Official Worries About Clean Air Bill Cost Impact

Shortcomings in a new federal Clean Air Act could sharply boost the economic and social costs of reducing pollution in the Los Angeles Basin, local officials said.

The federal law, designed to cleanse skies of acid rain, smog and industrial pollution, was passed by the Senate on Saturday and sent to the White House. The subject of yearlong negotiations, the bill calls for more stringent emission controls on automobiles, power plants, factories and businesses.

Exemptions granted for the federal agencies and construction equipment could force a sharper crackdown on emissions from businesses and personal vehicles in greater Los Angeles, said Norman Younglove, chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The result, he said, will be more restrictions on use of personal vehicles or the loss of some industry.

“It directly pits the economy against personal health, and that need not have been done,” said Younglove. “If it gives us anything, it provides legal framework for operation, but that framework doesn’t give us enough tools to work with.”

Although the new act is tougher than previous federal standards, it is less stringent than the clean air plan adopted by AQMD, which regulates Orange County and parts of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

For example, the federal act calls for a 30% to 60% reduction in auto emissions by the latter part of the decade. AQMD’s plan is stricter, requiring a 90% to 100% reduction by 2007.

The Senate voted 89 to 10 to approve what supporters have called the most comprehensive environmental bill in decades. Approved by the House on Friday, the bill now goes to President Bush to be signed.