Officials Call Offshore Drilling Bill a Victory : Emissions: The Houses passes the Clean Air Act amendment. It would place oil rigs under strict air pollution regulations.

Ventura County officials claimed a major victory Thursday in a lengthy campaign to bring offshore oil drilling under strict air pollution regulations.

They said the victory came in a last-minute amendment to the Clean Air Act passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives. Local officials helped draft the measure, which now goes to a House-Senate conference committee.

The amendment would give the Environmental Protection Agency control over air pollution generated by offshore oil drilling platforms.

The Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Agency now controls all permits for offshore oil platforms.

The House bill specifies that EPA must draft new offshore regulations at least as strict as emission controls onshore.

The result will be cleaner air for Ventura County and other California coastal communities, said Richard Baldwin, Ventura County air pollution control officer.

“I know there are emission sources out there that can be controlled far better than they are now,” Baldwin said. “Any emissions that come into our county are significant because of our severe air quality problem.”

If the House bill becomes law, it is probable that the EPA would transfer enforcement of the offshore provision to local air pollution control districts, Baldwin said.

“That would give us the ability to control all emission sources under one organization,” he said.

The oil industry, however, wants all management of the platforms to remain with the Minerals Management Agency, said Terry Covington, executive director of California Coastal Operators Group, an association that represents nine major oil companies.

In addition, she said, the platforms contribute very little to onshore air pollution problems because they already reduce their emissions as much as possible.

“We are worried that in the future we won’t be able to meet these air rules,” she said. “We’re concerned that we’re going to get squeezed out of business.”

Baldwin and William Master, assistant director of Santa Barbara’s Air Pollution Control District, worked with Senate staff members trying to add a similar amendment to the Senate version of the Clean Air Act last spring. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) offered the amendment, but it was defeated.

Now, Baldwin and Master will turn their lobbying efforts back toward the Senate to persuade Wilson and Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) to push for the House offshore amendment, Baldwin said.

The House approved its version of the Clean Air Act Wednesday on a 401-to-21 vote. The Senate approved its version of the bill on April 3 by a vote of 89 to 11.

Although the House version is tougher on polluters, both bills would severely curtail emissions nationwide in an effort to rid cities of smog.

The House offshore amendment, offered by Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) and Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), originally affected all coastal states. But opposition from the Gulf states prompted the amendment’s sponsors to exclude Texas, Louisiana and Alabama.

Because the offshore amendment now affects only California, support from both California senators should smooth the way for the amendment in the Senate, said John Doherty, legislative aide to Lagomarsino.

“It’s called ‘senatorial courtesy,’ ” Doherty said.

Offshore platforms use gas turbines and internal combustion engines to generate power for drilling equipment and electricity. Both types of engines emit polluting gasses that contribute to the formation of ozone.

A single offshore platform can emit more than 600 tons of smog-producing pollutants, Master said. The pollutants are blown over Ventura and Santa Barbara counties by westerly winds, he said.

There are 19 platforms in federal waters off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.