County to light fire under dust-control plan

Friday, Sept. 24, 1999 | 9:35 a.m.

To stop the federal government from blowing into Las Vegas with sweeping restrictions on dust control, the Clark County Health District Board has decided to fast track plans to control loose soil on private and public lands.

The 13-member board unanimously approved a measure Thursday to have its staff move at a rapid pace to have the problem under control by early next year.

Attaining compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards won't be cheap.

A memo from the county's Air Pollution Control Division presented at Thursday's meeting notes: "The first-time cost to the community could be in the tens of millions of dollars. The annual maintenance of such parcels could cost in the millions, up to about $10 million."

If local officials do not come up with an acceptable plan, the federal government can take severe action, including taking over local clean-air programs and withholding federal dollars for highway projects.

"We have to be proactive or have things done to us by enforcement agencies like the EPA," said County Commissioner Erin Kenny, a health board member. "It will be a show of good faith to get a reasonable plan to the EPA with a timeline to address the problems. If we fast track this, we send a message to the EPA and residents of Clark County that we ... want clean air."

This new plan is needed because the EPA says the plan approved by local officials in 1998 did not take into account "disturbed vacant land." Disturbed vacant land -- undeveloped land (not under construction) traversed by pedestrians or vehicles -- and unpaved roads account for about 18 percent of the 73,000 tons of fine dust that blows through the valley each year, health officials say.

It is estimated there are 133,000 acres of vacant land in the valley's urbanized area. Most of it is owned by the Bureau of Land Management, which, like the EPA, is a federal agency.

Also at Thursday's meeting, the board unanimously approved these measures to address dust problems in the valley:

Mike Naylor, air pollution control director for the health district, said the county has so far this year measured seven "non-attainment" days when EPA regulations allow only one such day a year.

John Potts, representing the Hughes Corp., a major builder, told the health board his company is willing to work with officials to reach attainment.

"We endorse mutual efforts to get a hold of this situation," Potts said.

The Associated General Contractors said they too would support a local plan where the restrictions are uniform and fair.

More than 63 percent of the valley's dust comes from construction activity, with the greatest amounts kicked up from land that has been graded prior to construction, health officials said.

The fact that most of Southern Nevada is a dusty desert makes the dust problem even more difficult to control. It is no surprise that the EPA's six worst areas for nonattainment of dust regulations are all in desert or otherwise dry environments of the western United States.

One such city is Phoenix, which recently wrote rules upon which the Southern Nevada plan is based.

Such rules include: fencing or berms to keep vehicles out of vacant lands; gravel, vegetation or soil stabilizers to maintain a visible crust on the desert soil; and use of suitable control measures to limit dust on unpaved roadways and parking lots.

The local plan calls for control of dust from three sources: open areas and vacant lots without vehicular access, open areas and vacant lots with vehicular access, and unpaved parking lots.

The county has held two of four scheduled workshops to get public feedback on dust control rules. The final two meetings are set for Saturday at the Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Ave.; and Oct. 2 at the Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive.

The meetings are from 10 a.m. to noon and are open to the public.

After proposed rules are drafted, formal public hearings will be held. By fast-tracking the process, the new rules could take effect early in 2000.