Official Takes Fight on Smog to Public

What will it take to wrench the nation’s smoggiest metropolitan region--the South Coast Air Basin--from the grips of air pollution?

Increasingly, federal, state and regional regulators are turning to individuals and small businesses as they look for new pollution targets to reduce smog in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Most of the biggest polluters such as oil refineries and electrical utilities have already been hit with extensive smog controls, and those regulations are getting tougher.

Thus, the success of a far-reaching South Coast Air Quality Management District plan to bring the four-county basin into compliance with federal clean air standards by the year 2007 hinges in large part on technological advances such as cleaner running cars--and the unprecedented cooperation of ordinary citizens and small businesses.

Mostly, individuals will be affected only indirectly by new smog controls, when manufacturers reformulate products such as barbecue lighter fluids, household cleansers and hair spray to make them less toxic. At other times, however, people will be urged to become directly involved through car pooling.

Part of the task of building support among the public falls on John Dunlap, the AQMD’s man in charge of public outreach. Called the “public adviser,” Dunlap has the only job within the AQMD bureaucracy that is mandated by state law--an indication of the importance the California Legislature places on keeping the public informed.

Dunlap’s budget has doubled to $3.6 million in the past three years and his staff has doubled to 27 employees. The office is charged with issuing smog alerts to notify people of unhealthy levels of pollution. It also is about to launch a new business loan guarantee program to help small businesses afford costly new pollution-control equipment.

Each year, Dunlap’s office mails out tens of thousands of notices to people and businesses that are likely to be affected by air quality rules. Each month, they field 12,000 calls from people reporting smoking vehicles. The speakers bureau averages 70 monthly engagements before service clubs, chambers of commerce, schools and colleges. The office also organizes meetings with businesses, environmentalists and minority communities.

During an interview, Dunlap spoke about the campaign to clean the region’s air:

Q: What’s the most frequently asked question from the public, its biggest concern?

A: The biggest concern, I think, is primarily what an individual can do to make a difference. We’ve had a big campaign this past year whereby we talk to people about living a cleaner, more environmentally sound lifestyle. We’ve put out this publication, “Twenty-five Ways You Can Clean the Air.” People have gotten into that.

Q: Individuals are being asked increasingly to join the smog fight. Clearly, the basin’s 12 million cars are the biggest contributors to smog. Do you believe Southern Californians are willing to give up commuting alone to reduce pollution?

A: Sure. . . . I think one of the things we did well here is communicate to the business community that this (ride-sharing) program made good business sense, that they could provide a riding-sharing incentive program (for employees), that the employees would rise to the occasion and participate. . . . We are getting people to realize there are other (transit) options that work as well. . . . I sense it is being embraced.

Q: How much has it been embraced?

A: We’ve been hearing from companies that they have been implementing alternative work-hour programs--four-day, 10-hour work weeks, flex-time programs. They’ve looked at providing child care. . . . There are progressive things that are being brought about.

Q: So far, responses by employees are voluntary. But total vehicle miles traveled in the last two years throughout the basin have increased 13%. To make ride-sharing work well, won’t it really take charging single-occupant commuters for driving during peak hours? Or higher parking charges?

A: There’s also been discussion of toll roads.

Q: Are we going to come to that?

A: I think ultimately, because of the growth. You’ve seen the population forecasts. I think what you’re going to have to do is look at some kind of proposal involving congestion pricing.

Q: What does congestion pricing mean?

A: Well, for example, a toll-road concept. (But) you have to be very careful of the impact on lower-income folks. You need to make sure that you don’t set up a barrier to them to limit their access to the facilities (highways).

Q: When are we likely to see peak-hour commuting charges?

A: I’m not so sure that is on the horizon in the near term. I think in the longer term you’re going to look at (the fact) that you only have so much infrastructure, we only have so much that’s going to be accomplished. We said in our initial staff report on (ride-sharing) that when it’s fully implemented--if everybody complies--we’ll get a 20% reduction in a.m. peak traffic.

Q: The district has a loan guarantee program for small business. How does that work?

A: We sponsored legislation a year ago that allows us to set aside $1 million a year for small business loan guarantees.

Q: How would the money be used?

A: For (helping small businesses) implement (smog) control measures. It could be for new air-pollution control equipment. It could be for sending their managers to an environmental training program. The loan would actually be given by a financial institution. We’d just be guaranteeing it.

Q: Do you detect a lot of public support for clean-air efforts?

A: You bet. I’ve seen a real change. I’ve been here seven years. People are saying what can we do above and beyond your normal rules and regulations to help you with an environmental problem?

Q: Will public support remain solid once people have to start paying higher prices for parking downtown or commuting to work?

A: You bring up a very important issue. What’s incumbent upon us is not so much to develop the control approach, to say do ‘X’ and it will get us clean air gains, but to identify what they can do, try to find what’s in it for them. Why does it make sense to light your barbecue another way? Is it an inconvenience to start the fire with an electric starter? When you bring things down to those kinds of issues, people embrace it.

Q: Who are the people you’re reaching out to?

A: The ethnic communities, for example. . . . We’ve asked them about our air quality management plan, how they felt about it.

Q: You held such a program for the black community at USC. The turnout was fairly low. One of the things they were saying was they did not see air pollution as their issue. Assemblywoman Teresa Hughes said her constituents are more concerned about getting jobs, making sure that children are taken care of. They are worried about crime. How do you convince people worried about those kinds of real concerns to participate in the smog fight?

A: I think what you do is look for common ground for them. It isn’t to create it as an issue for them per se. . . . What you say to them is, “In light of your ethnic communities’ agendas, how does air quality fit? What can we do to provide you with information so you’ll know where we’re going with the program? How can we support you in getting not only a better understanding, but involved in the process?”