Air Board’s Chief to Run State EPA

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday appointed a longtime air pollution scientist and policymaker to head the state’s Environmental Protection Agency.

Alan C. Lloyd, the chairman of the California Air Resources Board since 1999, will take over as secretary of the California EPA, replacing Terry Tamminen, who was named Cabinet secretary last month.

Lloyd, who is a Democrat, has been an outspoken advocate of cleaning up California’s air pollution since the late 1980s. Under his leadership, the air board has adopted some controversial regulations, including a landmark requirement that automakers tackle global warming by cutting carbon dioxide emissions in car exhaust.

Schwarzenegger said Lloyd “shares my commitment to continuing California’s tradition of strong environmental protection and balancing the preservation of our environment and resource conservation with economic growth and fiscal responsibility.” He said Lloyd’s expertise in setting policy and “track record of success” at the air board make him ideal for the role.

As secretary of the EPA, Lloyd will oversee not only the air board, but five other environmental boards and agencies. Among them are the State Water Resources Control Board, which regulates industries, farms and other sources of water pollution; the Department of Pesticide Regulation; and the Department of Toxic Substances Control, which sets standards for toxic chemicals.

With broad authority to set limits on drinking water contaminants, such as perchlorate, and to order cities to clean up urban runoff at beaches, the six agencies have considerable power.

They face pivotal decisions in the months to come.

The appointment suggests that the governor is inclined to let California continue to play a leading role in cleaning up pollution and to set environmental policy with a strong emphasis on science, not just economics.

Roland Hwang, a senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco, said Lloyd is “ideally suited to be in his new position.”

Hwang said Lloyd has “navigated tough political waters using the beacon of good, sound science. It’s exactly what our state needs.”

“We’re not always on the same page with the Air Resources Board and the chairman, but they always give us a fair hearing and Dr. Lloyd makes an honest, hard effort to balance differences,” Hwang said.

In September, when his board set the nation’s first limits on greenhouse gases in car exhaust, Lloyd said, “We cannot afford to wait until all the evidence is in” on global warming.

But automakers said the regulation was foolhardy because it would cost California consumers a lot of money, perhaps several thousand dollars per car, but do nothing to stop global warming. The auto industry last week filed suit to block the standard, which is intended to begin with 2009 car models.

Lloyd will have a steep learning curve for complex issues that are related to water quality and pesticides, but “as a scientist, he is a quick learner,” Hwang said.

Lloyd, 62, is a chemist with a PhD in gas kinetics and a bachelor of science in chemistry from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. He served as chief scientist for the Los Angeles region’s air board, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, from 1988 until 1995.

Lloyd will join Tamminen as a Schwarzenegger advisor with a background in environmental advocacy. Lloyd, if approved by the state Senate, would be paid $131,412 annually.