FRESNO — The San Joaquin Valley, now the smog capital of the nation, is daring to do something that no other major region in California has done: impose hefty fees on new houses, strip malls and distribution centers to offset their effects on the air.
For more than a decade, air districts from Los Angeles to Fresno to Sacramento have failed to tap into this cash cow. The potential revenue -- hundreds of millions of dollars each year -- could have funded cleaner-running buses and farm irrigation pumps; street sweepers powered by natural gas; and biomass plants that recycle waste.
The main reason that air districts have declined to impose the mitigation fee on large projects such as Newhall Ranch in northern Los Angeles County is a reluctance to take on powerful builders and developers, regulators say.
Now, the San Joaquin Valley air district is pursuing the fee a decade after the last attempt was defeated by intense lobbying from the building industry.
Air districts in Southern California say that they are watching this valley closely, contemplating the same fee as one of the last measures to offset the pollution from suburban sprawl.
"It's going to create a political battle, but it's an area we're exploring and looking at with interest," said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The so-called indirect source fee, incorporated in the state's health and safety code, is based on the idea that houses, strip malls and distribution centers become indirect polluters once construction is finished. Those developments -- often built on the fringe of town -- increase commuter trips and diesel truck traffic, and encourage people to use drive-through lanes at fast-food restaurants.
In recent months, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, which covers a 250-mile trough from Bakersfield to Stockton, has found its hand strengthened by a new state law compelling the district to pass an indirect-source rule and levy a fee.
This time, local builders and developers, flush with record profits in a booming housing market, appear to be resigned to the fee. The battle, it seems, will be over how much the local air district charges for every house, commercial building and warehouse built -- and how the money will be spent.
