AQMD Chairman Burke Announces
New Air Quality Initiatives

Jan. 10, 2003

Beginning an unprecedented third term as AQMD Chairman, Dr. William A. Burke announced three major air quality initiatives today to increase the number of low-polluting school buses, establish an asthma and air pollution research center and examine a possible link between smog and brain cancer.

"We’ve made great strides during the last three years by cleaning up dirty, smoke-belching diesel school buses," said Burke, chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

"We must press on with this effort until we have eradicated this threat to our children’s health from school buses."

At today’s Board meeting, Burke proposed that AQMD dedicate 90 percent of its air pollution penalty fees for the current calendar year to the initiatives as follows:

• 70 percent of the penalties to a continuing effort to purchase low-emission school buses;
• 10 percent of penalties to establish an independent Southern California Consortium on Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality; and
• 10 percent of penalties to assist research into a possible connection between brain cancer rates in some metropolitan areas and air pollution.

The remaining 10 percent of penalties would be held in reserve for other projects.

Burke asked AQMD staff to develop a plan for carrying out the initiatives and present it to the Board for its approval at its next meeting on Feb. 7.

Burke announced the initiatives after being sworn in to his third term as chairman, the longest leadership tenure on AQMD’s Board. A Board member since 1993, he served two terms as chairman from August 1997 to December 2001. He also served as vice chair from December 1994 to August 1997 and January 2002 to December 2002.

During previous terms as chair, Burke introduced landmark AQMD programs for Environmental Justice, Children and Senior Citizens.

Since 1999, with the help of state funding, AQMD has approved more than $43.5 million to clean up and replace diesel-powered school buses in the Southland. Projects approved include the purchase of 206 compressed natural gas-powered school buses; 87 lower-emitting new diesel buses and the retrofitting of 1,482 diesel buses with particulate emission traps.

"Diesel school buses are a direct threat to our children because diesel exhaust can cause cancer, and students riding in buses and standing outside near them are breathing diesel fumes," Burke said.

In proposing a new research effort on the link between asthma and air pollution, Burke noted that asthma affects about one in 12 children in Southern California, and as many as 13 percent of children under 17 in San Bernardino County. The hospitalization rate due to asthma among African-American children in the region is more than three times higher than for other groups, he said. Dozens of studies have linked air pollution to increased symptoms among asthmatics, and a recent study by University of Southern California researchers suggested that young athletes who play in smoggy areas may be at higher risk for developing asthma.

The proposed Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality consortium would utilize the expertise of University of California researchers with a goal of developing a firmer scientific foundation for public policy on asthma prevention, Burke said.

Some toxic air pollutants such as benzene and diesel particulate are known to cause cancer in humans. A major American Lung Association study has linked particulate pollution to lung cancer. At least one investigation found a dramatic increase of brain cancer rates in a metropolitan area, and a possible link to air pollution, Burke said. Burke’s third initiative would seek to further explore this potential connection, Burke said.

"We need to increase public awareness of the link between pollution prevention and cancer prevention," he said.

In other action today, AQMD’s Board swore in two new Board members: Fred Aguiar, a San Bernardino County Supervisor who will represent San Bernardino County, and William S. Craycraft, a Mission Viejo Council Member who will represent the cities of Orange County.

Aguiar has served on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors for four years, representing the 4th District. Prior to his tenure on the board he served in the state Legislature. In 1992, he was elected to the Assembly and served as an Assembly member for six years. Aguiar served 14 years in local government, both as a council member and mayor of Chino.

Craycraft, a Mission Viejo resident since 1974, graduated from Western Illinois University with a B.S. degree in chemistry. His leadership as chairman of the Incorporation Feasibility Committee provided the driving force behind the successful incorporation of Mission Viejo in 1987. Craycraft also has served since 1993 as a board member of the Foothill/Eastern and San Joaquin Transportation Corridor agencies, which built Southern California's first toll road system.

AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

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