3-hour debate on Oceano Dunes dust rule fails to produce agreement

A deeply divided San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District board spent three hours Wednesday trying and failing to reach consensus on how to proceed with the air district’s controversial rule to curtail dust blowing off the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

In the end, the board voted to postpone the discussion to its next meeting on June 17. It

also directed its staff to explore other options, including whether the district’s current dust rule could be converted into a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, with the California State Parks Department.

In November 2011, the air district issued a rule directing State Parks to incrementally reduce the amount of dust blowing off the Oceano Dunes and onto the Nipomo Mesa to near background levels.

The air district later entered into a consent decree with State Parks to implement the dust rule. It is up to State Parks to devise a way to reduce blowing dust, and State Parks is experimenting with wind fencing to reduce the dust and to improve air quality and health conditions on the Mesa.

Originally, the agenda called for the air board to amend its dust rule to remove a requirement that State Parks obtain a permit to operate from the air district. An appellate court recently ruled that the permit requirement is unlawful and should be removed.

However, the discussion quickly morphed into a wide-ranging debate about the dust rule and whether alternatives such as an MOU could promote greater cooperation between the air district and State Parks.

“I want to spend more time finding mitigation measures that work and pursue an MOU,” county Supervisor Debbie Arnold said. “I am frustrated that nobody is working together.”

However, Air Pollution Control Officer Larry Allen warned that an MOU would likely be unacceptable to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board because it would lack the ability to enforce any agreement. Pursuing an MOU also would substantially delay any solution to high dust levels, he said.

“Look how long it took to get the dust rule and consent decree in place,” he said. “Stopping the rule and going to an MOU would delay real progress by years.”

Some on the air board agreed with Allen. San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx said the current dust rule is the best tool for reducing harmful dust blowing off the Dunes.

“To me, our whole goal is to reduce vehicle-generated dust,” she said.

Dust blows from the Oceano Dunes and onto the Nipomo Mesa, where air quality frequently exceeds state standards for particulate pollution on windy days.

The main dust control measure this year is 40 acres of bright-orange wind fencing installed in higher elevation areas of the park in April.

These fences will stay in place until the end of June, when the spring windy season ends.

The purpose of the wind fences is to slow the speed of the wind across the sand, causing dust particles to drop out before they reach populated areas.

In addition to continuing the debate on the dust rule, the June 17 meeting will also feature a study session on the topic with the air board, State Parks and the state Air Resources Control Board.

“Meanwhile, the dust rule is still in place, and we will continue to implement it under the consent decree,” Allen said.

This story was originally published May 27, 2015 at 5:39 PM with the headline "3-hour debate on Oceano Dunes dust rule fails to produce agreement."