Air Pollution Plan Criticized as Too Tough : Environment: Business and industry representatives say aspects of the draft proposal impose unnecessary restrictions.

By JOANNA M. MILLER

April 10, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Ventura County’s new plan to reduce air pollution, already under fire from environmentalists for being too soft, was criticized Tuesday by building and business interests for being too tough.

The draft 1991 Air Quality Management Plan released Tuesday still does not create enough regulations to meet state and federal health standards for clean air, Air Pollution Control District officials said.

But some provisions of the plan, which will be considered by county supervisors this summer, could harm business and industry with unnecessary restrictions, representatives said.

The Air Pollution Control District should leave industry alone and concentrate on motor vehicles, which still contribute the largest share of pollution-causing emissions, said Ralph C. Schumacher, president of the Ventura County Economic Development Assn.

“All of these things come at a time when the economy is already hurting,” said Schumacher, an aerospace industry manager. “They try to tighten the screws down a little too hard on us and it gets so you can’t conduct business economically anymore.”

But William Mount, chief of planning for the district and principal architect of the plan, said the district looked for every possible opportunity to reduce emissions. The plan includes a ban on the use of lighter fluid on back-yard barbecues, which would reduce emissions by a fraction each year.

“We have to start looking at the small emissions sources,” Mount said. “There’s not much else we can do. We can’t do anything about tailpipe emissions; that’s the responsibility of the state.”

Ventura County’s air fails federal health standards for ozone pollution about 44 days a year and fails the more stringent state standards 125 days a year. Ozone can cause permanent lung and respiratory damage.

Ozone, a primary component of smog, is created when nitrogen oxides combine with reactive organic compounds or hydrocarbons in the heat of the sun.

Motor vehicles still contribute about half of all the nitrogen oxide emissions in the county and about 32% of all the reactive hydrocarbons on a typical summer day, Mount said.

The 1991 plan, which is required for all districts that fail state standards, contains proposed or revised regulations to reduce over the next 10 years nitrogen oxide emissions by 38% and reactive hydrocarbons by 28% from 1987 levels.

The county would need to reduce both sources of pollution by about 50% to reach federal standards and by 70% to reach state standards, Mount said.

In addition to regulations that are nearly ready for adoption, the plan details proposals that are still being developed, Mount said.

The most controversial and far-reaching of those measures drew the most comments Tuesday. The measure, called the indirect-source regulation, seeks to hold developers responsible for the pollution caused by new housing or commercial projects.

The measure would require developers to discourage the use of cars by limiting parking in their complexes and to pay fees for mass transit, among other measures.

Paul Tryon, executive director of the 700-member Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, said the measure should not have been included in the plan, even as a future proposal.

“We have concerns about another tier of review and fees that increase our costs,” Tryon said. “We would carry a disproportionate share of the burden for this problem that belongs to the entire society.”

But environmentalists criticized the plan for its delay on the indirect-source regulation.

“Indirect sources are the greatest area of growth,” said Neil Moyer, president of the Ventura County Environmental Coalition and a city of Ventura planning commissioner. “Failure to include that in the plan is a tremendous oversight. Further study doesn’t mean a blasted thing.”

Moyer pointed out that a regulation to reduce Southern California Edison’s nitrogen oxide emissions by 90% was a future-study measure in the county’s 1987 Air Quality Management Plan. Called Rule 59, the regulation is included in the new plan and scheduled to go before the Board of Supervisors for adoption next month.

“It’s taken all this time just to get a draft rule,” Moyer said.

But an Edison spokesman said Tuesday that Rule 59 should have been left out of the present plan until more studies are done.

Mount said the Ventura County district will develop an indirect-source rule after the state Air Resources Board releases a model regulation. The board is working with a committee of representatives from air pollution control districts throughout the state.

“Rather than sit here in a vacuum and create our own regulation, we want to draw on the expertise of all the other districts,” Mount said.

The 1991 plan includes proposed or revised regulations that would:

* Require a reduction in the use of industrial and commercial solvents to save two tons a day. Scheduled for implementation in August, 1993.

* Require all oil-drilling rigs to convert engines from gas or diesel to electric, for a savings of 40 pounds of emissions per day. Implementation in January, 1992.

* Change the coatings on wood used by furniture manufacturers for a savings of 420 pounds per day. Implementation in September, 1996.

* Change car paint formulas for a savings of 1,880 pounds a day. Implementation in January, 1995.

* Change the kind of solvents used in the semiconductor manufacturing industry for a savings of 220 pounds a day. Implementation in April, 1993.

* Require printing plants and graphics operations to use ink with less solvent to save 240 pounds a day. Implementation in March, 1992.

* Require large and small companies to provide incentives to employees to car pool, work staggered hours or work at home. This regulation, known as Rule 210, already applies to large employers and is being implemented in stages.

BACKGROUND

Those interested in receiving a copy of the draft 1991 Air Quality Management Plan can call 654-2806 during business hours or write to Dawn Durham, Air Pollution Control District, 800 S. Victoria Ave. L1710, Ventura 93009. The report is free and there is no charge for postage. The report is also available to read at most of the county’s public libraries.

SOURCES OF POLLUTION-CAUSING EMISSIONS

Oxides of Nitrogen

1991-72 tons per day

Motor Vehicles: 49%

Other Mobile Sources: 21%

Power Plants: 14%

Other Fuel Combustion: 10%

Petroleum Industry: 6%

2000-50 tons per day

Motor Vehicles: 47%

Other Mobile Sources: 33%

Other Fuel Combustion: 14%