Air district talks of category change

As a worst offender, Valley would get longer cleanup time.

By Mark Grossi
The Fresno Bee

(Updated Friday, February 21, 2003, 6:02 AM)

Northern San Joaquin Valley cities don't have a real smog problem. The previously troublesome South Valley has improved significantly.

But, right in the middle, ever-growing Fresno County apparently is the biggest contributor to the Valley's smog problem. And it's a problem that has forced the 25,000-square-mile air basin to the brink of worst-offender category.

Board members of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District heard that message Thursday from district staff members. Staffers gave the board an update on the idea of moving the district into the worst-offender category for ozone pollution.

Though both the central and southern Valley contribute heavily to the smog problem, the monitoring site with the most violations is in Fresno County.

"Our worst site is Parlier," said district planning supervisor Dave Jones. "We've seen very little improvement."

No action was taken Thursday, but the board will have to volunteer the district for the category by Sept. 18 or face costly federal sanctions.

On that date, large businesses would begin paying extra fees to locate or expand in the Valley, unless the new category is adopted. By September 2004, the federal government would freeze $2 billion in road-building funds.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency then would enforce its own air cleanup in the Valley.

By volunteering for the worst-polluter category -- known as extreme noncompliance of the one-hour ozone standard -- the Valley's cleanup deadline would extend to 2010.

Officials say the area has no chance to meet an earlier deadline, largely because huge pollution reductions from new fuel and engine standards won't occur until after the district's current deadline.

State and federal authorities control vehicle emissions, so the local district has no say in when the reductions will take effect.

Vehicle pollution becomes more of a problem as population increases. The growing Fresno-Clovis area combines for about 500,000 people, the Valley's largest metropolitan area.

In Kern County, the petroleum industry has invested millions in pollution control measures over the last 12 years, accounting for a lot of the improvement in the South Valley.

Board member Jack Sieglock, a San Joaquin County supervisor, asked why there was no discussion of ozone problems in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

"What's the story?" he asked. "Are they clean?"

Staffers responded that San Joaquin County and the city of Modesto are achieving the federal 1-hour ozone standard. But they said the rest of the Valley must catch up.

Ozone, the main ingredient in smog, is a corrosive, summertime gas that forms when pollutants combine in sunshine. The gas causes tiny injuries inside human lungs and triggers asthma or other lung problems.

Last year, the Valley was second only to the Los Angeles area in violations of the 1-hour standard.

To clean up, the Valley must remove nearly 300 tons of pollutants per day, which amounts to almost a third of the known emissions in the area.

To achieve federal standards, the Valley must annually average only one ozone violation over three years. Last year, the area recorded 33 violations, according to the California Air Resources Board.

The process may become more complex next year when the federal government starts enforcing a long-term standard, which is an average ozone reading over 8 hours. District officials already know the Valley regularly violates the 8-hour standard more than 100 times a year, making it the worst place in the nation for such violations.

"We don't know yet how the 1-hour standard might be affected," said planning supervisor Jones. "It's still being worked out."

The reporter can be reached at mgrossi@fresnobee.com or 441-6316.