The state Environmental Quality Board (EQB) will kick off the series of hearings on Dec. 8 and will accept written comments on the matter through Jan. 14 so GASP wanted to be sure you were armed with all the information you need to not only understand what RGGI is all about but how you can make sure your voice is heard. “The Proposed Rulemaking deserves every Pennsylvanian’s support because it will help reduce air pollution, improve public health, and begin to address the problem of global warming brought on by CO2 emissions from sources in Pennsylvania,” GASP Senior Attorney John Baillie said. So here’s what you need to know: As we reported last month, EQB published proposed rulemaking that would enable Pennsylvania to join RGGI beginning on Jan. 1, 2022. For those who may not be familiar, RGGI is a cap-and-trade program that uses a two-pronged approach to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from certain electric generating units (known as EGUs) in participating states. The first prong reduces CO2 emissions by establishing a regional budget for such emissions from units that are subject to the program as well as a statewide budget for each of the participating states. Each participating state issues CO2 allowances (with each allowance representing a ton of budgeted CO2 emissions) and sells them through quarterly auctions. Electric generating units subject to the program must purchase a CO2 allowance for each ton of CO2 they will emit. Then, those CO2 allowances may be auctioned across state lines within the participating states. “Basically, that means that an electric generating unit in Pennsylvania could obtain allowances issued by other states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,” Baillie explained. The second prong of the program would further reduce CO2 emissions by using the proceeds of those auctions allowances to fund renewable energy projects and energy-efficiency programs. Currently, 11 states participate in RGGI – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. Operating electrical generating units in Pennsylvania that had a generating capacity of at least 25 megawatt equivalents at any time after Jan. 1, 2005, would be subject to the new RGGI rules. There are currently 140  electrical generating units operated by 57 facilities in Pennsylvania that would be subject to the RGGI. That number is predicted to increase to 150 electrical generating units across  62 facilities by Jan. 1, 2022. Notably, Pennsylvania would reserve about 9 million CO2 allowances per year for waste coal plants in order to ensure that those plants can keep operating to remediate waste coal piles, which cause water pollution and present fire hazards throughout the Commonwealth. In Pennsylvania, proceeds from the auction would be used to defray the program’s operating costs and would be held in the Department of Environmental Protection’s Clean Air Fund, purportedly to be used to eliminate air pollution. The proposed rulemaking would require that Pennsylvania’s budgeted CO2 emissions fall from about 78 million tons of CO2 in 2022 to approximately 58 million tons in 2030 – a drop of about 31 percent. The EQB projects that during that same period, the program would reduce emissions of smog-forming oxides of nitrogen in Pennsylvania by 112,000 tons, and reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 67,000 tons. “Those reductions, as well as unquantified reductions of other pollutants, would provide significant health benefits to Pennsylvanians and we hope residents will join us in pledging their support for the program during these upcoming hearings,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “Pennsylvania has an opportunity to take real action on reducing air pollution through this program and we need to seize it.” She said RGGI was promising but noted it isn’t perfect – there are some issues with the proposed rulemaking: Important sources of CO2 emissions outside the electric generating sector, including oil refineries, steel mills, natural gas production, and coke ovens, as well as cogeneration units located at industrial sites, will not be subject to the RGGI’s requirements. “CO2 emissions from those sources will continue to go unregulated,” Baillie said. Proceeds from the auctions of CO2 allowances in Pennsylvania will be deposited into DEP’s Clean Air Fund. Although money from the Clean Air Fund must be used for the elimination of air pollution, “the full and normal range of activities” of DEP, including administrative expenses, are deemed to contribute to the elimination of air pollution under the regulations that govern the fund. “Thus, there is no guarantee that the proceeds of auctions of CO2 emissions will be used to fund energy efficiency and green energy projects,” Filippini said. “And GASP finds that troubling.” The proposed rulemaking does not identify any criteria that will be used to determine which energy efficiency and green energy programs will be funded from the proceeds of the auctions of CO2 allowances. It is not clear whether money from the Clean Air Fund could be disbursed to pay for energy efficiency and green energy programs administered by the Allegheny County Health Department and Philadelphia Air Management Services, which administer the air pollution laws in Allegheny County and Philadelphia, respectively. The EQB is accepting written comments on the Proposed Rulemaking through Jan. 14, 2021. You can obtain a copy of the proposed rulemaking from DEP’s eComment webpage (where it is listed as “Proposed Rulemaking:  CO2 Budget Trading Program (#7-559)), and also submit comments there. Information about submitting comments is available in the Proposed Rulemaking, at 50 Pa. Bulletin 6212, 6231. The EQB will also hold virtual public hearings on the proposed rulemaking on the following dates and times: Dec. 8 at 9 a.m.—12 p.m. and 1 p.m.—4 p.m. Dec. 9 at 1 p.m.—4 p.m., and 6 p.m.—9 p.m. Dec. 10 at 1 p.m.—4 p.m., and 6 p.m.—9 p.m. Dec. 11 at 9 a.m.—12 p.m., and 1 p.m.—4 p.m. Dec. 14 at 1 p.m.—4 p.m., and 6 p.m.—9 p.m. To present testimony at a hearing, you must sign up at least 24 hours in advance by contacting Jennifer Swan at (717) 783-8727 or RA-EPEQB@pa.gov. Editor’s Note: GASP is currently crafting written comments and will post those as soon as they are submitted. Check back – we will provide sample language regarding RGGI for residents to use to submit their own comments. #airpollution #RegionalGreenhouseGasInitiative #RGGI #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #DEP #airquality #capandtradeprogram #carbondioxide

Your generous donations will help fund important watchdog work, progressive policy advocacy, and education initiatives in the name of better air quality as we head into 2021. “It’s difficult to verbalize just how much this kind of grassroots support means to small nonprofits like us,” Executive Director Rachel Filippini said. “GASP started 51 years ago in the living room of our founder – the late, great Michelle Madoff – and a core group of residents fed up with abysmal air quality and committed to helping to improve it. We’re grateful that over the years, that core group has gotten bigger and it’s gotten louder – and we can’t wait to make more noise with them over the next year.” Editor’s Note: Missed Giving Tuesday? No worries – you can still make a one-time or recurring donation to GASP here. #airquality #GivingTuesday

GASP is taking this opportunity to add its voice to the chorus of folks seeking your help today. Our pitch is simple: We are asking those participating in Giving Tuesday to consider making a one-time or recurring donation to the Group Against Smog and Pollution. Supporters like you help fuel our air quality watchdog work, education initiatives, and progressive policy activism. Why? Because the ugly truth is sometimes our beautiful hometown really stinks. Literally. Yes, our local air quality has improved since Pittsburgh’s “hell with its lid off” days but air pollution (especially from industry sources) is still a pervasive regional problem – one that GASP has the expertise and experience to help solve. While we would usually try to make an emotional appeal at this point, we really don’t need to. When it comes to air pollution, its local impact, and how GASP can help, the numbers speak for themselves: 23 – The number of times so far this year that the 24-hour concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at the Allegheny County Health Department’s Liberty monitor exceeded the state standard.  Hydrogen sulfide has a strong rotten egg odor that you may be all too familiar with. 22.5 – The percentage of elementary school children in environmental justice communities like Clairton and Braddock that have asthma (that’s more than three times the national average). 18 – The average number of months it takes for the health department to promulgate a new air quality regulation (example: episodic weather regulations that would force industrial polluters to dial down production when poor air dispersion is expected to exacerbate air pollution and cause a public health hazard). 2 – The number of full-time attorneys GASP has on staff full-time to lead our watchdog work, ensure permits are as strong as possible and help analyze air quality data and communicate it in a way that people can understand. 4 – The number of ACHD Air Quality Program committees that GASP staff serves on – the Pollution Prevention and Education, Criteria Pollutant, and Regulation subcommittees. It’s our job to be in the know on air quality issues, and we take that job seriously: Serving on these subcommittees, as well as the Air Pollution Control Advisory committee, allows us to do more than keep up with the latest on things like permits and regulations, it also gives us a seat at the decision-making table. 148 – The number of blogs we’ve published so far this year to keep you informed and up-to-date about all things air quality. 1,065 — The number of people we’ve educated (virtually and in-person) this year through webinars, college classroom presentations, and through the lending out of our air quality educational kits that were created using funds from the Allegheny County Clean Air Fund and the PA Department of Environmental Protection. 12 — The number of comments GASP staff have delivered this year on draft permits, State Implementation Plans, RACT determinations, etc. to a variety of local, state, and federal regulatory agencies. We hope those numbers add up to just one simple decision: To get your credit card or checkbook out and make a donation to your friends here at GASP today. You can make a donation through our website, by sending a check to 1133 S Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15218 or by phone (just email our office manager Kathy at kathy@gasp-pgh.org with your phone number and the best time to contact you). Yours for Clean Air, Rachel Filippini, executive director #AirPollutionControlAdvisoryCommittee #airpollution #RACT #GivingTuesday #airquality

Today, we want to put the spotlight on our staff attorney Ned Mulcahy, who was interviewed recently by the Consortium for Public Education as part of its Career Journeys video series. In this Q&A, Ned gave an inside look into not only what it’s like to be an environmental law attorney, but what it takes to be a good one. Among the skills necessary to do the job well? “You have to have thick skin and believe in the cause,” he said. See what else he had to say: Editor’s Note: Legal watchdog work is at the center of our work here at GASP. Ned is one of two full-time attorneys we have on staff to review permits, comment on pending regulations, as well as help analyze complex air quality data and package it in a way that’s easily digestible for everyday people. You can support their work by making a one-time or recurring donation to GASP.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 1:57 p.m. Monday to reflect the re-issued alert from the Allegheny County Health Department. The Allegheny County Health Department is investigating what caused its air quality monitor in Liberty to report erroneous data on Sunday and into Monday. Here’s the information ACHD included in a public alert Monday morning following an inquiry from GASP about the missing data: The Allegheny County Health Department is investigating what caused its air quality monitor in Liberty to report erroneous data on Sunday and into Monday.The data during this time is not consistent with expected values. Readings for PM-10 have remained low, as was expected, and as PM-10 (particulates sized 0 .1 to 10 µm) includes PM-2.5 (particulates 0.1to 2.5 µm), the PM-10 value should always be greater than or equal to the PM-2.5 value. The PM-2.5 should have been in the green range based on the PM-10 values, not the high values being recorded.The Health Department sent a data quality analyst to the site to diagnose and hopefully repair the monitor. The monitor will be taken offline until it is repaired.The Liberty site continues to measure daily, filter-based PM-2.5 samples through a different monitor, so no data loss is expected from this temporary outage. We will continue to follow the issue and will update you as more information becomes available. #ACHD #airquality #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #LibertyMonitor

Longtime Clairton resident Cheryl Hurt on Friday asked people to imagine all the things they are worried about – the pandemic, the election, finances – and then add to that list the fear and anxiety that comes with wondering if the air you’re breathing is making you sick. With everything that’s going on in the world, she said, that’s an additional burden Mon Valley residents must bear thanks to U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works. Glassport resident David Meckle agreed. “Even when it’s a nice sunny day, U.S. Steel manages to ruin it. We have to put up with low-grade headaches, eyes watering and a little burn in the nasal passages,” he said. “You have to be like a little turtle and go inside and hide. I’m not a turtle and I don’t like living in my shell.” Hurt and Meckle were among a slate of residents who spoke out at a virtual rally Friday co-hosted by a collaborative of environmental advocacy groups including GASP. Their message: Enough is enough – U.S. Steel and county officials must take decisive action to address unacceptable air quality exceedances. The protest came in the wake of a seven-day stretch when concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) – a pollutant closely associated with coking operations – exceeded the state standard. So far this year, the H2S standard has been exceeded 23 times at the Liberty air quality monitoring site according to preliminary ACHD data. Those exceedances coincided with increased temperatures and prolonged stagnant weather conditions that exacerbated industrial pollution problems. During this period, the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) exceeded the federal health-based standard for three days in a row at the Liberty monitor in the Mon Valley and two days in a row at the Avalon monitor. emissions. This level of pollution places an unfair burden on the residents of Allegheny, including many who live in environmental justice communities that surround the Clairton Coke Works and Edgar Thomson Works operations. Of immediate concern: These incidents are occurring despite an ongoing pandemic where it is well-documented that increased particle pollution results in increased negative impacts on disease prevalence and outcomes. A recently published study shows children in Allegheny County living near major pollution sources had nearly triple the prevalence of asthma as compared with the national average rate of asthma in children. According to the American Lung Association, “First, short-term exposure to particle pollution can kill. Peaks or spikes in particle pollution can last from hours to days. Premature deaths from breathing these particles can occur on the very day that particle levels are high, or within one to two months afterward. Particle pollution does not just make people die a few days earlier than they might otherwise—these deaths would not have occurred so early if the air were cleaner.” Residents reported more than 1,300 odor complaints on the SmellPGH app during this Nov. 4-10 period of time because of the rotten-egg smell associated with emissions of hydrogen sulfide gas from coking operations. You can read more about the rally here: Allegheny County Residents Demand Stronger Pollution Regulations for U.S. Steel Plant, published by StateImpact After 7 Days of Exceedances, Mon Valley’s Air Pollution Still a Big Problem, published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette #CherylHurt #airpollution #USSteel #EdgarThomsonWorks #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #ACHD #Clairton #airquality #MonValleyWorks

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) on Friday is now seeking public comment on its proposed coke oven regulations, according to a press release issued Friday. The proposed regulation changes were presented to the Board of Health on Nov. 4, when members voted to approve ACHD’s request to open a 60-day public comment period. In the release, ACHD wrote: Coke making is a process by which coal is baked at very high temperatures in an air-free oven to create a fuel that is used to make steel. The process produces coke oven gas which contains volatile products such as benzene, tar, sulfur compounds, ammonia and methane. The Health Department has authority to regulate this process under Article XXI, which pertains to air pollution control. The only coke facility in Allegheny County is at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Works. The Health Department has met with U.S. Steel 11 times since June 2020 to discuss the proposed regulation changes. The regulation changes will: Incorporate coke oven inspection procedures into the regulations; Address issues of stringency with federal and Pennsylvania regulations; Correct coke oven gas standards, and Remove outdated language.The proposed revisions and changes are available on the Health Department’s Air Quality web site at www.alleghenycounty.us/regs-sips. Written copies may be obtained by contacting Paulette Poullet, at paulette.poullet@alleghenycounty.us or 412-578-8103. Comments will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on January 21. Comments may be submitted via e-mail to aqcomments@alleghenycounty.us or by mail to:Allegheny County Health DepartmentAttention: Paulette Poullet301 39th Street, Bldg. 7Pittsburgh, PA 15201-1811 All correspondence must include first and last name and a complete mailing address. A public hearing will be held virtually on Jan. 20 at 5 p.m.  in compliance with safety precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hearing will be live streamed on the Health Department’s Facebook page. You do not need a Facebook account to watch the hearing. To view the live stream, visit: https://www.facebook.com/AlleghenyCountyHealth/. People who wish to present testimony at the hearing must register by going to the ACHD’s Air Quality website at www.alleghenycounty.us/regs-sips. Those who do not have access to the internet may register by contacting Paulette Poullet, at 412-578-8103. You must register to present testimony at least 24 hours in advance of the virtual hearing. Testimony is limited to three minutes. Witnesses are requested to submit written copies of the testimony by email to aqcomments@alleghenycounty.us. GASP will be submitting public comments on these regulations – stay tuned.

For the seventh straight day, Allegheny County on Tuesday tallied another air quality exceedance – the 24-hour concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) at the health department’s Liberty monitor exceeded Pennsylvania’s air quality standard of .005 ppm with an average concentration of .006 ppm, according to preliminary data from the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD). But that’s not all: Allegheny County also experienced three straight days where concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exceeded federal health-based regulations, initial data show. The county was plagued by poor air dispersion for the past week, but ACHD said gusty winds Tuesday and rain today would help “clean” the air, giving residents a respite from subpar air quality. GASP has been tracking the air quality implications of this latest prolonged period of stagnant air, renewing its call for ACHD to update its episodic weather regulations to help better protect public health during inversions and other conditions expected to exacerbate poor air quality. “We are again calling on U.S. Steel to voluntarily reduce operations during weather events that are forecast to cause a public health hazard,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said Wednesday. “The company has repeatedly talked about its commitment to the surrounding communities, its workers, and union members it employs, but talk is cheap and these kinds of empty corporate promises are getting old.” GASP encourages our members to reach out directly to U.S. Steel and tell them to do the right thing and voluntarily reduce production to protect public health during periods of poor air dispersion. You can write, call, or email:  https://www.ussteel.com/newsroom. #airqualityexceedances #PM25 #H2S #hydrogensulfide #RachelFilippini #AlleghenyCountyHealthDepartment #ACHD #airquality

Here at GASP, we’re all about giving credit where credit is due. To that end, we thank the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) for finally issuing a public update regarding the recent bout of horrific air quality exacerbated by nearly a week of stagnant weather conditions. Yes, the department provided the public with a statement that indicated that air quality was expected to improve as weather conditions more conducive to clean air were rolling in. Yes, the department sympathized with local residents who were forced to stay indoors on an otherwise beautiful, sunshiny day. And yes, they responded to the calls from GASP, fellow grassroots groups, and residents for updated episodic weather regulations – reiterating that they “remain a priority” for the department. Unfortunately, though, ACHD did what it always seems to do: It largely blamed the weather and placed a disproportionate amount of the responsibility for mitigating air pollution during Code Orange Air Quality Action Days on residents instead of industrial pollution. ACHD wrote: “The air quality issues recently faced by Allegheny County were experienced in communities across the region. Industrial pollution across the region contributed to the recent poor air quality but so did personal pollution from individual actions such as burning firewood or leaves or using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment like a leaf blower.” Its message also explicitly asked residents to do their part to reduce air pollutants on days with poor dispersion, writing: “The Health Department asks that residents refrain from these activities during periods of poor air quality.” There was no such explicit public call to action for industrial polluters. There was also no mention of air quality being so lousy that the county experienced nine air quality exceedances in the past week – six for hydrogen sulfide concentrations and three for high levels of fine particulate matter. Why is that important? Because when it comes to hydrogen sulfide concentrations, there’s practically nothing that residents can do to make a marked increase. But U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works can: Not only is it the largest emitter of hydrogen sulfide in the county, but the entire state.  And it should be mentioned that currently, U.S. Steel is actively fighting any new regulations to control H2S emissions. GASP thinks that’s a fairly significant omission. “Alerts like the one issued by ACHD Monday are frustrating to residents and watchdog groups alike,” GASP Executive Director Rachel Filippini said Tuesday morning. “The fact is, you can’t blame the weather. Poor air dispersion doesn’t create pollution, it just traps it.” She added that ACHD must do more than tell the public that the regs are in progress. “We need to know exactly what progress has been made because our area will be dealing with more of these poor air dispersion days as winter approaches,” Filippini said. “GASP sits on three ACHD air quality subcommittees and attends every board of health meeting. These regulations have not been brought up during any of those public meetings that we can recall.” GASP renews its call to ACHD for it to be more proactive and specific in its messaging – and asks that it explicitly and publicly call on U.S. Steel to voluntarily limit production when a bout of poor weather expected to cause a public health hazard occurs. #episodicweatherregulations #H2S #airqualityexeedances #USSteel #ACHD

The Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB) recently published a proposed rulemaking that would establish a cap-and-trade program in the keystone state for carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric generating units. This proposed rulemaking would also enable Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – or RGGI – a cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions that includes 10 other states in the northeastern United States. The EQB anticipates that Pennsylvania’s participation in the RGGI would lead to a 31 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from sources in the commonwealth by 2030, relative to 2019 emission levels. The EQB also anticipates that the proposed rules would lead to significantly reduced emissions of other air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulate matter, and ground level ozone. You can learn more about those pollutants and how they impact human health and the environment on GASP’s Resources Page. A copy of the proposed rulemaking is available here.  You can learn more about RGGI here. The EQB is accepting comments from the public on the proposed rules through Jan. 14, 2021. “We are reviewing the proposed rules and will provide updates on any developments regarding them as they occur,” GASP senior staff attorney John Baillie said. Editor’s Note: Get the latest on air quality issues by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.