COUNTYWIDE : Air Bill Would Raise Auto License Costs

Motorists in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties would pay an additional $2 to $4 a year in vehicle registration fees if new legislation to help reduce air pollution becomes law.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gary Hart (D-Santa Barbara), would add up to $2 million annually to the $2.5-million budget of the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, District Planning Director William Mount said.

The air district would use the money to buy vehicle fleets that run on clean fuel such as methanol, provide seed money for private industry clean-fuel programs, study how cars are used in the county and improve mass transit, Mount said.

“Demonstrating new technology is very expensive,” Mount said. “It would be extremely difficult without the new funding.”

Hart’s bill, which has the endorsement of Ventura County supervisors, goes before the Senate Resources Committee in Sacramento on April 3. The bill is believed to have good chances of passing because it affects only Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, said Drew Liebert, legislative consultant to Hart.

Gov. George Deukmejian vetoed a similar bill last year that would have raised funds for all counties in the state. Deukmejian supported the concept of paying for air pollution programs with registration fees, Liebert said, but rejected the bill because of a dispute among planning agencies in Los Angeles County over who should control the money.

“There is a complete consensus in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties on how the money should be spent,” Liebert said.