Air Pollution Agency OKs Ozone-Saving Rules

The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District approved a proposal Tuesday limiting the use of ozone-depleting chemicals, but local businessmen and environmentalists expect their battle to continue as the board’s staff develops recommendations for enforcing the restrictions.

The five-point policy, approved unanimously, is the county’s first regional plan to help protect the Earth’s ozone layer. The county Board of Supervisors acts as the APCD, which regulates air emissions in San Diego.

The policy lacks many of the specific measures in the proposal’s original draft--which had outraged some industries that use chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, and halons--but those regulations could still be imposed when the board decides how to enforce the proposal.

Public hearings in February and April generated heated debate between automotive, electronics and firefighting representatives and environmental groups, but neither side opposed the final policy vote Tuesday.

The board’s staff is expected to draw up a plan with enforcement proposals within 30 days. No cost estimates for enforcing the plan have been completed.

APCD spokesman Bob Goggin said the board dropped the specific restrictions in the original draft in favor of a more general “goal-oriented approach” as part of the standard process of changing or adopting regulations.

Public hearings will be held before the board adopts an enforcement plan, Goggin said.

Scientists blame CFCs and halons for destroying the Earth’s ozone layer, which protects the planet from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. CFCs are widely used as a coolant in refrigerators and air-conditioners and as an industrial solvent. Halons are used exclusively in fire-extinguishing equipment.

The plan, a joint effort by the county and San Diego city staffs, calls for:

* Supporting proposed state and federal legislation to reduce and eventually phase out ozone-depleting chemicals while developing safe alternatives. Federal legislation would not override local regulations.

* Reducing CFC and halon emissions through recovery, recycling, substitution and restricting products that require the chemicals.

* Investigating the possibility of measures to reduce emissions from other ozone-depleting chemicals.

* Educating the public on the dangers of ozone depletion.

Ervin Rubey of the San Diego County Auto Recyclers Assn. said he fears the board intends to imitate the city of Irvine, which last August approved stringent regulations, including banning CFCs and halons in many applications.

Excessive curbs of CFCs will impose intolerable financial burdens on the county’s auto salvage yards and other industries using the chemical, Rubey said.

“This is just the camel’s nose under the tent,” Rubey said. “I think (the APCD) wants to follow Irvine. Those restrictions are simply unacceptable. The benefits will be minuscule. It’s like killing a gnat with a shotgun.”

Environmental groups praised the board’s actions and said a crackdown on ozone-depleting chemicals was long overdue.

Ruth Duemler, air quality chairwoman for the San Diego chapter of the Sierra Club, said the proposal will be a “good foundation” for restricting the use of CFCs and halons in local industry.

Duemler said the Sierra Club favors an immediate ban of all plastic-foam products and other products containing CFCs. Such a ban should cover military bases as well as private industries, she said. Irvine exempted military facilities from its restrictions.

“Industry’s so concerned about (short-term) cost efficiency, but they are not considering the cost efficiency of depleting the ozone,” Duemler said.