State Officials Urge Tougher Clean Air Laws

State officials from across the nation urged Congress Tuesday to pass tougher clean air laws with the aim of reducing pollution from car emissions and other sources.

“We strongly support the motor vehicle emissions control program” embodied in pending bills, said James Lents, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

“Across the breadth of this country we see the signs of environmental distress, from forests damaged by acid rain in Vermont to brown clouds of smog in Los Angeles,” Vermont Gov. Madeleine M. Kunin told the House health and environment subcommittee on behalf of the National Governors’ Assn.

Subcommittee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) said strong action was needed now. “According to the Environmental Protection Agency, last summer’s ozone levels were the worst of the decade. And the problem is getting worse,” he said.