The Unending Struggle for Healthy Air : Even in hard times the effort must be pressed, inch by inch

Last week, Southern California could give thanks for days on end of clear skies. On one morning, from atop Mt. Hollywood, a high point of Griffith Park, tiny Santa Barbara Island was visible to the naked eye, as were the high ridges of Santa Catalina. The clear desert sparkle was due in part to winter’s favorable weather, in part to the light holiday traffic and in part to our own efforts. Californians, who understood the deadliness of smog, have been pioneers in air quality regulation.

But there are still plenty of evil days when the air has a thick, sickly yellowish tinge. Smog lurks in tailpipes and smokestacks, waiting for us to slacken our efforts.

CARROT AND STICK: It’s a constant struggle for regulators to keep pushing for better air quality, especially when the economy works against them. They conduct a delicate balancing act between reward and punishment for polluters, often doing better with the carrot than the stick.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, on the verge of sanctioning California this week for failing to modify its vehicular smog inspection program, delayed at the last minute and, wisely, is continuing talks with key legislators.

The EPA’s appointment of two Californians, Felicia Marcus as regional administrator and Mary Nichols as assistant administrator for air and radiation, also seems to be a signal that the agency wants to work with the Legislature. “We will try to put as many options on the table as we can,” Nichols said during a trip to California last week.

The EPA seemed adamant a few months ago about scrapping the state’s web of independent auto emissions testing facilities and replacing them with far fewer centralized, highly regulated testers. When Los Angeles tried that approach in the early 1980s, a horror of long waits and inefficiency resulted. Naturally, state lawmakers recoil at reviving this sort of system. Now there are indications that a larger network of better-equipped independent testers, along with plans to get high-polluting vehicles off the road, would be acceptable to the feds. A compromise can and should be reached that will meet federal standards while taking into account state concerns.

RHETORIC AND REALITY: One of the primary reasons that the Legislature balked at the EPA order was the ongoing fear of job loss. And a number of California’s stressed-out manufacturers argue that the trade-off is between jobs and clean air. But such dichotomies are often more rhetorical than real: Clear skies are as much a lure as a burden to industry in this region. Nonetheless, the state and local air quality agencies are under constant fire even as they work to accommodate industry.

The regional Air Quality Management District has had to fight off critics of its “pollution credits,” which allow cleaner corporations to sell off pollution rights to those needing more time. Similarly, the California Air Resources Board has pushed hard for cleaner-burning vehicle fuels and electric cars. We hope that Gov. Pete Wilson’s new appointee to head that board, Jacqueline E. Schafer, a former Reagan Administration official from Virginia, will continue to support strong anti-pollution programs. Schafer took over last week from former Chairman Jananne Sharpless, and her appointment has unsettled some environmental groups that know the kind of pressure Wilson is under.

If rules can be streamlined without being diluted, that’s terrific. Some compromises are also worth examining. The AQMD, for instance, relaxed standards for furniture makers when current technology was unable to meet new emission standards. That’s fair. But generally, in the world of free trade, Southern California won’t prosper by catering to industries that pollute high and pay low. It’s the mountains we want to see more of, not the air itself.