New Ways to Reduce Air Pollution Sought

Ventura County supervisors say they will begin looking for new ways to reduce air pollution Tuesday, now that the state Legislature has exempted small employers from clean-air programs.

State Senate Bill 883, passed last month, exempts companies with fewer than 100 employees from reducing commuter trips. The companies, which were facing a January deadline to adopt car-pool plans, will now have until 1997 to formulate such plans.

On Friday, Supervisor John K. Flynn said the county should use its own funds to purchase and scrap smog-belching older cars.

“Junk cars, which represent less than 10% of all cars, contribute half of all the pollution produced by cars in the county,” Flynn said. He said money for the program should come from the budget of the Air Pollution Control District.

“We will get rid of more pounds of emissions that way” than with the car-pool reduction law, Flynn said.

Supervisor Maria VanderKolk expressed relief that the state has exempted small companies from participation in the car-pool plans for the time being.

“The rule was too onerous for small employers,” VanderKolk said. “The whole slant of the program is wrong. We should put the onus on the driver and not on the employer.”

Supervisor Susan K. Lacey said the exemption will force clean air officials to propose new strategies. “We’ll have to look for innovative and creative ways to clean up our air.”