Kenny wants single air quality board

Launce Rake and F. Birusk Tugan

Tuesday, June 6, 2000 | 11:25 a.m.

Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny said Monday that local governments will meet a state deadline to produce a reorganization plan for embattled regional air pollution control agencies.

Her proposal would split the Clark County District Board of Health, creating a new unified agency to handle air quality issues and a new health board over medical issues.

State Sen. Jon Porter, R-Henderson, delivered the clean-air ultimatum at a meeting of the Legislature's Subcommittee on Air Quality Programs earlier in the day. He said Clark County agencies have 30 days to come up with an air quality program that reorganizes the local agencies.

Porter gave another 30 days after getting the plan to begin implementing the reorganization proposal. Failure to get a plan to his subcommittee will lead directly to state legislative action, he warned.

"Before we dictate a specific structure, I want to give local government one final opportunity to solve this problem," Porter said.

Kenny said local governments and their agencies are up to the challenge. She said they already are on track to deliver new rules and a local dust-control plan to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The federal agency officially notified the county Monday that its current plan will not be approved.

Failure to get a new plan into EPA hands by the end of August, and win EPA approval for the plan by the end of the year, could lead to federal sanctions including the loss of federal highway money and, ultimately, the loss of local planning and development control.

Kenny said new rules to control dust pollution will be presented to the public next Monday. The Health District board should pass the rules June 22, and then the rules -- part of the larger pollution control package that should be passed by the Clark County Commission in July for delivery to the EPA a few weeks later.

"I think local governments are working very hard on these issues," Kenny said. "They have been coming to solutions. We are going to have those solutions in hand by the end of this week."

"I'm going to require a 30 plus 30 plan for getting this job done in Southern Nevada. We're under strict federal deadlines and have everything at stake," Porter said.

Environ International, a California-based environmental consulting company, produced a four-part study of local air pollution control agencies. The study sharply criticized the local efforts.

Environ recommended merging the Clark County Health District's Air Pollution Control Division and in the Clark County Comprehensive Planning Department's air quality team in a new agency.

Merging the two air pollution agencies has wide support among regulated industries, environmentalists and politically. The structure of the governing board, however, is far from decided.

The board recommended by Environ would include two members from the cities, one representative from the Regional Transportation Commission, a representative from the Nevada governor's office, a state legislator, the chairman of the Clark County Commission, and two members from the private sector, one of whom would be appointed by the governor.

Kenny, however, criticized the state-heavy composition of the new board under the Environ proposal.

Her proposal wouldn't have any direct state involvement.

The proposal she is advancing would split the current 13-member Clark County District Board of Health, which now governs both medical and air quality regulations.

One board would be over medical issues. The other would oversee air quality issues. Boards would make policy and would only include elected officials, she said.

Underneath both boards would be "technical committees" with representation from stakeholders and experts.

The new air pollution control agency would include the air-quality team from Comprehensive Planning and the Health District's air pollution division.

"I think the most important thing to remember is this whole process is local government taking care of local issues," Kenny said.

During the subcommittee meeting, Environ executive David Souten said most federally mandated pollution-control plans are produced by state governments. In response to questions from Porter, Souten said those state plans are generally more successful in attaining federal air quality standards then strictly local efforts.

His sharpest criticism was directed at the timeliness of local efforts to meet federal clean-air standards.

"Late. You're late," Souten said when asked what the biggest problem is.

But Kenny said local efforts are the more appropriate way to handle the issue.

"It's unfair to suggest nobody's doing anything locally," she said.

Mark Doppe, a local home builder with Carina Corp. and a member of a construction-industry coalition working on both the new dust rules and other air-pollution issues, predicted broad support for Kenny's proposal.

He said the proposal matches the broad philosophical goals of his coalition, which is essentially to have regional representation and a strong unified agency to tackle air pollution issues.

Support from local governments is key, Doppe said, but likely to come because regional representation is integral to her proposal.

He said local politicians will embrace the proposal "because it elevates the task of air quality to a position where it really belongs."