Making a Major Dent in Smog

So there is some good news, after all, in this hot, humid, recessionary summer.

The Southern California basin, sometimes called the “super bowl of smog,” has become significantly less smoggy, according to a new study from the California Air Resources Board. The number of hours each year when air pollution has exceeded the state health standard has fallen by 50% throughout much of the basin since 1981. Moreover, dangerous peak levels of smog dropped more than 25% over the same decade.

Southern California, which has long borne the distinction of having the worst smog problem in the nation, is now the scene of dramatic improvements. Air quality improvements in other parts of California are generally not as striking as those here. For example, peak smog levels dropped 15% in the San Francisco Bay Area and only 12% in San Diego County. In Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley smog remained about the same as before.

What’s responsible for the improvement? California has led the nation in tough regulations against air pollution. The increasingly expensive and complex rules adopted in recent years by state and local agencies, as well as by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, have generated understandable concern about their adverse economic impact. But they work.

Auto emissions standards in California, the world’s largest single market for gasoline, are the toughest in the nation, and biannual smog-check inspections are required for all cars. Gas stations must have vapor recovery systems on pumps, and new or expanded industrial facilities must have the best available air pollution control technology and must offset any new pollution they create. Many local businesses must now take steps to encourage employee ride-sharing.

With the EPA’s announcement last week of rules that will toughen automobile emission inspection and maintenance requirements in California and elsewhere--measures that will take more out of the pocketbooks of many car owners--it is at least comforting to know that all these efforts pay off.