LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Supervisors to Oppose Parts of Federal Clean Air Plan
Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to oppose parts of a proposed federal clean air plan, saying the new rules would cost the county $35 billion annually and would cause the loss of 350,000 jobs.
The Federal Implementation Plan, a project of the Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to bring the region into compliance with federal ozone health standards by the deadline set for 2005.
The supervisors unanimously decided that the economic impact of implementing the plan in the county would be too great.
The plan “would cost cities and counties hundreds of millions of dollars to replace engines on ambulances, firefighting equipment, trucks, trash haulers and emergency equipment,” Supervisor Mike Antonovich said.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District has recommended a plan to be presented to the EPA on Tuesday.
Antonovich asked his fellow supervisors to support the AQMD’s plan instead of the federal plan because it would have a smaller economic impact on the county.
Antonovich had sought a vote to oppose the federal plan entirely, but Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke got an amendment passed calling for the supervisors to oppose the parts of the plan with “unacceptable economic impacts.”
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