center and home-based child care) that qualify as "Eco- Healthy" by complying with 24 of 30 simple, free or low-cost environmental health best practices. These changes immediately benefit the well-being of young children. Eco- Healthy Chiid Care®'s best practices covers: Air Quality, Household Chemicals and Radon among other environmental hazards. More than 2,800 facilities, serving over 111,000 children within 49 states, six Canadian provinces, five Australian states and Puerto Rico have qualified as Eco-Healthy. The Eco-Healthy Child Care® program also educates and trains child care professionals on improving children's environmental health. Over 1,000 child care trainers, administrators, health/nurse consultants and licensing staff have participated in the Eco-Healthy Child Care®'s 5-hourTrain the Trainer session. Once trained, these individuals work with child care providers to implement eco- healthy changes within their facilities. To expand the reach of the Eco-Healthy Child Care® program, an e-learning course (Protecting Children's Environmental Health) which is available for child care providers and caretakers was implemented. Eco-Healthy Child Care® has also partnered with the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education to create an environmental health standards collection for its Caring For Our Children standards, a nationally known resource for the early care community. 14 ------- The Colorado Air Pollution Control Division (APCD), as a national leader in the development of air quality regulations for the oil and gas industry, has pioneered the regulation of VOC and methane emission reduction from hydrocarbon storage tanks. These regulations require operators to ensure that storage tanks equipped with emissions controls be properly designed, operated and maintained to ensure emissions are captured. Hydrocarbon storage tanks are the largest single source of VOC emissions in Colorado's ozone non- attainment area. Through inspection activities utilizing infrared (IR) cameras, the agency observed storage tank emissions were not consistently being captured. Ensuring storage tank emissions control is a critical need for Colorado to maintain progress toward attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). State/Tribal/ Local Air Quality Policy Innovations Storage Tank & Vapor Control System Guidelines Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment In July 2016, recognizing the need for improved performance, the APCD convened a workgroup with oil and gas industry members and consultants on the development of a set of flexible guidelines to help ensure compliance with Colorado air quality regulations .The workgroup collaborated for over 22 months to develop the guidelines published in May 2018.The guidelines provide owners and operators with information to assist in designing, operating and maintaining storage tanks and vapor control systems in accordance with Colorado law, while also granting flexibility to adapt the concepts to company's unique operating practices. The ultimate goal for this project is to improve the performance of storage tank emissions capture and control systems to ensure protection of public health and the environment.This work is an example of how government and industry collaboration to develop innovative policy can effectively support regulations.The division hopes these guidelines may serve as a resource and a model for other states. 15 Excellence Awards ------- ------- ------- Transportation Efficiency Innovations Award RideFinders Commute Green Summer Challenge RideFinders Awards By partnering with Agile Mile, RideFinders provided quantifiable emissions data. The results of the challenge were: • 6,014 greener trips recorded. Green trips were defined as bus, rail, carpool, vanpool, bike, walk, multimodal trips or telecommuting. • 119,028 lbs. of emissions prevented • 125,679 miles not driven • 5,391 reduced car trips • 6,073 gallons of gas saved • 49,638 calories burned • $68,495 money saved RideFinders Commute Green Summer Challenge campaign demonstrated tangible, quantifiable results that solidified investment in the program as well as intangible benefits - education, awareness, public relations and relationship development- help to make the case for TDM as mobility management and as a cost-effective approach to reducing pollution emissions to help air quality. Central Virginia's rideshare and transportation-demand management (TDM) agency aims to educate and encourage consumer behavioral changes relative to air quality, transportation, and quality of life issues within the Greater Richmond Region. With limited funding and resources and more focus on outcomes versus outputs, RideFinders was able to quantify the results of its marketing campaign by capturing important emissions data. RideFinders used the newly developed special events function of the co-branded Agile Mile (formerly NuRide) platform to develop the RideFinders Commute Green Summer Challenge, The goals of the month iong campaign were to engage current and new members to record their green trips on their personalized trip calendar during the month, to maximize current resources — using prizes that were already in-house and collaborating with an established partner, Agile Mile — and to utilize no cost platforms such as the website, social media and the Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC) network to promote the challenge, No paid advertising was used during the entire campaign. ------- Thomas W. Zosel Outstanding Individual Achievement Award Ned Sanders was Chairman of the Houston County Board of Commissioners in 2003 when Houston County, along with two neighboring counties, were to be designated in non-attainment for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Such a designation would have been detrimental for Robins Air Force Base, due to their inability to take on new missions within a non-attainment area, Mr. Sanders recognized clearly that air quality and economic well-being are inextricably linked. Ned Sanders For nearly two decades, Ned Sanders has been the foremost champion of clean air within Middle Georgia, His work has reshaped how a regional community can take action to reduce NOx and Ozone while maintaining robust economic growth. In doing so, Mr. Sanders has created a model for public action that can be replicated anywhere across the country. Chairman Sanders responded by forming a coalition of elected officials throughout Middle Georgia to take a regional approach to air quality.This idea became the Middle Georgia Clean Air Coalition (MGCAC). Mr. Sanders led development of the MGCAC charter and served as its first chairman. As Chairman of the MGCAC, Mr. Sanders led a delegation to Washington to secure grant funding to convert seven old diesel locomotives at one of Norfolk Southern's largest rail yards. He also convinced Georgia Power to install selective catalytic reduction systems and scrubbers at Plant Scherer—the nation's largest coal-fired power plant. Because of his leadership, every county in the region is in attainment for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS, with average concentrations reduced from 0.075 ppm to 0.065 ppm. He promised EPA that the MGCAC would never go away, even after the region was in attainment.This promise holds true today. Excellence Awards 19 ------- ------- Acknowledgments U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation Anne L. Idsal Acting Assistant Administrator John Shoaff Director, Office of Air Policy and Program Support Jonathan Lubetsky Group Leader, Office of Air Policy and Program Support Larry Weinstock Designated Federal Official, Clean Air Act Advisory Committee Sabrina Hamilton Liaison Specialist and FOIA Coordinator EPA Regional Review Panel Region 1 - Alison Sirncox, John Rogan, and Susan Lancey Region 2 - Hannah Greenberg Region 3 - Andrew Kreider and Megan Goold Region 4 - Chandler Milhollin and Kelly Sheckler Region 5 - Andrew Meindl Region 6 - Robert Imhoff Region 7 - Jed Wolkins and Steven Brown Region 8 - Chris Dresser and Laura Farris Region 9-Trina Martynowicz Region 10 - Justin Spenillo and Kelly McFadden 21 ------- Acknowledgments Office of Air and Radiation Review Panel Chris Griffin, Stefanie Bacon, and Vito llaqua Margaret Walters Office of Radiation and Indoor Air Office of Program Management Operations Laura Bunte Mariah Steele Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Office of Atmospheric Programs Photos Review Panel - Carissa Cyran and Wanda Farrar, Office of Air Policy and Program Support Front Cover: Ocean Breeze, David Choi Opening Photos: Denali National Park, John Steller; Costa Rica Waterfall and Pool, Susan Fairchild Clean AirTechnology: EPA RadNet Fixed Air Monitor, Washington, DC, Lowell G. Ralston Community Action: Clear Blue Skies at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Southern Nevada, Sandra Elkouz Middle Spread: Mobile Bay and Palm Garden, Chris Sarsony; Morning Red, Joshua Young; Fall in Michigan, David Choi Education/Outreach: The Gateway Arch, Travis Johnson State/Tribal/Local Air Quality Policy: Grand Canyon, Steven Fine Transportation Efficiency: Dogwood Flowers at EPA-RTP Campus, David Mintz Zosel Award: Monumental DC Skies, Celia Doherty Back Cover: Crisp, Clean Fall Air, Nora Hassan ------- For more information on the Clean Air Excellence Awards Program or the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, visit http://www.epa.gov/air/cleanairawards/. Recycled/Recyclable Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 50% Postconsumer) Process Chlorine Free Excellence Awards ------- |