Assembly OKs Bill Requiring Methanol Cars

Faced with the continued failure of large areas of the state to meet federal clean air standards, the Assembly approved a measure Monday that could require that new cars and light trucks sold in California by the year 2001 be capable of running on methanol or other low-polluting fuels.

The anti-smog bill by Assemblyman Bill Leonard (R-Redland) calls for the phased introduction of a new breed of reduced pollution vehicles and would give the state Air Resources Board the ability to require gasoline stations to make methanol available to motorists.

The measure, which passed on a 54-10 vote, still must win Senate approval.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency threatened to take sanctions against the state if, as expected, the federal clean air standards are not met by the end of the year.

Even if it is successful, Leonard’s bill is full of loopholes that could mean an indefinite delay in making the switch to less polluting cars and trucks.

The measure would set up a special commission that could postpone the first of a series of deadlines by two years if it finds that there are environmental or economic reasons to do so. On the 14-member commission would be seven members representing governmental agencies and the public and seven members representing the automobile and energy industries.

After holding public hearings, the state Air Resources Board could continue to postpone the bill’s deadlines indefinitely, as long as it determines that the switch to cleaner fuels is not feasible.

The state must move ahead unless the commission or the air board “says that it can’t be done in that way,” Leonard said.

The point of his measure, the lawmaker said, is to end the longstanding impasse that has prevented a large-scale switch to cleaner fuels. For years, motor vehicle manufacturers have said they cannot produce large numbers of methanol-burning cars because the fuel is unavailable. Fuel refiners have countered that they cannot supply methanol until there are enough vehicles on the roads to make it economically feasible.

Under Leonard’s bill, light truck and auto manufacturers would have to begin offering low-pollution alternatives to operators of fleets of 15 or more vehicles by 1991. These vehicles would have to be capable of burning methanol--a clean-burning fuel that greatly reduces smog-producing emissions--or fuels that have proven to be just as clean.

At the same time, heavy truck manufacturers would have to begin offering diesel fuel and gasoline trucks equipped with advanced particle trapping devices to reduce pollution.