Agenda Packets - 1987/09/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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.. 0 FL 8 Clean Air Act Compliance (cont'd)- City officials recognize the importance of preserving and protecting the environment and the necessity of reducing air pollution in urban areas. Cities have made diligent and continuing efforts to implement State Implementation Plans (Sips) to lower air pollution levels. Despite those remedial actions, many cities are likely to be out of compliance with NAAQS requirements on December 31. 1987. Problems outside the immediate control of individual city governments and difficulties resulting from changes in compliance planning requirements have complicated circumstances in which cities must operate to solve air pollution problems. If cities have carried out actions and revised measures called for, to reduce such sources of air pollution, they should not be penalized by the loss of needed federal funds or a ban on construction or modification of utilities, industries, and other facilities in nonattainment areas. In particular, congress should refrain from imposing penalties that would result in the withholding of wastewater treatment construction grants in such instances, and should allow cities experiencing growth to continue to receive federal assistance for essential government functions. Congress should also adjust the level of penalties to fit the severity of the continuing pollution nroblems in cities that fail to implement measures to reduce such sources. Many of the pro-iisions providing for sanctions in legislation curr>ntly under consideration are counterproductive to the goals of the clean Air Act, and would unfairly penalize cities in non -attainment areas, regardless of what level of government is responsible for failure to approve implementation of an inspection and maintenance program aimed at reducing motor vehicle emission problems. Sanctions should be imposed on the unit of government or agency directly responsible for noncompliance. The League also recommends that congress retain current health -based ambient air quality standards and refrain from including other factors in the attainment of those required measures of air quality. Current problems encountered it implementing NAAQS requirements suggests that these standards are imprecise and often cause cities to underestimate measures that must be taken to comply with current air quality pcllutant levels for carbon monoxide and ozone. New approach permitting cities to take specific actin-s to install appropriate technology to reach attainment should be supported. Alco of concern is the transport of air pollutants from attainment to nonattainment areas. Such conditions make it difficult for cities .o meet NAAQS requirements despite implementing pollution control measures. Unless such a jurisdiction can prove that it is not contributing to ozone or carbon monoxide pollution in a nonattainment area, the unit should be required to install controls on stationary pollution sources. - 71 -