Vickie
Patton
<
vpatton@
environmentaldef
ense.
org>

01/
19/
2006
10:
42
AM
To
Vickie
Patton
<
vpatton@
environmentaldefense.
org>
cc
Subject
Fresno
Bee:
Groups
gasping
over
air
proposal
Groups
gasping
over
air
proposal
By
MICHAEL
G.
MOONEY
BEE
STAFF
WRITER
and
MARK
GROSSI
THE
FRESNO
BEE
People
in
the
Central
Valley
might
breathe
dirtier
air
if
a
proposed
rule
ends
federal
dust
monitoring
in
rural
areas,
local
air
officials
said
Wednesday.

The
Bush
administration
proposal,
through
the
U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency,
would
establish
a
new
dust
standard
and
provide
a
national
exemption
for
farming
and
mining
in
rural
areas.

The
EPA
proposal,
announced
Tuesday,
would
stop
federal
monitoring
for
larger
particle
pollution
in
rural
places,
said
officials.

The
move
could
mean
some
loss
of
federal
muscle
­
financial
sanctions
­
in
enforcing
dust
cleanup
in
the
San
Joaquin
Valley,
one
of
the
nation's
worst
areas
for
air
quality.

For
the
valley,
sanctions
include
the
temporary
loss
of
$
2
billion
in
federal
road­
building
money
for
missing
cleanup
deadlines.

Jaime
Holt,
a
spokeswoman
for
the
San
Joaquin
Valley
Air
Pollution
Control
District,
said
the
agency
learned
of
the
Bush
administration's
plan
late
Tuesday.

While
the
district
still
is
investigating
the
proposal,
Holt
pointed
out
Wednesday
that
the
dust
plan
­
if
adopted
­
would
set
different
standards
for
rural
and
urban
areas.
"
We
feel
public
health
should
be
treated
equally
in
both
areas,"
Holt
said.
"
We
have
some
questions.
What
parts
of
the
valley
would
be
defined
as
urban
and
what
parts
rural?"

Holt
said
it
was
not
clear
Wednesday
whether
dust
rules
set
by
the
California
Air
Resources
Board
would
remain
in
force
should
the
federal
standards
be
changed.

"
That's
(
one
of
the
things)
we're
looking
at,"
Holt
said.
"
This
is
not
a
done
deal.
We're
curious
to
see
where
this
goes
at
the
federal
level."

Brent
Newell,
staff
attorney
at
the
Center
for
Race,
Poverty
and
the
Environment,
said
the
proposal
to
exempt
mining
and
farming
operations
from
federal
standards
for
"
coarse
particulate
matter"
such
as
dust
raises
a
constitutional
issue.

"
If
this
proposal
goes
through,"
Newell
said,
"
rural
residents
will
have
lesser
protection
under
the
law
than
urban
residents.

"
That
raises
the
issue
of
'
equal
protection
under
the
law,'
which
is
guaranteed
in
the
Constitution."

Newell
said
pollution
standards
for
dust
and
other
particulate
matter
set
by
California
law
would
remain
in
effect.

"
State
laws
can
be
stricter
than
federal
laws,"
he
said.
"
The
(
federal)
EPA
does
not
have
the
power
to
pre­
empt
the
states."

Still,
Newell
said
he
would
be
filing
comments
to
the
federal
EPA
proposal
on
behalf
of
his
group,
raising
some
of
the
same
issues.

"
This
is
par
for
the
Bush
EPA,"
he
said,
"
caving
to
powerful
industries
like
mining
and
agriculture."

Mary­
Michal
Rawling,
program
manager
for
the
Merced­
Mariposa
Asthma
Coalition,
believes
the
Bush
proposal
would
make
matters
worse
for
everybody
in
the
Central
Valley,
not
just
those
already
suffering
from
respiratory
diseases.

"
I
just
don't
think
this
would
be
beneficial
at
all,"
Rawling
said.
"
There
would
be
significant
health
effects."

Rawling
and
Newell
said
various
studies
have
shown
that
agricultural
operations
account
for
more
than
50
percent
of
the
dust
and
coarse
particulate
matter
in
the
valley.

Is
valley
considered
rural?

Relaxing
standards
for
dust,
Rawling
said,
would
lead
to
more
coughing,
more
irritated
airways,
more
inflamed
air
passages,
more
bronchitis,
more
asthma
attacks.

Studies
show,
Rawling
said,
that
"
about
1,300
people
die
prematurely
every
year
in
the
valley
from
particulate
matter
pollution."

Tom
Orvis,
an
Oakdale­
area
cattle
rancher
who
has
been
involved
in
the
dust
issue,
said
he
did
not
yet
know
enough
about
the
proposal
to
comment
in
detail.
He
did
say
farmers
already
have
done
much
to
control
dust.

"
I
think
agriculture
has
come
to
the
table,
and
essentially,
we're
trying
to
be
in
compliance
and
be
good
stewards,"
he
said.

The
measures
have
included
nut
harvesting
machines
that
stir
up
little
dust,
as
well
as
improved
tilling
of
fields
and
controls
on
dirt
roads.

State
officials
disagree
with
the
local
air
district's
interpretation
of
the
federal
rule,
saying
the
valley's
rural
areas
should
not
be
affected
by
an
EPA
rule
change,
because
the
region's
3.7
million
residents
make
it
too
populated
to
be
considered
rural.

But
exemptions
for
farming
and
mining
might
affect
places
like
the
Owens
Valley
or
northern
Sacramento
Valley,
officials
said.

"
That's
our
biggest
concern,"
said
spokesman
Jerry
Martin
of
the
California
Air
Resources
Board.
"
Some
parts
of
the
state
might
not
be
protected."

Disagreement,
outrage
Federal
officials,
who
have
been
working
on
the
proposal
for
years,
said
they
consulted
thousands
of
studies.
They
concluded
that
rural
pollution
sources,
mainly
farming
and
mining,
do
not
create
urban
pollution.

In
California,
home
of
the
nation's
dirtiest
air
basins,
the
proposal
raised
disagreement
and
outrage.
State
Sen.
Dean
Florez,
D­
Shafter,
announced
that
he
wanted
a
resolution
opposing
the
new
rule.

"
I
condemn
the
U.
S.
EPA
action
as
bad
for
public
health
and
wrong
on
the
science,"
he
said
in
a
written
statement
Wednesday.
"
The
fact
is,
particulate
matter
from
dust
has
been
shown
to
be
a
potential
carcinogen
and
very
harmful
to
the
lungs
of
kids
and
the
elderly."

Farming
is
the
biggest
source
of
dust
in
the
valley,
which
is
among
the
three
dirtiest
air
basins
in
the
country.
In
2003,
Florez
sponsored
Senate
Bill
700,
requiring
broad
controls
on
farm
pollution.
Agriculture
has
complied.

Experts
said
the
EPA
rule
would
not
trump
SB
700,
but
the
state
has
no
sanctions
to
enforce
the
law.
The
federal
government
has
had
the
power
to
sanction
for
many
years.

But
establishing
a
new
air
standard
usually
takes
years
because
of
legal
challenges.

Said
local
district
planning
director
Nester,
"
There
probably
would
be
a
lawsuit
from
someone
on
this."
Bee
staff
writer
John
Holland
contributed
to
this
story.

Posted
on
01/
19/
06
00:
00:
00
http://
www.
modbee.
com/
local/
story/
11703155p­
12428933c.
html
­­
