Air Quality Plan Pleases Businesses : Environment: The county blueprint will let industrial leaders comment before anti-pollution controls are implemented.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved an air pollution control plan on Tuesday after changing it to address the financial concerns of business and industrial leaders.

The board’s unanimous vote was applauded by members of the business community, who said they are pleased that they will have a greater say in how pollution is controlled in the county.

But environmentalists said the board had weakened an already weak plan that would do too little to improve air quality.

Under the revised 1991 Air Quality Management Plan--which will serve as a blueprint for the county’s air quality strategies--business and industrial officials will be asked to comment before each pollution control rule is implemented by the board.

The board will also take into account financial considerations and health and social impacts before approving control measures provided in the plan.

“It makes it clear we are willing, ready and able to work with this sector,” said Supervisor Susan K. Lacey, who made the motion to incorporate the concerns of the business community into the plan.

Although the plan calls for stringent regulations on the types of equipment used by industry, it still would not bring the county into compliance with state and federal health standards.

According to the blueprint, pollution-causing emissions will be reduced by one-third by the end of the century, far less than the 50% to 70% needed to meet federal and state standards.

“I’d like to see the plan made stronger,” Scott Weiss, a member of the Sespe Group of the Sierra Club, said after the meeting. “The health impacts have to come into play.”

Sierra Club members also criticized supervisors for amending the plan to appease the business and industrial communities.

In a letter to the board, member Tedra Fox wrote: “Such a measure may lower the cost of pollution abatement for a handful of business owners, but it would increase the costs county residents must pay in the form of unhealthful air.”

The economic amendment, Fox wrote, means “softening the already weak pollution control requirements.”

But Richard Baldwin, the county’s air pollution control officer, disagreed.

“I don’t see this as a weakening of the plan,” Baldwin said. “It strengthens the process.”

Donna Nowland, a representative of the California Coastal Operators Group, an association of energy companies, said she was pleased with the outcome.

“We are making some progress in achieving some balance,” Nowland said. “It’s in our best interest to clean up the air. That’s critical.

“But our economy is also at a critical point. We need to take that into consideration.”

The supervisors had intended to act on the plan at their meeting last week but delayed action until Tuesday after business leaders urged them to include a means of addressing economic considerations.

The air quality management plan, which has been debated since it was released last spring, sets timetables for the county to adopt regulations needed to reduce air pollution.

It includes proposed or revised regulations that would:

* Require a reduction in the use of industrial and commercial solvents to save two tons of emissions a day. Scheduled for implementation in August, 1993.

* Require all oil-drilling rigs to convert engines from gas or diesel to electricity, for a savings of 40 pounds of emissions a day. Implementation in January, 1992.

* Change the coatings on wood used by furniture manufacturers for a savings of 420 pounds per day. Implementation in September, 1996.

* Require large and small companies to provide incentives to employees to car-pool, work staggered hours or work at home. This regulation, known as Rule 210, already applies to major employers and is being implemented in stages.

Also on Tuesday, the supervisors were urged by Baldwin to consider adopting a rule that would require businesses to install smog-reducing devices on upgraded equipment.

The rule calls for new businesses to be allowed to move into the county only if they can operate without increasing pollution-causing emission. Business leaders complain that the rule is too restrictive.

No action was taken on the matter, which will be taken up again at the supervisors’ Oct. 22 meeting.