Tactics labeled too weak in dirty fight

Is the valley air district doing all it can to clean the air? Could it be more aggressive? Five years ago, when The Fresno Bee published a report exposing government neglect in the fight for clean air, officials at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District said they were doing everything possible.

But judges and lawmakers disagreed. Court decisions and new state laws forced the district to make tougher rules.

Today, progress is obvious: The valley meets federal standards for PM-10 -- coarse specks of dust, soot and other debris. Bad ozone days have dropped by half. The district had its cleanest summer on record in 2007.

But the valley, which stretches from Stockton to Bakersfield, is nowhere near meeting the latest federal standard for the smallest particles, which limits specks that can have more serious health effects.

Over the past five years, the valley has violated federal ozone limits more times than anywhere else in the United States.

The public is alarmed. Surveys have ranked air pollution as the No. 1 concern for four years.

Yet air officials today sound much as they did five years ago. They say they need 17 more years to clean up the ozone mess. Once again, they say they're doing all that is allowed under the federal Clean Air Act.

Instead of pushing the boundaries of federal law and passing the toughest rules possible, such as banning the use of older vehicles on the worst smoggy days, the air district's latest ozone cleanup plan relies on voluntary efforts by businesses, helped along with taxpayer money.

Seyed Sadredin, executive director since March 2006, said the air district must balance the economy and health concerns.

The district has enacted developer fees to counter sprawl and periodic bans on fireplace use to cut haze in the winter. But pushing too hard would cost businesses too much, he said. Sadredin put business investment in valley air quality at $42.5 billion since 1980.

"We have some of the toughest regulations in the state today," Sadredin said. "But we always work with the businesses, getting them involved in the process, give them flexibility if there are three ways to get to the same result air quality-wise. We let them choose the cheapest option, and sometimes people confuse that with giving them a free pass."

Critics say it is time to be more assertive. Tom Franz, president of the Association of Irritated Residents, a valley-based activist group, says the district must assault the air problem like a public health agency dealing with a crisis.

Said Franz: "Our lungs should not be subsidizing polluting industries -- developers, oil companies, big agriculture."

Progress and challenges

The valley's population has grown three times faster than the state during the past five years, adding enough people since 2002 to fill a city the size of Fresno. These people are driving millions of miles, adding tons of pollution into the air.

Yet air quality has improved. For the most part, residents in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties breathe air that meets federal standards.

High concentrations of pollution don't develop as often any more, and violations of the federal ozone standard over the past five years dropped from 125 days to 65.

"A true characterization, in my opinion, would be to say that significant progress has been made, but enormous challenges remain," Sadredin said.

Those challenges include the air quality bureaucracy. The local district has little control over the biggest problems -- engines and fuels for cars, trucks, boats, trains, planes and other moving sources of air pollution.