| May 31, 2007 Southland air
quality officials will consider adopting a far-reaching clean air plan
tomorrow that proposes emission controls on everything from ships to trucks
to residential fireplaces so that Southern Californians can breathe
healthful air in this generation.
“This plan addresses new federal health standards with a very aggressive
and fast-tracked pollution control program,” said Barry Wallerstein,
executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District
(AQMD). “We must aim high to tackle one of the most serious public health
threats in our region.”
AQMD’s Governing Board will consider adopting its 2007 Air Quality
Management Plan following a public hearing beginning at 9 a.m. tomorrow at
its Diamond Bar headquarters.
The plan lays out a detailed strategy for meeting the federal
health-based standards for PM2.5 (fine particulate) by 2015 and 8-hour ozone
by 2024 while accounting for and accommodating future expected growth.
The region must meet these air quality standards to reduce deaths and
illnesses from air pollution. Unhealthful levels of PM2.5 alone are
responsible for up to 5,400 premature deaths and 2,400 hospitalizations each
year in Southern California, according to the state Air Resources Board.
The overall benefits of the plan exceed its cost by a factor of more than
6 to 1. The plan is forecast to cost $2.3 billion annually while its
benefits, principally from reduced health effects, will be $14.6 billion
annually.
In spite of future growth, emissions of most pollutants are forecast to
decline during the next 16 years as a result of regulations already in
place. Meeting the PM2.5 and 8-hour ozone standards, however, will require
significant further reductions above and beyond current control programs.
For example, nitrogen oxide emissions will have to be further reduced by 29
percent by 2014 and 76 percent by 2023. (Emission reduction measures must
be in place the year before the attainment deadline.)
Most of the pollution reductions must come from mobile sources, a
category that includes everything from cars to heavy-duty trucks to
locomotives and ships, and is currently responsible for about 75 percent of
all smog- and particulate-forming emissions.
To achieve these goals, the plan relies on the adoption and successful
implementation of dozens of air pollution control measures -- primarily by
the state Air Resources Board, but also by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), AQMD, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the Southern
California Association of Governments.
The plan includes 37 control measures proposed for adoption by AQMD,
including mitigating emissions from new commercial and residential
developments; further reductions from industrial facilities through
modernization of equipment and reductions from gas stations.
The plan also relies on EPA’s adoption of additional regulations
including more stringent locomotive standards; full implementation of the
landmark San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan by the ports of Long
Beach and Los Angeles; and transportation control measures enacted by the
Southern California Association of Governments and individual local
governments.
“Everyone must do their fair share to clean the air, from the largest
business to the individual consumer,” Wallerstein said.
While most of the emission reductions needed to achieve the PM2.5
standard have been identified, recent efforts have focused on defining
control measures to cut a final 74 tons per day of nitrogen oxide
emissions. AQMD’s plan relies on a three-pronged approach for these
reductions:
- Recommending the state Air Resources Board strengthen its planned
measures, including accelerating the introduction of ultra-clean cars such
as plug-in hybrids; and more rapidly replacing dirty, old diesel engines
in construction and industrial equipment, locomotives, and heavy-duty
vehicles, including those at the ports;
- Strengthening AQMD’s planned control measures for restaurant
charbroilers and residential fireplaces and woodstoves; and
- Pursuing the Southern California Association of Governments’ plan for
a high-speed transport system and truck-only lanes.
Once the plan is approved by AQMD’s Board, it then must be approved by
the state Air Resources Board and submitted to EPA for its review and
approval.
The stakes for failing to meet the federal clean air deadlines are high.
In addition to health effects, the region faces potential Draconian
sanctions by the federal government for failing to meet clean air deadlines
including the loss of billions of dollars in federal highway funds, higher
costs for emission credits needed for new businesses and the imposition of a
federal clean air plan.
You may view the entire
clean air
plan on the web.
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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