Clean Air Rules

Some of the proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations would:

VEHICLES

* Mandate that 2% of all cars sold statewide by 1998 be zero-emission vehicles, such as electric cars. This is same as the state’s existing standard, which the auto industry is trying to weaken.

* Shift responsibility for maintaining clean-burning cars from the consumer to vehicle manufacturers by expanding recall programs for cars and passenger trucks with faulty emission controls.

* Require that businesses with 25 or more employees which offer free parking also offer their workers the cash value of the parking space.

* Establish a special California emissions standard for heavy-duty trucks requiring them to be 60% cleaner than a national standard, beginning with 1999 trucks. This might require trucks powered by methanol or other alternative fuels.

* Require interstate trucks coming into California to meet the special emissions standard or make no more than one stop per trip in the Los Angeles Basin and two stops in the state. The idea is to force truckers to transfer their loads to cleaner-burning trucks at the state’s border.

AIRCRAFT

* Require commercial airlines to reduce emissions from planes and associated equipment, such as ground service equipment, by meeting a declining amount of allowable emissions each year, 4% to 9% annually. Allowable limits would be based on 1990 passenger and cargo figures. Airlines would pay a fee on excess emissions. Take-off fees could be charged for private aircraft. Implementation would begin in 2001.

COMMERCIAL SHIPPING

* Charge ships docking in Los Angeles or Long Beach a fee based on how cleanly the engines operate. This might require ships to add catalytic controls or switch to turbine engines. Ships passing within 20 miles of the Ventura County coastline would be charged additional fees. Implementation would start in 2001 to 2005.

BOATING

* Develop nationwide emission standards for gasoline-powered pleasure craft. Beginning with engines manufactured in 1998, new standards would require emissions reductions of 60% to 80%. Boaters would also be charged a fee of $90 per day or $400 per year beginning in 2004 if they docked in the Los Angeles Basin.

LOCOMOTIVES

* Respond to a congressional mandate by developing nationwide emission standards for new locomotives which would limit nitrogen oxides in two phases, a 40% reduction in 2000 and a 60% reduction in 2005. Additional rules for the Los Angeles Basin would mandate a complete turnover of trains by 2010. This would probably mean use of alternative fuels in Los Angeles-area trains.