Ride-Sharing Compromise Is Reached

Scaling back an air-cleanup program unpopular with business, a legislative panel hammered out a compromise bill Wednesday to free many Southland firms of responsibility for employee ride-sharing and other efforts to reduce pollution from autos.

The bill by Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange) was approved on a 6-0 vote by a Senate-Assembly conference committee and now goes to the floors of both houses for anticipated ratification later this week.

Lewis’ measure would force yet another retrenchment by the Southland’s air quality board, which has been under assault by conservative lawmakers angry over the smog-fighting burden they feel the agency dumps on businesses.

Under pressure last year, the South Coast Air Quality Management District ushered in a new policy that allowed firms to choose from a menu of options for improving the air. These include traditional employee ride-sharing programs as well as paying an annual $60 fee per employee to finance scrapping of old, high-pollution vehicles, buying clean-fuel public shuttles or other anti-smog programs.

Despite such options, 80% of the businesses chose to stick with the ride-sharing they already had in place.

Lewis has long sought to scrap ride-sharing requirements for all businesses in Southern California, but he agreed to a compromise during negotiations this week brokered by Sen. Patrick Johnston. The Stockton Democrat was the swing vote on the conference committee.

Their compromise bill would eliminate smog-fighting mandates for businesses with fewer than 250 employees for an 18-month trial beginning Jan. 1. Currently, only firms employing fewer than 100 are exempt.

More than 2,700 firms in the Southland, including 981 in Orange County, would be affected.

The bill also earmarks $1.5 million in AQMD funds for promotion of voluntary ride-sharing at those companies.

Should the voluntary efforts prove effective, the mandates would be dropped for firms with fewer than 500 employees. And if that were a success after another 18-month trial, mandatory AQMD requirements for all Southland businesses would be eliminated.

But, as in many legislative solutions passed down from California’s Capitol, the devil could be in the details. Foes and supporters alike worry about possible disputes over the effectiveness of the program, a critical factor in determining whether to expand or return to the status quo.

Supporters of ride-sharing also decried attempts to eliminate the program.

“It’s a pity that Lewis has felt the need to target a successful program,” said Tim Carmichael, policy director at Coalition for Clean Air. “It doesn’t seem necessary. It’s not good.”

Lewis, however, predicted efforts to spur voluntary car-pooling could replicate the results being produced by the current program. Short of that, he suggested that the AQMD could find other less-expensive avenues to help reduce pollution, such as retrofitting older diesel school buses that are heavy polluters. The current program costs Southland businesses an estimated $130 million a year.

“The current program is the most expensive, inefficient and onerous manner one could pick to improve air quality,” Lewis said. “In reality, the emission reductions we’ve seen from ride-sharing are so infinitesimal, they’re not going to be that difficult to replace.”

Officials at the AQMD, however, remain concerned that a shift to voluntary ride-sharing could yield poor results.

National studies have shown that mandatory requirements typically result in a 24% participation level. Voluntary programs usually produce only 7% participation, prompting worries that the proposed change will produce a bewildering rise in air pollution that would only be negated if the AQMD comes up with other solutions.

There are provisions in the Lewis bill, however, that would let the AQMD step back in and begin regulating businesses anew if the voluntary efforts flop.

The AQMD’s ride-sharing efforts, which began more than eight years ago, helped boost average vehicle ridership in the Southland from 1.13 in 1987 to 1.28 in 1994. But that achievement fell short of the AQMD’s goal of 1.5 people per vehicle.

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Air Wars

Eager to ease the burden on business, a legislative conference committee approved a bill by state Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange) that would scrap smog-fighting requirements for many Southland firms. It is expected to be approved by both houses this week and signed into law by the governor. A look at the bill:

IMMEDIATE EFFECT

* During an 18-month trial period, businesses with fewer than 250 employees are freed of requirements to fund ride-sharing and other pollution-fighting efforts. Ride-sharing and other programs at those firms have reduced pollutants released into the air by 26 tons per day as compared with eight years ago, before the program began.

* $1.5 million in South Coast Air Quality Management District funds would go to promote voluntary ride-sharing among employees at the affected firms.

LONG-TERM PLAN

* If the program works it will be expanded, first to firms with fewer than 500 workers and, if still successful, to all Southland firms.

* The California Air Resources Board will mediate any dispute arising over the success or failure of the program.

Source: California Senate and South Coast Air Quality Management District; Researched by ERIC BAILEY / Los Angeles Times