Posted on 03/30/2009 9:00:27 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Don't plan on seeing the opening of any new public facilities or for that matter new small businesses which have generators or other polluting devices.
Local government and others can't get the necessary permits from the South Coast Air Quality Management District due to a November court decision that many are just learning about.
If this issue is not resolved, it could mean that the Whittier police station or a Los Angeles County fire station on the border of La Mirada and Habra - both under construction - can't open.
Both have small emergency generators and need permits from AQMD. Construction on both is expected to take another year.
"It compromises the level of public safety," La Mirada City Manager Tom Robinson said of the moratorium established by the AQMD.
Other types of new businesses affected are auto body shops, service stations, printers, and even car dealerships.
"It's safe to say that cities throughout Southern California are very concerned about the moratorium," Robinson said. "Everybody else in the country is trying to put people to work and here's a ruling that's going to put people out of work."
The fight stems over how new pollution-generating facilities are allowed in Southern California.
Before any such plant can be opened, emission credits to offset the anticipated pollution from the new building or facility are needed, said David Pettit, director of the Southern California Air Program.
"Valid emission credits are created from shutdowns of older facilities or reductions at existing facilities and require proof that the decrease in emissions is real, permanent, quantifiable, and enforceable," Pettit said. "The whole point of the offset process is to ensure no net increase in pollution levels and air quality is upheld across the region."
But AQMD also has credits from its internal bank that it made available free to public agencies and small businesses, instead of making them be purchased on the open market.
The open market can be expensive, with costs ranging from $140 million for a landfill gas project with five turbines to $2 million for a food manufacturer with a tortilla chip fryer and oven to $500,000 for an auto body shop's spray booth.
The AQMD issued these permits free for facilities that produced less than four tons per year of pollutants.
But several years ago citing the energy crisis, AQMD decided it also wanted to make them available for power plants, said Sam Atwood, AQMD spokesman.
"(The board) felt it would would be prudent under a temporary basis to allow power plants access - in this case to purchase emission credits at $92,000 per pound," Atwood said.
Four environmental groups sued - Natural Resources Defense Council, Communities for a Better Environment, Coalition for a Safe Environment, and California Communities Against Toxics - saying these credits were going to go to polluters at too low a cost.
"What the district has done is sold these scarce credits to facilities that earn millions of dollars," said Tim Grabiel, staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
"These credits should be considered a public good and should be reserved for essential public services, such as police stations and fire houses," Grabiel said.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones in November 2008 struck down two AQMD rules, one allowing the issuance of credits to power plants and another its credit-tracking system.
Jones ruled that AQMD hadn't done an adequate job of environmental analysis.
"Her ruling not only made it impossible for the power plant to get these credits, but for the AQMD to provide them for all public facilities and businesses," Atwood said.
Atwood said AQMD plans to readopt its rule on the tracking system minus the power plant provision. That could take nine to 12 months to do and would allow them to be issued to the same low-polluter facilities.
However, it appears some environmental groups will oppose the current AQMD plans.
"It won't result in a functioning program where the district can give out permits to essential services," Grabiel said in explaining his group's opposition.
The word is just now getting out to local cities and others. Some still aren't even aware of it.
"Right now it's extraordinarily chilling," Whittier City Manager Steve Helvey said. "If a small business is trying to set itself up, it could end up in bankruptcy waiting to start."
A San Gabriel Valley official said the moratorium is the last thing needed in these tough times.
"The timing is horrible," said Bob Machuca, regional manager of economic development for the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership and Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
"We have a bad economy and this is counterproductive to what we're trying to do," Machuca said. "A lot of businesses are being wooed by other states. What will happen is they will look elsewhere."
Welcome to the wonderful world of pollution control.
No permits for standby generators that don’t run except when the power plants quit..and then for public safety.
This type of dumb regulation is why more industry will leave CA.
This state needs a reset button. Throw all the bums out and start over! Heads on a stick!
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