Special panel created to address air pollution

By Lesli A. Maxwell
Bee Capitol Bureau

(Updated Tuesday, January 7, 2003, 10:45 AM)

Senate President John Burton on Monday agreed to create a special committee in the Legislature's upper house to deal with the Central Valley's escalating air pollution.

Burton, a San Francisco Democrat, named Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, chairman of the new panel -- called the Senate Select Committee on Air Quality in the Central Valley.

Florez, who plans to introduce a package of air-related bills this legislative session, asked Burton last week to set up the committee.

"We need to put pressure on ourselves to do something," Florez said. "This [committee] will be the venue to start challenging some of the long-held assumptions about what's causing our air problem and how we can start to fix it. We might make a lot of people mad, but we've got to do something."

The eight-county San Joaquin Valley is one of the nation's dirtiest and unhealthiest air basins. Local air officials are up against a 2005 federal deadline to reduce smog in the Valley or face sanctions that include millions of dollars in fines, business penalties and the delay of $2 billion in road-building funds.

Florez said he wants to start debate on whether more state regulation should be part of the solution, including banning long-term practices such as allowing farmers to burn crop waste in open fields.

For decades, state air regulators have allowed farmers to burn their vineyard prunings and orchard cuttings in open fields because it is the cheapest way for growers to get rid of crop waste.

"A lot of the problem has been exemptions [from air pollution regulations]," Florez said. "Thirty years ago, we thought we could pollute our way to prosperity, and now we can see that paradigm has not worked."

Florez said he will draft legislation that would impose limits on open-field burning, as well as bills dealing with fireplaces and tighter air pollution controls at dairies.

Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, expressed skepticism over whether the committee would generate substantive proposals that are even-handed.

"Obviously, the concern about air quality and the vital public health issues are quite legitimate," Poochigian said. "But we already have a very strong, extensive and powerful bureaucracy that operates in this subject area. ... What a committee like this could achieve remains to be seen."

Despite his reservations, Poochigian said he would be willing to serve on the committee.

"I'm not averse to any assignment ... but this shouldn't be driven by anyone's particular agenda," he said.

State and local air officials initially were receptive to having a legislative panel devoted to Valley air issues.

"The more people who get involved with solutions, the better," said Josette Merced Bello, spokeswoman for San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

Said Richard Varenchik, spokesman for California Air Resources Board: "We'll work with the Senate in any way we can to help improve air in the San Joaquin Valley. Hopefully, this committee will help find solutions for some of the air problems."

Florez plans to hold hearings throughout the Central Valley over the next year, starting with one in the Capitol next month.

The reporter can be reached at lmaxwell@fresnobee.com or (916) 326-5541.