Local Leaders Say U.S. Help Needed on Air Cleanup : Pollution: Group charged with fashioning a smog-control plan contends it cannot meet standards by 2005 without the assistance.

A few days after Congress shelved federal plans to clean up Ventura County’s smoggy skies, business leaders and clean-air advocates urged federal regulators to crack down on ocean freighters, interstate trucks and other pollution sources that are beyond local control.

Business, environmental and local government representatives who came together to craft a local smog-control plan said Thursday that they cannot meet clean-air standards by 2005 without the help of the U. S. government.

“We are at a turning point because we realize we need an approach that includes control over all sources of pollution,” said Greg Helms, a spokesman for the law firm representing the environmental group Citizens to Protect the Ojai. “And we need a federal system to help achieve that.”

President Clinton on Monday signed a bill that scrapped the air cleanup plans adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency for Ventura County and other areas that exceed federal smog standards. The legislation had moved quickly through the new Republican-controlled Congress as a last-minute amendment to a larger emergency disaster relief bill.

Although Ventura County business leaders applauded the removal of the most stringent rules, they said some federal intervention is needed to bring the county’s air quality into compliance with health standards set by the Clean Air Act.

A coalition of Ventura County environmentalists, business leaders and regulators is pushing for speedy approval of a state-mandated air quality plan. The coalition spent months fashioning a compromise plan. But it relies on the federal government to tackle something that local and state governments can’t--controlling interstate sources such as diesel-spewing trucks.

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The state’s smog cleanup plan for Ventura County will not be able to reach health standards for air pollution without cracking down on those sources, said Bill Mount, assistant deputy director of the county’s Air Pollution Control District.

He said the county has made progress in cleaning up ozone, the primary component of smog: In 1974, the county experienced 122 days when ozone levels exceeded federal health standards. Last year, 15 days exceeded the standard.

“People are breathing healthier today, but we still have a long way to go,” he said.

Ted Hostetler, a physician who specializes in lung disease at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, spoke at Thursday’s gathering on the health concerns surrounding the air-quality debate.

Studies have consistently shown that prolonged exposure to high levels of ozone can cause illness in humans, particularly to the elderly, small children and those with respiratory problems, he said.

“The literature is voluminous and convincing that the effects of air pollution are hazardous to our health,” Hostetler said.

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Mount said he is not optimistic about getting federal cooperation to reduce pollution, given the anti-regulatory mood of Congress.

“We’ve done all we can do in this county,” he said. “Residents here have to convince our congressional representatives that changes are needed.”

A 1988 lawsuit by Citizens to Protect the Ojai sparked a series of legal and government actions requiring Ventura County to come up with a plan that would bring it into federal compliance within a decade.

The EPA was preparing to crack down on pollution from planes, ships and interstate trucks in about two years when Congress intervened.

Mark Chytilo, an environmental attorney for Citizens to Protect the Ojai, said nothing in the congressional action prevents the EPA from developing another set of federal rules to help clean Ventura County’s air.

But he thought it very unlikely that EPA officials would venture into the controversial issue--without more prodding from a federal court.

“They are like a turtle deep in their shell,” Chytilo said. “They are not going to stick their neck out for anybody.”

Chytilo predicted that his law firm, the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center, would not initiate any more legal action until the state’s air cleanup plan has been given a chance to work.