AQMD board opposes bill to add ‘environmental justice’ members and urges feds to clean up truck emissions

Southern California’s air quality board has come under criticism for a political shift that critics say has made it too friendly to polluting industries. Earlier this week, the state Senate approved a bill aimed at changing the balance.

On Friday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board pushed back with an attempt to defeat the legislation, which would add three state-appointed “environmental justice” members to its ranks.

The panel voted 7 to 6 to oppose the bill by state Senate Leader Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) that members of the panel’s Republican majority denounced as a politically motivated power grab.

The bill would expand the AQMD board from 13 to 16 members by adding three representatives from environmental justice organizations, appointed by the governor, the Senate Rules Committee and the Assembly speaker. It would also increase state regulators’ power over the air district’s Regional Clean Air Incentives Market, a pollution-trading program that has come under scrutiny in recent months.

Charged with protecting the health of 17-million people in the region with the nation’s worst smog, the air board currently has 10 locally chosen members and three state appointees.

Friday’s vote was along party lines, with seven Republicans voting to oppose SB 1387 over the objections of five Democrats and one independent.

“This is clearly Sacramento believing that at any time they want, they can change a board if they don’t like the outcome of a vote,” said Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson, a Republican.

De Léon reacted in a statement, saying “it’s very disappointing the board does not want representation from communities with the dirtiest air in the nation. They should have a voice.”

The move comes a few months after Republicans took control of the air board and fired longtime executive Barry Wallerstein. The air board also has also come under fire for adopting an oil-industry backed proposal in December to control emissions from refineries and other large facilities under its Regional Clean Air Incentives Market, or RECLAIM, program.

Environmentalists and some state legislators say those maneuvers amount to a takeover aimed at weakening pollution regulation.

Members of the board’s Republican majority have vowed to give greater emphasis to the economic effects of emissions rules. But they say their intentions have been profoundly misunderstood and deny that they’re trying to roll back smog-fighting regulations.

On Friday, the air district also released a document showing it has hired a high-profile consultant: former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez.

The $60,000, four-month contract authorizes Pérez to advise the agency and to engage with the Legislature and regulatory agencies on its behalf, but prohibits him from lobbying.

The contract, signed on March 23 and released in response to a Times inquiry, was not discussed publicly because it was below the $75,000 threshold requiring approval by the governing board.

AQMD board Chairman William A. Burke said Pérez was hired for crisis management work after the board fired Wallerstein.

In an email, Pérez said he was not working on the De León bill or other legislation. A spokesman added that Pérez was advising AQMD on communications, strategy and “how they can stay true to their original mission.”

In other business, the South Coast air district submitted a petition Friday urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt tougher tailpipe emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, a top pollution source.

The AQMD joined 10 other state and local air quality agencies in calling for nation-wide “ultra-low” nitrogen oxide emissions standards that are 90% cleaner than existing rules.

“We will review the petition and respond appropriately,” EPA spokesman Nick Conger said.

The California Air Resources Board said it is working on its own stricter standards, but they would only cover trucks registered in California.

Without tougher truck standards, the petition says, Southern California will not be able to meet a series of deadlines to cut ozone pollution to federal standards over the next two decades.

The South Coast basin, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, has the nation’s highest levels of ozone, the lung-searing gas in smog that is linked to asthma, heart disease and premature deaths. On 113 days last year, its ozone pollution exceeded federal health standards.

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tony.barboza@latimes.com

@tonybarboza