Regional air quality regulators are proposing that Southern California move ahead of the nation in imposing strict new controls over diesel fuel--a step that state officials call extremely risky and likely to trigger fuel shortages and skyrocketing prices.
The outcome of the escalating feud between state and regional officials could have a major impact on the economy and the health of Southern Californians.
Diesel engines--which spew voluminous amounts of carcinogenic soot and smog-causing gases--are one of the state's largest sources of air pollution. They also power the trucks that carry most of the state's goods--from food to hardware--as well as tractors, bulldozers, airport equipment and ships.
Nationwide, the federal government announced a plan in May to slash the sulfur content of diesel fuel by 97% in 2006. But the South Coast Air Quality Management District is moving toward setting an earlier deadline--2004--that would apply only to fuel in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
This week, two senior aides to Gov. Gray Davis, the heads of the California Air Resources Board and the state Energy Commission, sent a strongly worded letter to the AQMD, calling its proposal "both unnecessary and extremely risky."
The Los Angeles region would be "likely to face periodic disruption in [diesel fuel] supply with potentially dramatic price increases and potential shortages," according to the letter from Michael Kenny and Steve Larson.
But AQMD Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein shows no signs of backing down. Today, the agency's board is expected to schedule a hearing and vote on the proposal in September.
Wallerstein said there is no reason to wait two extra years to clean up diesel exhaust. The AQMD staff analyzed the issues and concluded that oil refineries will be able to produce adequate amounts of the new diesel fuel in 2004, he said.
"If there is demand, there will be supply," he said.
But state officials--remembering a diesel fuel crisis in 1993--call that approach foolhardy. California's oil industry and trucking companies agree.
Kenny, executive officer of the state air board, said in an interview Thursday that he would overturn the AQMD's rule if it is adopted. The state agency has veto power over local air quality rules although AQMD officials say it remains to be seen whether the agency would actually make good on its threat.
