AQMD Adopts Global View on Regulation

In an unprecedented expansion of its authority, the South Coast Air Quality Management District on Friday took the first step toward regulating emissions that contribute to worldwide environmental problems of global warming and destruction of the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

A growing number of cities and states are adopting laws that deal with specific uses of problem chemicals, such as requiring the recycling of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in automobile air conditioners. But the AQMD’s policy is believed to be the most comprehensive ever established by a government agency in the United States on a global environmental concern.

The policy calls for phasing out all uses of CFCs and halon gas by Jan. 1, 1997, with a three-year extension if there are extenuating circumstances. It also commits the AQMD board to pushing for reductions in carbon dioxide, a major contributor to the greenhouse effect, which is produced whenever fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil and natural gas--essential in modern industrial society--are burned.

“I would suspect we are the first air pollution control agency in the nation to adopt so comprehensive a policy,” AQMD Deputy Executive Officer Pat Nemeth said after a unanimous voice vote approving the overall proposal.

Under the new policy--which will become an official component of the district’s 20-year clean air plan for the Los Angeles Basin--virtually every air pollution control rule proposed in the future must first be examined to determine its impact on efforts to slow the greenhouse effect or destruction of the ozone layer.

As a result, uses of some chemicals exempted from the district’s enforcement efforts in the past because they do not add to urban smog could now be restricted.

At the same time, the AQMD proposes to slash per capita emission of carbon dioxide primarily through energy conservation and controls on auto emissions.

The overall cost of the policy has yet to be determined. Public hearings will be held as individual air quality rules are proposed in the future and specific cost estimates will be made at that time.

While the details of the global policy fell short of proposals advanced by environmental groups, the scope is far broader than anything yet attempted even by international treaties.

The Montreal Protocol--an international accord to regulate ozone-destroying chemicals--calls for only a 50% reduction in the use and production of CFCs and other ozone-destroying chemicals in industrialized countries by the year 2000 and gives Third World countries even longer.

And while world leaders have discussed the greenhouse effect, many, including President Bush, have urged caution in proposing limits on greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide because of possible economic impacts.

The district’s carbon dioxide policy is weaker than original proposals. Opposed by industry, earlier versions had called for a 40% reduction by 2010.

Environmentalists faulted the board for failing to establish firm carbon dioxide reductions and for allowing extra time to meet CFC standards.

Trish Mace, a scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said after the vote: “We’re pleased that they passed the policy but quite disappointed that they deleted the deadlines. I think the omissions weaken the policy and to a great extent take away the opportunity for leadership on the issue.”

In taking their vote, district officials warned that unless the global environmental problems are addressed, even the most stringent anti-smog regulations will not be enough to bring the Los Angeles Basin into compliance with the federal deadline of 2007 set for complying with the Clean Air Act.

“We can find all of our strategies undermined if we don’t act,” AQMD Executive Officer James M. Lents said after the vote. Lents has previously said global warming and ozone depletion would worsen urban air pollution.

Proponents of the new policy pointed out that the basin--which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties--accounts for 2% of worldwide emissions of ozone-destroying chemicals.

They predicted that others would follow the AQMD lead.

“I have to ask myself where in the whole world should one look with regard to innovation and creativity on how we address this question about world warming,” said AQMD board member and Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude. “The answer is Southern California. Southern California ought to be the leader in the whole world.”

Although a wide range of business interests testified against the policy during hearings in the weeks leading up to Friday’s vote, few spoke against it on Friday. One who did, however, reflected many of their concerns.

Ross Hopkins, public affairs manager for Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co., challenged the district’s authority to implement the policy and said there was too much scientific uncertainty over global warming to justify action now.

“Given the uncertainty, we believe it is premature to implement a policy that so clearly assumes there is scientific certainty, especially when the cost to business, the community and society would be so large,” Hopkins said.

He said the imposition of rules in the South Coast Air Basin would put businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

Katy Wolf, project manager of a nonprofit research program funded by the Metropolitan Water District and the Environmental Defense Fund, urged caution.

“Over the last few decades, we have moved from one set of chemicals to another . . . without regard for the consequences,” she said. “We are about to do that again in our rush to eliminate ozone depleting substances.”

Others, however, including environmental groups and representatives of some new, less-polluting technologies, backed the policy.

James H. Caldwell Jr., a consultant to a California company that uses solar power to generate electricity, said the only scientific uncertainty about global warming was not whether it would happen but when and how severe it would be.

“To ask for precise answers to these questions before enacting a global warming and stratospheric ozone policy is ludicrous,” he said. “It is analogous to asking seismologists to accurately predict the date, magnitude and location of the next major earthquake before enacting building codes designed to mitigate earthquake damage.”

BACKGROUND

There is little dispute among scientists that carbon dioxide--a major greenhouse gas--has increased by 25% in the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Most scientists who have studied the global warming phenomenon agree that burning fossil fuels such as gasoline, coal and oil, as well as the destruction of forests, are speeding the so-called greenhouse effect. But scientists also say it is too early to be certain that accelerated warming has begun. Most of the debate centers not on whether the Earth will get warmer, but on how soon.

HYDROFLUORIC ACID BAN--Air quality officials vote to outlaw the refining chemical. B1

AQMD ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Provisions of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s new global environmental policy: Must take into account global environmental threats when acting on every rule to improve regional air quality. Phases out no later than Jan. 1, 1997, the use and emissions of chlorofluorocarbons that destroy the Earth’s protective atmospheric ozone layer. Under “extenuating circumstances,” an extension to the year 2000 is possible. Phases out at the earliest practical date the use and emissions of CFC substitutes, known as HCFCs, which are far less destructive but still a potential contributor to ozone destruction. Requires recycling and proper disposal of CFCs and calls for developing regulations to bring uniformity to city ordinances on CFCs disposal. Establishes a goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions--a major greenhouse gas. Reductions to be achieved by energy conservation, use of alternative fuels, transportation control measures and energy efficiency. Supports “vigorous” implementation of ride-sharing programs. Calls for reduced emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is emitted by dairy farms, landfills, sewage treatment plants and other sources. Asks that the possible effects on the global environment be considered in environmental impact reports prepared for new development projects. Funds research into alternative technologies and materials to control emissions that contribute to global environmental problems. Calls for local, state and federal authorities to work together in developing and implementing strategies to reduce greenhouse gases and ozone depletion.

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT--The greenhouse effect results from the fact that the Earth’s atmosphere is largely transparent to incoming radiation from the sun, but absorbs much of the lower-energy radiation reflected back by the Earth. Without this natural phenomenon life could not exist on this planet.

As emissions of greenhouse gases increase, the planet’s warming is accelerated. Carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels and by deforestation is responsible for about half of the greenhouse effect; other gases and man-made chemicals are responsible for the other half.