County Seeking Flexibility in Meeting U.S. Air Standards

With the Southland under strict orders to cut what is called “the nation’s worst smog,” Orange County transportation officials have come up with their own plan that they hope will also reduce traffic.

The plan is a bid to find more flexibility for county businesses in meeting federal air standards.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District next fall will begin requiring large employers in Orange, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Riverside counties to increase the average occupancy of vehicles commuting to work from 1.3 to 1.75 people per vehicle.

With employers putting more people in each vehicle through ride-sharing and other plans, the Air Quality District hopes to cut the numbers of cars on the freeways and thus reduce smug.

The Orange County Transportation Commission is seeking an exemption from the new AQMD regulations, with an understanding that the commission’s own plan will achieve similar results with greater flexibility for employers than ride-sharing alone.

More than 1,000 county employers would be affected by the proposed exemption.

Under the commission’s plan, county employers with more than 100 workers would earn points for various steps that reduce trips to and from work. The goal is 34 points per hundred employees.

Each employee riding a bike or walking to work would gain the employer 1 point. Putting two workers into a car would be worth 1 point, while eight workers in a van would earn 7 points. Points could also be earned for workers living close to the plant or employees going to the job during flexible shifts--late evenings or early mornings, for example.

The commission postponed a vote on the plan Monday for two weeks, but it faces no known opposition.

“It’ll probably get adopted,” said Stan Oftelie, the transportation panel’s executive director.

The plan must be approved by the AQMD and meet the smog agency’s requirement that the county’s program must be as stringent as its own.

AQMD officials said they are concerned about the county’s plan.

“It appears to be more burdensome on smaller employers,” said John Dunlap, a spokesman for the AQMD.

Larger firms, he said, would find it easier to meet the 34-point standard because of the many options it provides them than firms with smaller work forces.

Violators of the AQMD regulation could be fined up to $25,000. But Dunlap said it is unclear how the county would enforce its plan.

While he had not yet seen the plan, Dunlap said that in discussions with Transportation Commission officials, “they sidestepped the enforcement issue.”

The new AQMD regulation, approved in December, takes effect July 1 for firms with more than 500 workers. Companies with fewer than 500 workers--but more than 200--will be notified next January. And all firms with more than 100 employees would have to develop ride-sharing plans, starting in January, 1990.

Under the county plan, individual cities and the county have to approve a model ordinance drafted by the Transportation Commission. Company officials would have to file annual reports on compliance.