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ATTACHMENT A
Pursuant to Section 7.2.b of the Agreement, Chevron shall undertake the following compliance measures to minimize flaring and reduce flaring impacts, within the time frames prescribed.
1. Automated Flare Monitoring. Chevron shall, upon certification by the Air District in accordance with Air District Rule 12-11, use EPA-certified automated flare mass spectrometer parametric monitors (“Certified Automated Monitors”) to monitor flaring at each flare at the Richmond Refinery.
a. Chevron shall take all actions necessary to obtain certification from the Air District in accordance with Air District Rule 12-11 to authorize the use of Certified Automated Monitors at each flare at the Richmond Refinery, including (but not limited to) providing all relevant information requested by the Air District, within a reasonable timeframe as specified in the information request, to enable the Air District to certify that Chevron’s automated flare mass spectrometer parametric monitors meet the requirements of Air District Rule 12-
11. In addition, Chevron shall make any necessary modifications to address calibration, moisture, and other issues potentially impacting the Certified Automated Monitor analyzer sampling system reliability (“Analyzer Reliability Work”). Chevron shall meet the obligations of this Section 1.a as expeditiously as possible, but in no event later than October 31, 2024, except that Chevron may request in writing that the District grant additional time if Chevron is unable to meet this deadline due to reasons beyond its reasonable control (including any delay caused by the Air District), which request the Air District shall not unreasonably deny.
b. In the interim, Chevron shall implement a modified calibration approach within one hundred twenty (120) days from the Effective Date of this Agreement. This modified calibration approach would involve sending calibrating gas to the analyzer rather than introducing the calibration gas as close to the probe as possible, as described in Air District Manual of Procedures, Volume V, Section
5.2. 2. Automated Flare Gas Management System. Chevron shall install an automated system to control the addition of natural gas and steam to each of the water seal flares at the Richmond Refinery. Once installed, Chevron shall implement and use this automated system to control the addition of natural gas and steam to each of the water seal flares at all times, and it shall manually control natural gas and steam to any of the water seal flares only in the event the automated system malfunctions and/or becomes unable to properly control the natural gas and steam. Chevron shall properly maintain and (as needed) timely repair the equipment used to automate the addition of natural gas and steam pursuant to this Section 2. Chevron shall complete the installation of the automated system, and any necessary training of operators and other work necessary to begin operation of the new system, in two phases, with the first phase consisting of installation of the automated system and related work on two (2) of the water seal flares to be completed no later than December 31, 2024; and the second phase consisting of A-2
installation of the automated system and related work on the five (5) remaining water seal flares to be completed no later than December 31, 2025.
3. Flare Operator and Blowdown Process Training. Within six (6) months of the Effective Date of this Agreement, Chevron shall prepare and submit to the Air District a Training Plan that includes, at a minimum, the following elements: (i) training, per industry standards and federal and California legal requirements, for each operator that may operate flares and/or flare gas recovery systems on the relevant protocols for flare sampling, visual inspection monitoring, and minimizing emissions and black smoke as a result of flaring events; (ii) training, per industry standards and federal and California legal requirements, for control board operators on the evaluation of flare system capacity to avoid overwhelming the flare gas recovery system during blowdown, including all relevant protocols implemented to minimize flaring events and associated emissions resulting from the blowdown process; and (iii) training for other personnel at relevant process units responsible for the blowdown process on impacts of the blowdown process on the flare system. The Training Plan shall also include information describing: 1) how operators that may operate flares and/or flare gas recovery systems are trained on operation of a flare gas recovery system as part of the operator training and qualification process; 2) how operators in the categories covered by this Section 3 are trained on relevant procedures as part of the operator training and qualification process; and 3) how new employees in the categories covered by this Section 3 will be trained on the relevant requirements included in this Section 3. Chevron shall provide this training to all employees covered by this Section 3 annually, and for any employees who are newly hired or newly assigned to a position covered by this Section 3, no later than one (1) month after such assignment. Chevron shall keep records of such training, including documentation of each employee who received such training, the subject matter and content of the training, and the date(s) on which the employee received the training, for no less than five (5) years from the date of the training, and shall make such records available to the Air District upon request.
4. Flare Prevention/Minimization Assessment. No later than December 31, 2024, Chevron shall undertake a comprehensive assessment of all Air District Rule 12-12 reportable flaring events that have occurred at the Richmond Refinery since implementation of the Refinery Modernization Project, which shall include (i) an analysis of the primary cause and contributing factors of each flaring event and actions that could have been taken to prevent or minimize the event; and (ii) recommendations for potential projects that may prevent or minimize the recurrence of such events by improving the reliability of the hydrogen plants installed as part of the Refinery Modernization Project and the electrical reliability of the Refinery’s electrical infrastructure. Chevron shall prepare a detailed written report of the assessment and submit it to the Air District upon completion of the assessment. To the extent that Chevron contends that any information in the report constitutes trade secret information protected from disclosure under the California Public Records Act, Chevron shall follow the procedures set forth in the Air District’s Administrative Code regarding claims of trade secret, including (but not limited to) providing a redacted public copy of the written report. Chevron shall also post a public copy of the report with any such redactions on the public website required under Section 5 below.
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5. Public Website on Flaring Events. Within four (4) months of the Effective Date of this Agreement, Chevron shall host a publicly available website to serve as an information hub for external flare reporting and air quality-related information and contain the information set forth in this Section 5. Chevron shall include a link to this public website in a conspicuous place on Chevron Richmond’s public website. Chevron shall post the following available information on the website for each Air District Rule 12-12 flaring event that occurs at the Richmond Refinery: (i) the flare at which the flaring event occurred; (ii) the duration of the flaring event; (iii) the type and amount of emissions resulting from the flaring event; (iv) the primary cause of the flaring event; (v) whether the flaring event was the result of an emergency (as defined in Rule 12-12-201) to prevent an accident, hazard or release of vent gas to the atmosphere, and if so, an explanation of why; and (vi) any prevention measures that Chevron will take to avoid similar events in the future and the date by which Chevron will take them (or a statement that Chevron does not know when it will take them, if such date is not known), or if Chevron does not plan to take any such prevention measures, a statement that Chevron does not plan to take any such measures and the reasons why. Chevron shall post the information required by clauses (i)-(iii) of the preceding sentence on the public website within two (2) business days after it notifies the Air District of the flaring event pursuant to Air District Rule 12-12-405; and shall post the information required by clauses (iv)- (vi) of the preceding sentence on the public website within two (2) business days after the deadline for submission of the report required under Air District Rule 12-12-406 for the relevant flaring event. Chevron shall maintain this information for each flaring event on the website for no fewer than five years following each event and shall group the information for flaring events by calendar year (but maintain on the website a separate report for each event). Chevron shall also post on the website related flaring information, including links to Chevron’s fenceline and other air monitoring data, links to Chevron’s flaring report(s) for each flaring event, links to flaring educational materials, links to Chevron’s Flare Management Plan, links to reports and other documents required to be posted under this Agreement, and contact information where community inquiries and complaints may be directed.
For purposes of this Section 5, “emergency” as defined in Rule 12-12-201 means a condition at the Richmond Refinery beyond Chevron’s reasonable control requiring immediate corrective action to restore normal and safe operation that is caused by a sudden, infrequent and not reasonably preventable equipment failure, natural disaster, act of war or terrorism or external power curtailment, excluding power curtailment due to an interruptible power service agreement from a utility.
6. Community Action Plan. Within four (4) months of the Effective Date of this Agreement, Chevron shall enter into an agreement with a community-based organization with ties to the Richmond community to prepare and implement, at Chevron’s expense, a Community Action Plan that identifies opportunities for enhanced community engagement related to Chevron’s efforts to minimize flaring and to ensure compliance with air-quality-related regulatory requirements at the Richmond Refinery. This Community Action Plan shall include, at a minimum, the following elements: (i) community meetings, scheduled for at least two (2) hours, with the Richmond community no fewer than twice a year (approximately every six (6) months) at which Chevron will A-4
provide information and answer questions on any flaring events and air-quality-related Notices of Violation issued to the Richmond Refinery since the previous meeting (or in the case of the first meeting, within the previous twelve (12) months), and any actions Chevron has taken or plans to take to minimize or avoid further flaring events and to avoid occurrence of any incidents that resulted in air-quality-related Notices of Violation; (ii) a requirement for Chevron to take public comment at each community meeting; (iii) a requirement for Chevron to respond orally at the community meeting to the extent practicable and for Chevron to prepare a written summary of the public comments provided by community members, Chevron’s responses, and related discussion at each community meeting; (iv) a requirement for Chevron to explore the relevant suggestions given by members of the community at these meetings and report back on them orally at the next community meeting, and to publish a written summary of the discussion, including a summary of all comments and suggestions made by members of the community and Chevron’s responses, on the public website required under Section 5 above; and (v) a requirement for Chevron to provide written updates on its implementation of the Community Action Plan at least once every twelve (12) months, and for Chevron to submit such updates to the Air District and publish them on the public website required under Section 5 above. The Community Action Plan shall also include the following statement on the first page, in 12-point Times New Roman font: “This Community Action Plan is required by a settlement agreement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.”
Within nine (9) months of the Effective Date of this Agreement, Chevron shall fund and begin implementing the Community Action Plan, including holding the first community meeting, and shall make the final Community Action Plan available to the public on the public website required under Section 5 above. The requirements in this Section 6 shall expire five (5) years from the date Chevron begins implementing the Community Action Plan.