EPA Urged to Adopt Local Smog Cleanup Plan : Environment: County business and government representatives say federal proposal could actually put more vehicles on the road.

Saying a federal plan to clean up smog could do more harm than good, Ventura County business and government representatives urged federal officials Wednesday to adopt a locally written proposal instead.

At a public hearing attended by an overflow crowd in Ventura, one Camarillo school board member said the proposed cleanup measures would cost schools so much in new equipment that many would be forced to discontinue busing--resulting in more cars on the road and more pollution.

“More than 1 million of 5 million students in California ride buses to school,” said Val Rains, a Pleasant Valley School District trustee who represented the California School Boards Assn.

“That could easily be doubled or tripled if operating revenues were available,” Rains said. “But the federal implementation plan would have exactly the opposite effect on schools.”

Officials called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulators conducting the hearing to adopt the locally written plan, which emphasizes that those responsible for the most pollution bear more of the cost.

Robert Paulger, a Procter & Gamble executive who helped draft the local alternative plan, said the coalition of business and agricultural leaders figured out a way to reduce emissions by 40% needed to meet federal health standards without threatening local industry or farms.

“We want the same outcome as the federal plan, but with less impact on jobs,” Paulger said. The local coalition estimates that the proposed federal plan would cost the county nearly 130,000 jobs if it is implemented as proposed.

Among other provisions, the local plan would impose fees on all motorists who drive gasoline or diesel-burning cars based on the miles they drive each year. Such a fee would require the blessing of the state.

At Wednesday’s public hearing on the proposed “federal implementation plan,” the railroad, aviation, trucking and automotive industries asked for leniency from the crackdown on pollution.

Felicia Marcus, regional administrator for the EPA, opened the daylong meeting at the Board of Supervisors hearing room by asking speakers for constructive criticism of the proposed EPA plan.

The result, she said, was better than she had hoped.

“I am thrilled by the spirit of collaboration here, that the whole group got together,” she said. “It’s a road map to a successful local plan. And if you have that, we’re out of here.”

Marcus said the EPA will consider all viable alternatives and may incorporate them into the final cleanup plan.

She said EPA has worked closely with industries for decades, working out pollution rules. “The stationary sources who have been in the game for 25 years know we’re being fair,” she said. “But it’s pretty clear to anyone who’s driven behind a big rig truck that mobile sources have not been as regulated as other sectors.”

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Although a federal court is forcing the EPA to develop the cleanup plan for Ventura County, and the Los Angeles and Sacramento areas, the federal proposal would not be needed if the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District can adopt enough measures to meet federal clean air standards on its own.

Marcus said that the EPA plan can be used as a type of backstop, offering some regulations that are outside local jurisdiction to bring the county’s air into compliance with federal law.

But Bill Mount, deputy director of the local air district, said it is unlikely that the county will be able to lower air pollution enough to meet health standards without adopting some federal measures.

Technical studies are now under way to find out how close local measures will bring the county to compliance with the standards.

The county was designated as an area with a “severe” air pollution problem for ozone, a lung-damaging gas created when emissions from cars and industry mix in sunlight.

The proposed federal plan calls for new restrictions on emissions from trucking, railroads, aircraft and shipping, none of which the local government can regulate.

The railroad industry, which operates both freight and passenger trains through Ventura County, asked the EPA to exempt some interstate trains from new regulations.

To achieve the required emission reductions, the industry proposed to buy new, more efficient locomotives.

“We stand ready to do our fair share,” said Travis Hinton, Amtrak’s transportation superintendent for the region.

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The trucking industry opposes a measure that would limit heavy-duty trucks to one stop in Ventura County.

Local growers object to that provision as well, saying they depend on trucks to move their goods to market.

“This plan has the potential to severely damage, if not completely destroy, Ventura County’s citrus industry,” said Carolyn Leavens, a major citrus and avocado grower.

Growers in the county have also objected to a provision that would regulate some pesticides.

Barbara Weinberg of the American Lung Assn., and Stan Greene, who spoke on behalf of Citizens to Preserve the Ojai, reminded the group that the reason for the plan is public health.

“The latest findings have shown that nonsmokers in highly polluted areas had steeper decline in lung function than smokers in non-polluted areas,” she said. “We’re doing this because it’s for our health.”

Greene, whose organization sued the EPA in 1988 to force the county to reach clean air goals, said the cost of air pollution, both to public health and industry, can no longer go unpaid.

“It must be borne by those who produce it, whether it’s industry, agriculture, or transportation. There is no going backward.”

NEXT STEP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will continue to accept written comments on the proposed federal cleanup plan through Aug. 31. The EPA will then finalize its smog cleanup rules, which will be adopted in February. Written comments can be sent to Felicia Marcus, regional administrator, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, Calif., 94105.