 Several California legislators are contemplating a measure to take over a federal clean air program that was recently abandoned by the Bush administration. Legislators and a coalition of environmental and public health groups say the state must act to protect the air from industrial pollution. If enacted, it would be the second time in a year that the state has passed a law in response to what critics consider the administration's hostile stance toward the environment. Last year, Democratic Governor Gray Davis signed a law making California the first state to regulate global warming pollution from cars. At a press conference today in the state Capitol, Sen. Byron Sher (D-Palo Alto) and Assembly members Marco Firebaugh (D-South Gate) and John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) unveiled the new bill, SB 288, The New Source Review Restoration Act. It would restore under state law a provision of the federal Clean Air Act that requires older refineries, power plants and factories to install state-of-the-art pollution control equipment when they expand or upgrade their facilities. The Senate Environmental Quality Committee heard the bill later in the afternoon. "Continuing to erode the most successful pollution control program in the nation is a bad idea. We need to continue making progress on cleaning up California's air in order to protect our families and our future," said Carl Zichella, regional staff director of the Sierra Club. "We can do better." The Bush administration announced the controversial decision on December 31 to repeal the clean air requirement, known as "new source review". Many environmental and public interest groups called it the most dramatic rollback of the country's clean air laws since Congress enacted the Clean Air Act more than 30 years ago. They warned that state governments would be handicapped in protecting public health by controlling smog, soot and toxic pollution. "We can't afford to let the federal government drag us down," said Ann Notthoff, California advocacy director for NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "California has a strong tradition of leading the nation in finding innovative solutions to environmental problems. We need to continue to make progress to clean the air we breathe." The federal action also sparked an outcry from California leaders. Gov. Davis sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stating that its "action relaxing so-called 'new source review' rules will bring us more air pollution, not less." State officials worry that it will be harder to meet air pollution goals if industrial pollution increases under the relaxed federal standards. Many felt that the state was being punished when, last week, the EPA revoked local air districts' authority to decide whether to issue permits to companies that release pollution. "The Bush administration is letting industry re-write the rules that protect your health. We aren't going to stand by and let this happen," said Rico Mastrodonato, executive director of the California League of Conservation Voters. "This bill tells the federal government that it can't tell California to lower its air quality standards." A growing body of science has documented a strong association between air pollution and a wide range of health effects, including childhood asthma, cardiovascular disease and a rise in hospital admissions. "Californians still breathe the worst air compared with the rest of the nation. Air pollution is contributing to an alarming rise in asthma, especially in kids, and the health impacts result in missed school days and missed work days. We simply cannot afford to stop making progress in cleaning up our air," said Bonnie Holmes-Gen, assistant vice-president of government relations with the American Lung Association of California. Source – American Lung Association |
