PRINTER'S NO. 2675
No. 196 Session of 1993
INTRODUCED BY GERLACH, MELIO, GODSHALL, FICHTER, NYCE, HERSHEY,
OLASZ, RUBLEY, STEIL, VEON, ADOLPH, CARONE, PITTS, ROBINSON,
EGOLF, RAYMOND, SAURMAN, E. Z. TAYLOR, L. I. COHEN, CURRY,
DRUCE, WILLIAMS, REINARD, TOMLINSON, LAUB, HENNESSEY,
CORNELL, M. N. WRIGHT, PERZEL, CLYMER, FLICK, LAWLESS,
CESSAR, LEH, SATHER, PETTIT, MARSICO, KENNEY, BATTISTO AND
FARMER, OCTOBER 13, 1993
ADOPTED, OCTOBER 13, 1993
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Department of Environmental Resources to postpone
2 implementation of Employer Trip Reduction regulations and the
3 Governor to review the feasibility, reasonableness and
4 hardship of proposed regulations and additional data
5 pertinent thereto, and to exercise his prerogative under
6 section 107(d) of the Federal Clean Air Act of 1990 to
7 petition the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider
8 the classification of a five-county area from a severe ozone
9 nonattainment region to a lower classification.
10 WHEREAS, The Federal Clean Air Act of 1990 mandates that
11 businesses in areas of severe nonattainment employing more than
12 100 people at a single site develop and implement Employer Trip
13 Reduction plans to increase occupancy of the vehicles going to
14 and from the workplace during rush hours; and
15 WHEREAS, The threshold for a severe nonattainment rating is
16 .18 parts per million (ppm);and
17 WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
18 determined that the Philadelphia Consolidated Metropolitan
19 Statistical Area (PCMSA) had an ozone content value of .187 ppm
1 for 1987-1989; and
2 WHEREAS, The PCMSA's ozone content value was based on the
3 highest value of any of the fourth highest one-hour readings
4 from any monitoring station from 1987-1989; and
5 WHEREAS, The .187 ozone content value for the PCMSA was based
6 on one reading on September 11, 1989, at the Chester,
7 Pennsylvania monitoring station; and
8 WHEREAS, According to a study conducted by Environmental
9 Resources Management (ERM), the September 11, 1989, reading is
10 an unreliable indicator of air quality in the PCMSA and, as a
11 result, should not have been utilized for determining the ozone
12 content value for the PCMSA; and
13 WHEREAS, The ERM study also concluded that a more proper
14 measurement and analysis of air quality would have resulted in a
15 nonattainment rating less stringent than "severe nonattainment";
16 and
17 WHEREAS, The accuracy and age of the data collected from such
18 testing and utilized in determining the severe ozone
19 nonattainment classification in question reasonably raises the
20 issue of whether the region's current classification is
21 warranted; and
22 WHEREAS, Proposed State regulations, 22 Pa.B. 4628 (September
23 12, 1992), providing for such plans, as currently drafted, would
24 be costly to implement and, in many instances, impossible to
25 achieve by the affected employers and employees; and
26 WHEREAS, The proposed regulations, as currently drafted, do
27 not fully and satisfactorily address the concerns and problems
28 expressed by such employers and employees, particularly with
29 regard, but not limited, to reasonable and adequate work
30 schedule adjustment, mass transit availability and impact on
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1 productivity and competitiveness; and
2 WHEREAS, Transportation infrastructure improvements made
3 subsequent to 1988 have reduced congestion and subsequent idling
4 and carbon dioxide emission from vehicle exhaust; and
5 WHEREAS, A full season's use of oxygenated fuels by motorists
6 purchasing gasoline in the region was not and has not been taken
7 into consideration of whether the region's current
8 classification is warranted; and
9 WHEREAS, According to a study conducted by Systems
10 Applications International (SAI), the maximum ozone
11 concentrations in 1991 and 1993 (as of 8/31/93) are 17% and 24%
12 respectively below the 1988 concentration level; and
13 WHEREAS, SAI concluded that the probability of the PCMSA
14 attaining the required National Ambient Air Quality Standard
15 (NAAQS) ozone level by 1999, rather than 2005, without the need
16 for additional control measures, such as an employer trip
17 reduction program, is 81%; and
18 WHEREAS, As a result of the above, issues of feasibility and
19 reasonableness, together with economic and personal hardship on
20 affected employers and employees, are created by further
21 implementation of Employer Trip Reduction plans in accordance
22 with the proposed regulations; therefore be it
23 RESOLVED, That in the best interests of this Commonwealth and
24 of the employers and working citizens of this Commonwealth the
25 Department of Environmental Resources and the Governor should
26 fully review and consider the potential impact and effect of the
27 proposed regulations on affected employers and employees in
28 light of the regulations' feasibility, reasonableness and
29 hardship and any additional data and information pertinent
30 thereto; and be it further
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1 RESOLVED, That the Department of Environmental Resources
2 postpone implementation of the proposed regulations published at
3 22 Pa. B. 4628 (September 12, 1992), until such time as the
4 affected employers and employees can more fully and formally
5 respond thereto; and be it further
6 RESOLVED, That the Governor further exercise his prerogative
7 under section 107(d) of the Federal Clean Air Act of 1990 to
8 petition the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the
9 classification of the five-county area consisting of
10 Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties
11 from a severe ozone nonattainment region to a lower
12 classification.
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