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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11141995 - SD8 1 5D, TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ` on`ra Costa FROM: VAL ALEXEEFF, DIRECTOR OF GMEDA `s : � MARK FINUCANE, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH SERVICES �d.., County DATE : November 14, 1995 SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE AD-HOC COMMITTEE ON RESIDENTIAL/INDUSTRIAL INTERFACE SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATIONS) & BACKGROUND RECOMMENDATIONS 1 . Accept this report from the Community Development and Health Services Department Directors regarding the progress of the Ad-Hoc Committee. 2 . Direct staff to return to the Board in February with the committee' s preliminary report. FISCAL IMPACT The Committee ' s efforts are funded by a $25, 000 contribution from Wickland Oil Company. Additional information on the budget is provided in the Background section of this report. BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS The Committee was charged with developing an interface policy to address the separation of industry and residences . The Committee was to assess whether (and how) Risk Management and Prevention Program (RMPP) information could be used in the land use planning process . The committee has sixteen members representing diverse interests, who were appointed during the months of May throuqjh CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: XX YES SIGNATURE 7L�" R RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE (S) : ACTION OF BOARD ON 1"A j Ig9.S APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED _,X OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS / I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A ✓ UNANIMOUS (ABSENT gL TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: Catherine Kutsuris (510/646-2036) ATTESTED -! ltz,. 4,1ja, 14, /� 9 cc: Community Development PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK O Val Alexeeff, Director GMEDA THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Health Services : E. Blake AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Ad-Hoc Committee Members (via CDD) BY A AC , DEPUTY ck1\drb\adhoc2.bo Ad-Hoc Committee November 14, 1995 Page Two October, 1995. It is staffed by the Community Development and Health Services Departments. The committee has held three meetings and two subcommittee meetings, though the September meeting was just short of a quorum. The life of the committee was originally estimated to be about six months, but the complexity of the issue, the absence of model policies on the topic, the diversity of interests, and the addition of members after the initial meeting resulted in the need for additional time. 1 . Committee Activities : A. Review of current information: The Committee reviewed available data sources (e.g. the Risk Management and Prevention Program data) , the land use planning process (general plan, zoning) , and available vehicles for addressing the land use issue (e.g. zoning code amendments, Board policy) . The committee also reviewed the proposed revisions to the "Hazardous Materials" Ordinance (County Code Chapter 84-63) . B. Applicability of RMPP Data: The Committee has concluded that Risk Management and Prevention Program (RMPP) information, including the off-site consequence analysis, should not be the basis for changes to the County General Plan, the denial of subdivisions, or the denial of land use permits . A copy of the staff report which was the basis for this decision is included as Attachment A. The Committee left open the possibility that the RMPP information may be useful in combination with some other data. C. Current Options Under Consideration: The Committee has discussed the possibility of proposing an overlay district for areas adjacent to industry. A series of criteria or recommendations would be provided to assist in the review of projects within these "zones . " At the September meeting, several members took on the task of drafting their ideas concerning buffer zones, making industry safer, changes to the Initial Study Checklist which is used as part of the CEQA process, and public notification for properties adjacent to industrial uses. D. Public Workshops : The Board Order which established the committee specified that three public workshops should be held. The committee decided to hold the workshops after the members had developed some preliminary recommendations or options for public comment. A subcommittee has proposed an extensive public outreach campaign (refer to Attachment B) which will be considered at the next committee meeting. Ad-Hoc Committee November 14, 1995 Page Three 2 . Committee Work Schedule and Budget: Staff believes that the committee will require several more meetings to develop draft options or recommendations. The budget allocated for the project is $25, 000 divided between the Community Development and Health Services Departments. Both departments have incurred approximately $9500 . 00 in costs to date. The staff and the committee will strive to maintain an efficient schedule so that the work can be concluded within the budget limit. Because of the holiday season, we estimate that the preliminary report could be completed and submitted to the Board by February, 1996. Following the Board' s review, the committee would conduct public workshops, and prepare a final report for the Board' s consideration. CONTRA COSTA COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO: AD-HOC COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRIAL/ DATE: August 21, 1995 RESIDENTIAL INTERFACE FROM: Catherine Kutsuris Senior Planner SUBJECT: AGENDA ITEM#6: PROBLEM STATEMENT AND DATA SOURCES Following the Board's decision on the Point Crockett Project and the decision to create this committee, the staff of the Health Services and Community Development Departments agreed that the following statement adequately summarizes the issue to be evaluated by the committee. INDUSTRIAL/RESIDENTIAL PROBLEM STATEMENT RiskManagement and Prevention Program, Air Toxic Hot Spot data and other information related to the use and storage of hazardous materials are available to the public. Can this information be used in land use planning to provide greater public health and safety protection? If so, how? This memorandum attempts to critically evaluate the RMPP data, and whether it can and should be used to guide land use decisions. This report utilizes the information which the Health Department provided to the committee in the first two meetings and provides a planning agency's perspective of its applicability to land use. The Health Department has reviewed this report and has concurred with the recommendations. The purpose of this analysis is to systematically evaluate how and whether the data can be used. If the data sources are found to be problematic for the purposes of land use planning, this finding should not be interpreted as the end of the exercise. We could then search for other information or criteria from which to make rational land use planning decisions. In addition, you should.consider the possibility that changes to other regulatory programs (other than land use) would be appropriate and effective actions to improve public health and safety. This may be of particular importance in our County since many of the RMPP zones are already developed and changes in land use policy or regulations may have little impact. A. RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION PROGRAM DATA OVERVIEW: At the first committee meeting,Laura Brown from the Health Services Department presented an overview of the Risk Management and Prevention Program (RMPP). A summary of the RMPP program, which was prepared by the Health Department, has been included as Attachment A. Important elements of the RMPP effort relative to this committee's discussion are: ■ The goal of the RMPP program is to reduce accidents involving acutely hazardous materials. The RMPP program was designed to reduce the risk of an accident by conducting detailed analyses of the process, the materials, and the policies and procedures which might affect the potential for an upset event at a facility. ■ The RMPP Program has led to substantial reductions in the amount of acutely hazardous materials handled at facilities since the start of the program. Facilities are installing second and third levels of safeguards, improving their policies and procedures, and increasing their mechanical inspections. ■ The Off-Site Consequence Analysis portion of the RMPP models worst case credible release scenarios with pessimistic weather conditions. The result of this analysis is the mapping of isopleths which utilize predominate wind direction. ■ The Off-Site Consequence Analysis identifies two zones, the "Protection Action Zone" and the "Notification Zone." The "Protective Action Zone identifies areas where serious personal injury could occur if a person were exposed to an Acutely Hazardous Material (AHM) for more than one hour. Shelter-in-place or evacuation would be recommended, depending on the nature and length of time of the release. The circles which were plotted on the County Land Use Map reflect the Protective Action Zone isopleths. The "Notification Zone" identifies areas where an individual would not experience serious or long-term health effects, but he or she may experience eye irritation or other symptoms. Shelter-in-place would likely be the recommended response for individuals within the Notification Zone, which is much larger than the Protective Action Zone. B. APPLICATION OF RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION PROGRAM DATA: The RMPP plumes were overlayed on a County General Plan land use map. This map was displayed at the first meeting, and will be brought to this meeting as well. The circles drawn encompass a large portion of the developed lands within the County. Contra Costa County's RMPP program is, along with Los Angeles County, one of the most aggressive programs in the State. The program is considered extremely successful in its efforts to the reduce the risk and severity of accidents. This success is due to the cooperative efforts of the County and the participating industries. There are many counties that have yet to implement an RMPP program. Although this translates to increased safety within our County, it also means that we have been unable to locate any agencies which have attempted to use this program information for other purposes (e.g. land use decisions). The difficulties apparent in attempting to use RNIPP data to make land use policy, use designation or regulatory changes are: 1. The zones which result from the studies do not represent the entire risk posed by a facility. The off-site consequence analysis is limited to acutely hazardous materials. Other materials present at a facility could cause an off-site event. The analysis does not include fires/explosions, and does not evaluate chronic exposure. According to the Health Services Department.it is not possible to quantitatively or qualitative) assign the entire risk of a facility based on the existing data. 2. The RMPP program does not include off-site consequence analysis for all facilities which use acutely hazardous materials. Off-site consequence analyses have been submitted to the Health Services Department for a limited number of facilities. The Health Department conducts a detailed verification of the analyses and, as should be expected, not all submitted off-site consequence analyses have been evaluated. 3. The methodology for conducting the off-site consequence analysis is subject to change. The Health Services Department uses the Emergency Response Planning Guidelines to quantify the consequence level. Work is underway at both the state and federal level which may result in the establishment of different levels of concern which may change the consequences identified in the current program. The California Environmental Protection Agency and the National Academy of Sciences are suggesting potentially more conservative guidelines for the preparation of RMPPs which would result in larger plumes. In addition, the U.S. EPA is planning to require the inclusion of a "worst case" analysis which the Health Department believes is unrealistic, and which will substantially increase the size of the RMPP zones. 4. Changes in business practices alter the sizes of the zones. Changes in the use of acutely hazardous materials at individual sites would change the locations and/or the size of the isopleths creating a fluctuating data source. These changes would generally occur without any public agency approval and, in many cases without public agency knowledge.. 5. The data does not identify the isopleths created by facilities beyond the County's borders. Based on the size of the isopleths, it is reasonable to assume that facilities in Solano County(e.g. Exxon Refinery),Alameda County, and San Joaquin County might have isopleths that would extend into our County. Any program to use RMPP information generAted in our County must also include information from other counties which affects properties within our borders. That information must be similar in terms of the level of analysis and the justification for the findings. 6. The existing isopleths cover much of the urbanized area of our county. The isopleths currently encompass large areas of the County including Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Rodeo, Crockett, Hercules, Martinez, Concord, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, and Discovery Bay. With the adoption of more conservative guidelines, the isopleths may encompass the majority of the urbanized land in the western, north central and eastern portions of our County. C. RECOMMENDATIONS: The RMPP program has led to substantial reductions in the amount of acutely hazardous materials handled, increases in mechanical inspections, expanded safeguards and improved procedures. The program is considered very successful in acheiving its purpose. As detailed above, there are numerous reasons which individually would lead to the conclusion that the use of RMPP data for broad land use planning is not supportable. Since there were several apparent issues,this report did not attempt to include all of the difficulties in attempting utilize the program data for a new purpose. Other issues would include: ■ the ability to base land use decisions on data which has been developed with trade secret information; ■ the risk to the RMPP program and the participation of industry. Even if the data issues presented above could be resolved, we are left with the reality that the isopleths cover(or potentially will cover)most of the urbanized area in the west, north central and eastern portions of our County. Changes in land use designations to restrict or prohibit development within the RMPP zones are unrealistic. Recommendations: 1. Based on the limitations of the RMPP data for land use planning purposes identified herein, concur that it is not appropriate to use RMPP data at this time as the basis for changing the land use designations of properties, denying the subdivision of land or denying various uses of land currently allowed by the code. 2. Discuss at your next meeting whether there are any other opportunities to use the RMPP data in land use planning(e.g. restrictions on how a use may occur rather than on "can"it occur). 3. Request staff to provide information on Air Toxic Hot Spot data and any other data sources the committee believes would be relevant to this review. If you have any questions prior to the meeting,please feel free to call either Elinor Blake at 3 13-5022 or my office at 646-2036. CKl\drb\adhoc3.mem vdiandocs\adhoc3.mem Minutes, September 13, 1995 Outreach Subcommittee Ad Hoc Committee on Industrial/Residential Interface Present: Dorothy Oda, Tom Lindemuth, Tom Zimmerman, Suzanne Teran, Jim Cutler, Elifior Blake The subcommittee reviewed outreach decisions made at the last Committee meeting. These included: o the forums will put forward for comment recommendations or policy options; o the forums will occur in November; o the forums might be held in .Rodeo/Crockett and Bay Point, since the Committee included representatives from Richmond and Oakley (i.e. , to get feedback from other areas) . The Committee did agree, though, that the Los Medanos campus is a known and convenient location in East County. The subcommittee agreed that the group's intent is to integrate or address any public comments in the Committee's recommendations to the Board. Outreach messages The subcommittee discussed ways involve the public in the policy discussion. To communicate the immediacy and importance of the issue to residents and other interested parties, a number of ideas of ideas were generated: o remind people of the issues that arose concerning Pointe Crockett o use, "Homeowners - attention! " or "Future homeowners" o use a map or aerial photo, possibly localized for each of the three forums o use a map to show population growth projections o note redevelopment issues where appropriate o note environmental justice issues where appropriate o note agricultural chemicals issues o note quality of life issues re: commuting, increased pollution It was noted that these last two are beyond the scope of the Ad Hoc Committee's task. The group agreed that emphasizing local concerns would help gain people's notice. The subcommittee also wanted the message to stay positive. Outreach methods In addition to outreach options listed in a memo to the full Committee, the subcommittee enumerated the following: o letters to the editor o guest editorial/op ed piece o editorials by the newspaper o public notice ad o cable TV: PSA; cards; news stories; taping of a panel discussion o press release [request assistance from HSD's Julie Freestone] o feature news stories in all area papers o presentations to the MACS o fliers, potentially tailored to each of the 3 areas o mailing lists: PEHAB, HMC, Planning Commission, others? 0 outreach to ethnic groups thru organizations (Mr. Zimmerman offered Spanish translation] o libraries o E-mail/Internet announcement o Word of mouth, starting with the above groups - ask members to actively announce and talk up the forums It was noted with regard to the fact sheet idea that in order to write it, the full Committee needs to agree on what the questions are, and what the answers are. Interested parties The subcommittee generated the list below. o home loan lenders o insurers o religious centers (churches etc. ) o residents o neighborhood associations o community development groups o emergency responders o the public health constituency - providers, health insurers, PEHAB constituent groups, interested ethnic associations, et al. o environmental organizations o MACs o Community Advisory Panels to industry o League of Women Voters o realtors Outreach "message" Based on discussions from which the above lists were developed, the group agreed to a rough framing of the question before the forums. This framing was not further discussed, and will be a topic of the next subcommittee meeting. "As Contra Costa County grows in population, more housing and other facilities are being developed near industrial sites. How can we insure continued residential, business and industrial growth that provides for safe and liveable communities? We need to examine and consider updating our policies. " • The subcommittee agreed to meet again at 1:00 prior to the full Committee meeting on September 25th and discuss the following: o locations of forums o criteria/nature o timeframe options o review the basic outreach message.