Michael L. ParsonGovernor
The University Club
University of Missouri Campus
Columbia, MO
Start Time: 9:32 a.m.
Chairman McNutt called the meeting to order.
Trustees Present:
Don McNutt, Chairman
Jim Ford, Vice Chairman
Ron Hayes (for John Albert)
Tom Kolb
Ski Mariea
Marty Miller
Danny Opie
Melvin Schebaum
Renee Slusher
Absent:
Tom Pfeiffer
Staff Present:
Tim Duggan, Assistant Attorney General
Carol R. Eighmey, Executive Director
Diane James, Executive Assistant
Patrick J. Vuchetich, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
David Walters, Williams & Company Consulting, Inc.
Others Present:
Ken Koon, Tanks Section, Hazardous Waste Program, DNR
David Lamb, Hazardous Waste Program, DNR
Aaron Schmidt, Division of Environmental Quality, DNR
Approval of Minutes – May 28, 2014 – Open Session Meeting
Ski Mariea moved that the minutes from the May 28, 2014 Board meeting be approved. Renee Slusher seconded. Motion carried.
Monthly Reports
Chairman McNutt noted that the June financial statements are in draft form until the audit is complete. He invited Trustees’ questions about the draft financial statements, monthly activity reports, or large-loss claims; there were none.
Review FY15 Appropriations and Approve Budget for Use on Income Statements
Chairman McNutt briefly reviewed the FY15 appropriations, noting that after the Legislature approves and the Governor signs the budget bills that contain appropriations, the Trustees typically convert the appropriations into an actual budget for use on their monthly income statements. He asked Ms. Eighmey to review the proposed FY15 budget distributed at the meeting.
Marty Miller asked if the proposed budget includes the amount previously approved by the Board for DNR’s expenditures or the larger figure appropriated by the Legislature; Ms. Eighmey said it includes the Board-approved amount and that she anticipates the DNR will inform the Board and her whether the additional amount is needed and, if so, will request Trustees’ approval of the larger figure at the next meeting. Mr. Miller suggested postponing approval of the budget until the next time; others suggested the budget is simply the Trustees’ planning tool and it can be modified at any time.
Ski Mariea noted the Trustees could approve the budget at this meeting, then change the budget figure for that line item at their next meeting if needed; he moved to approve the proposed FY15 budget. Marty Miller seconded. Motion carried.
Proposed Rulemaking – Claims Rule Amendment
Chairman McNutt asked Trustees to turn to Tab 4 and commented that Ms. Eighmey and Mr. Walters’ staff had been working on an amendment to the Board’s claims rule. He noted the rule has served well, but has not been amended since 2002. He said the Trustees are being asked to publish a proposed amendment today, which means the proposed changes would appear in the Missouri Register and there would be a public comment period. Based on comments received, the Board then would decide what the final version of the rule would say.
[Tom Kolb arrived at the meeting.]
Ms. Eighmey discussed the proposed changes, which were summarized in the Trustees’ notebooks. She said consultants and owners had been notified of the proposed changes and had already had several opportunities to comment on the draft; if the Trustees vote to publish the proposed rule changes, additional communications will be sent out to invite review and comments.
Marty Miller expressed appreciation for Ms. Eighmey’s recent dialogue with the Department regarding its questions and concerns about the rule changes; he noted the Department still has some degree of concern about the PSTIF practice of requiring costs to be pre-approved, but said the ongoing collaboration to reduce the backlog is providing a forum for resolving disputes on specific files.
Jim Ford moved to file the proposed amendment to the PSTIF claims rule. Ski Mariea seconded. Motion carried.
Proposed Rulemaking – UST Operator Training Rule
Chairman McNutt next directed Trustees’ attention to a second rule to be considered and reminded them of the public hearing held in 2012, when the director of EPA’s UST program came and explained why the Trustees had little choice but to impose an operator training requirement in Missouri. Ms. Eighmey then reviewed this proposed new rule and fiscal notes. She noted the rule does not have to be specifically approved by EPA, but they will review Missouri’s overall operator training program.
The Trustees discussed the proposed rule, including the fiscal notes; Ms. Slusher suggested adding any administrative costs that the PSTIF or the DNR expect to incur to the fiscal note for “public costs.” Ms. Eighmey agreed to do so.
There was discussion about EPA’s role and process for evaluating a state’s operator program, with several people noting it is difficult to know exactly what that is, since EPA has not published a federal operator training rule or a rule for periodic review of state programs; both are expected to be in the rules package scheduled to be issued by EPA toward the end of 2014.
Jim Ford moved to file and publish the proposed rule on this new UST Operator Training requirement and add in fiscal costs for PSTIF and DNR. Ski Mariea seconded. Motion carried.
Status Report on DNR/PSTIF Backlog Plan
Chairman McNutt observed that the plan to accelerate the pace of cleanups had been in place for half a year already. He commented that Trustees have a written summary in their notebooks and asked Mr. Walters and Mr. Koon if they had any comments.
Mr. Walters reported that both DNR and Williams’ staff had made important contributions and thanked them for their efforts. Mr. Koon said his staff had recently been “side-tracked” by some other issues but have recently renewed their efforts on the backlog plan.
Chairman McNutt thanked them for their efforts and asked if Trustees had any questions. Mr. Miller asked if any files had been elevated to management level for resolution of disputes between PSTIF and DNR staff. Ms. Eighmey replied she and Aaron Schmidt are
discussing a few files that had encountered difficulties before the backlog plan was implemented, but no new files had been sent to their desks by Mssrs. Koon and Walters since the plan was finalized.
Updates
2014 Legislation – Ms. Eighmey updated the report from the prior meeting, noting which bills of interest had been signed or vetoed. Mr. Hayes commented that the Department of Agriculture now has authority to regulate the retail sale of Compressed Natural Gas.
DNR St. Louis Air Pollution Rule – Ms. Eighmey noted that interested parties had successfully worked through several issues in the rule and that the final version gives St. Louis area tank owners a means to comply with both DNR’s UST and Air Pollution rules.
New Fuels and Corrosion Concerns – Ms. Eighmey expressed appreciation for the Trustees’ interest in and willingness to engage in efforts to learn more about what’s happening with new fuels and equipment. She said examples and pictures of these corrosion issues are being sought and noted Missouri is helping lead the national dialogue on these issues.
Administrative Issues
ASTSWMO UST Workshop, Manchester, New Hampshire – Jim Ford moved to approve the Executive Director’s out-of-state travel to this workshop. Tom Kolb seconded. Motion carried.
DNR Year-End Statistics – Chairman McNutt invited questions; there were none.
Billings – Chairman McNutt asked if there were any questions on the billings included in the meeting materials; there were none.
Chairman McNutt announced the November 19 meeting date needs to be changed and asked if November 12 would be suitable. Marty Miller said DNR personnel might have a major conflict on that date, so Mr. McNutt said alternate dates would be circulated via email.
Chairman McNutt reminded those present that the next Board Meeting would be in Jefferson City on September 17 at the Doubletree Hotel.
He then asked the Trustees to go into closed session to:
Approve the minutes from the May 28 closed session meeting;
Discuss ongoing and threatened litigation; and
Get an update on a fraud investigation.
Jim Ford moved that the Board go into closed session to discuss the matters identified by the Chairman, as authorized by Section 610.021, RSMo. Renee Slusher seconded. A roll call vote was taken; motion carried without dissent.
Chairman McNutt adjourned the open session meeting at 11:00 a.m.