Press Release
California EPA Announces Federal Approval of "Best Clean Air Plan"
09/30/96
U.S. EPA Approves California's Nation's Best Clean Air Plan SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 26 -- California Secretary for Environmental Protection James M. Strock announced today that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has approved the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone, the state's roadmap for achieving and maintaining healthy air quality. "Through today's action, the U.S. EPA again recognizes California's leadership in crafting the most comprehensive and innovative smog reduction plan in the nation," said Strock said. U.S. EPA's endorsement officially designates the SIP as the clean air plan for all of California. The SIP approval also removes the threat of the federal government re-instituting its proposed Federal Implementation Plan (FIP), that would have forced economically calamitous and environmentally untested anti-smog rules on three of California's most heavily polluted areas, Los Angeles, Ventura and Sacramento. Those regions and three other California areas, Mojave Desert, San Joaquin Valley and San Diego, were each required to develop implementation plans under rules set by the Federal Clean Air Act. Air Resources Board Chairman John Dunlap said, "The Wilson Administration, our Congressional delegation, local leaders and a broad coalition of industry groups are all in agreement that California must control its own air quality destiny. The SIP approved today by U.S. EPA represents California's vision of a clean air future, one that is our own and contributes to the health and well-being of all Californians." The FIP proposed by federal bureaucrats in 1994 would have imposed fees on many pollution sources controlled by federal rules that may not have produced actual emissions reductions. While the proposed federal plan contained measures designed to lower pollution in affected areas, it would have achieved those cuts by imposing fees on air and ship traffic to some major California cities and requiring no-drive days and one-stop truck delivery rules in others. The SIP, however, assigns specific pollution control strategies to air quality agencies including the U.S. EPA, the ARB and local or regional air pollution control districts that will achieve quantifiable emission reductions and meet federal air quality standards throughout California by 2010. Economic analysis has determined that the fee-based FIP could have cost California as much as 50 percent more per year to implement than the SIP. In addition, other regions of the nation would not benefit from the lowered emissions that will result from national rules adopted in response to California's plan. The SIP has already resulted in impressive achievements. During the past 15 months the ARB, the U.S. EPA and major engine and equipment manufacturers have agreed to Statements of Principles to establish national emission standards for heavy-duty, diesel trucks and buses, and for most diesel farm and construction equipment, including bulldozers and tractors. When fully implemented, those measures will cut about 143 tons of nitrogen oxide and 14 tons of hydrocarbon emissions each day from the state's air, while improving air quality throughout the rest of nation. California will generate the greatest emissions reductions by advancing the nation's most strict standards for passenger cars, small trucks and other mobile sources, including the fuels that power them. The state is implementing a reformed Inspection and Maintenance program, setting emission limits on consumer products and for controlling pesticide emissions in rural areas. Local air quality management districts are expected to reduce emissions from most industrial pollution sources such as factories, power plants, gasoline service stations and dry cleaners. In addition, local air quality agencies can adopt market-based measures to provide additional air quality benefits in the most cost-effective manner available. "California faces the nation's greatest air quality challenge and has developed the nation's best plan to meet it. The Wilson Administration is committed to following the plan and will continuously update it to reflect emerging technologies and improved programs," Strock concluded.