State Panel Approves County Plan to Cut Air Pollution Levels

The California Air Resources Board on Thursday approved Ventura County’s air pollution control plan, which has a goal of reducing the emission of pollutants by 5% a year to edge toward state health standards.

On an 8-1 vote, the board ratified the plan after listening to 7 1/2 hours of testimony from business leaders who called the clean-air plan too restrictive and an environmental attorney who said it was too lax.

“It’s the most aggressive effort yet to meet health standards for air quality,” Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the board, said. “Besides continuing very strong emission limits on industrial facilities, it’s attempting to address the pollution problems caused by people (in cars) moving around in the community.”

The Air Quality Management Plan will serve as a blueprint for the county’s anti-pollution strategies through 1994 in an effort to comply with the 1978 California Clean Air Act.

The blueprint targets a wide range of polluters, from power plants to gas stations, with new requirements to reduce emissions in coming years. It also includes a set of approaches to reduce motor-vehicle exhaust.

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

Air pollution officials said 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.

The county has exceeded the federal ozone standard by an average of 39 days per year between 1983 and 1990 and exceeded the more stringent state standard an average of 117 days per year. Ozone is a major component of smog.

Marc Chytilo, of the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center, criticized the air pollution control plan for failing to specify when the county would meet air quality standards set by the state to protect human health.

“We find that deplorable,” he told the board and an audience of about 110 people.

Jananne Sharpless, chairwoman of the Air Resources Board, agreed that the state needs to keep up the pressure on polluters. But she emphasized that it must be done in a reasonable manner that will not cause undue hardship or devastate industry.

“I do wonder how far we can go before tilting off the edge,” Sharpless said.

The board approved the blueprint on the condition that county officials submit a work plan within six months on how they plan to finance and carry out measures to reduce emissions from motor vehicles.

Proposed measures to reduce transportation-related pollution include encouraging car pooling and use of mass transportation, widening freeways and synchronizing traffic lights to reduce congestion, and developing more bike trails.

Most of Wednesday’s lengthy testimony came from business representatives who urged the board to put more restrictions on automobiles than on private industry.

County officials, who require businesses to comply with the new rules, “may force some of the businesses out of the county,” said Sean Durkin of Offshore Crane & Service Co. of Ventura.

Durkin, whose comments were echoed by other business representatives, voiced concern about getting bogged down with expensive permits and fees. He said the state should help streamline regulations to help businesses that work in more than one of the 30 separate air pollution control districts.

“We have to make a living,” said Robert Hassebrock, a branch manager of H & H Oil Tool Co. Inc. of Santa Paula.

Air Resources board member Harriett Wieder, an Orange County supervisor, said the state’s air quality problems will never be resolved if business leaders and environmentalists continue to battle each other.

“I don’t believe environmental concerns and the concerns of the economy are incompatible,” Wieder said.

Times correspondent Jane Hulse contributed to this story.