EPA Wants L.A. to Impose Stiff Rules for Reducing Smog

The federal Environmental Protection Agency, reacting to runaway growth in Los Angeles, has called on the city to impose its own tough anti-smog rules or lose more than $116 million in sewer grants, including money to prevent spills into Santa Monica Bay.

Los Angeles and EPA officials both said Wednesday that negotiations are continuing. Under the most drastic outcome, Los Angeles--as well as nearby cities that use its sewer system--could be forced to halt new construction by private developers.

However, both EPA and city officials said the talks have remained cordial and are more likely to lead to less severe steps, such as mandatory ride-sharing to reduce air pollution.

The situation is the deepest involvement of federal officials to date in the environmental problems of Los Angeles. It has the potential for far more impact on the lives of ordinary citizens than the EPA order to clean up sewage discharges into Santa Monica Bay, which was the impetus for a $3.4-billion program to modernize the city sewer system.

“I think this is going to have regional implications,” said Mark Abramowitz, an activist with the Coalition for Clean Air who recently won a lawsuit that will force stricter local enforcement by the EPA.

In essence the EPA is demanding that the Los Angeles City Council live up to promises made in a 1982 environmental impact report. The council justified plans to enlarge the Los Angeles sewage system by agreeing to impose tough air emission rules if the population grew too fast.

Population Limit Passed

EPA officials contend, and city officials concede, that the population limit in the 1982 document was quickly surpassed by the recent building boom. They disagree, however, on what happens now.

Federal law bars the EPA from awarding sewer grant funds to cities that have not submitted an approved plan for dealing with the environmental harm done by new sewer projects. Los Angeles submitted a plan for the $3.4-billion sewer renovation, but EPA officials rejected the plan on grounds that the sewer work would lead to new air pollution in the Los Angeles air basin.

The rejection was based on the assumption that new sewage capacity to be added during the renovation would induce more population growth. If the city wants to encourage growth, it would have to come up with a way to alleviate the smog and other air pollution that would result, the EPA has ruled in recent months.

In its 1982 pledge, the City Council said its menu of air pollution control steps would include special methods of fueling jets at Los Angeles International Airport, computerizing stoplights so traffic moves more smoothly and restricting rush-hour parking to reduce traffic tie-ups. Some of the measures have been taken, but the EPA has ordered city officials to prove that they were effective in reducing air pollution.

Until the dispute is settled, the EPA is holding up grants to help pay for the expansion of the Tillman sewage treatment plant in Van Nuys. The Tillman expansion is a key part of the $3.4 billion in improvements planned for the sewer system. The City Council has imposed rationing of new construction permits in Los Angeles until the plant is finished.

City officials also expressed fear Wednesday that the EPA may seek refunds, with interest, of past grants that were used to enlarge the sewer system. More than $116 million in sewer grant funds may be at stake, the chief legislative analyst’s office said Wednesday.

The EPA crackdown is being taken with more than the usual seriousness in City Hall, where officials have endured several years of criticism over the city’s sewage polluting Santa Monica Bay. Now their bay cleanup solution--expanding and modernizing the sewers--is being blamed for creating air pollution.

“I hope that we don’t have to choose between air quality and water quality,” said Kathleen Brown, a member of the Board of Public Works. “I think we will be able to do both.”

On Wednesday a City Council committee voted to create a task force of council members to begin pressing officials to reach an accommodation with the EPA. Council President John Ferraro will appoint the members.

“It’s a situation that cries out for leadership,” said Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who proposed the task force. “The city has not done the job properly. But we can’t sweep our air quality and sewer problems under the rug.”

Some environmental groups and homeowner associations, led by Homeowners of Encino, have urged the EPA to use its power to stop Los Angeles from expanding the Tillman sewage treatment plant. Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, said his group agrees with the EPA that the expansion will encourage city officials to allow more growth.