Feds may miss local air-quality deadline

Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

By law, the federal government is required to have a plan to control carbon monoxide in the Las Vegas Valley by Sept. 1.

The Environmental Protection Agency won't have it and doesn't intend to develop or impose a plan to control the gas, a common form of air pollution produced by car engines and other fossil-fuel burning sources.

Instead, agency officials say they will rely on their expected approval of a local plan -- approval that will come only after the Sept. 1 deadline passes.

Jeff Wehling, EPA assistant regional counsel, said his agency is moving forward with the approval process on the local control plan, submitted two years ago.

He said that the EPA could be sued for failing to impose a federal plan, as required by law. The clock for the federal plan runs out of time Aug. 31, Wehling said.

"Technically, we were supposed to have a full federal plan in place as of that date," he said.

But before any lawsuit could hit the EPA, the agency will likely have already approved a local carbon-monoxide control plan, he said. That would effectively nullify a legal challenge.

Wehling's comments came a day after Christie Whitman, EPA administrator, said the Bush administration is not eager to impose penalties on the region for violations of air-quality standards in the Clean Air Act.

In the case of carbon monoxide pollution in Las Vegas, the federal agency, not state or local agencies, would face any potential legal liability, Wehling said. Although it came in late, the regional agencies have submitted a control plan -- the EPA just needs more time to evaluate it.

"The state isn't subject to any problem," he said. "It is a problem for us."

But Wehling said an environmental lawsuit is unlikely -- mostly because local rules to control the pollution are in place and working, and final approval of the regional carbon-monoxide plan is likely before a lawsuit can hit the courts.

"There would be a bigger problem if Southern Nevada had high carbon monoxide levels, but in fact (it hasn't) had a problem in years," Wehling said. "Obviously, the program is working."

The region has not recorded carbon-monoxide levels over the national Clean Air Act standard in over three years, the Clark County Air Quality Management Department reports.

Catherine MacDougall, Air Quality Management assistant director, noted that the rules to control carbon monoxide are in place, even if the federal government hasn't approved the plan. She said one reason that the region hasn't recently exceeded the federal health-based standards for the colorless, odorless gas is that it requires the use of clean-burning fuel throughout winter.

That is when carbon monoxide is trapped near the ground, where people can breathe it. The gas can cause serious health problems, particularly for those who already have respiratory difficulties.

"We're obviously extremely pleased about these lower levels of ambient carbon monoxide," MacDougall said Tuesday. "We have met all the requirements that we have been asked to meet."

Environmental activists said they know that the federal government is technically in violation of the law. Nonetheless, they are not rushing to file a lawsuit.

Jessica Hodge, Sierra Club organizer for Southern Nevada, said her group isn't focused on whether a local or federal plan for the gas is in place.

"Clean air. That's what we want to see," she said. "We want a good, enforceable plan that has teeth."

But the Sierra Club isn't ruling out legal action if the regional plan doesn't win approval from the EPA -- or if it is approved but doesn't keep carbon monoxide levels within federal limits.

"The current plan as it looks to the future does not give a lot of margin for error," Hodge said, noting that population growth puts more pressure on any pollution-control effort. "There are still reading that are right below exceedance levels.

"We have a real stagnant winter, and there you go again," she said.

Jane Feldman, conservation committee co-chairwoman of the local Sierra Club, said her organization will help Whitman and the EPA "follow the law" if necessary.

"We're poised to take action when the time is right, and we won't be reluctant to do that."

County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who is chairman of the county's new Air Quality Management Committee, said any suit at this point would be counterproductive.

"Everybody that is reasonable thinks we shouldn't elevate form over substance," he said. "If a plan is submitted that is a good plan, an acceptable plan, and the EPA simply hasn't been able to get to it, it wouldn't make sense to sanction a community.

"The spirit of the law is being complied with in every real sense," Woodbury said.

Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny, who also is air quality board vice chairwoman, it would be "a waste of dollars, time, energy and resources" to challenge the federal government's failure to impose a carbon monoxide plan.

But Kenny also credited environmentalists for pressuring regional and federal governments on air quality issues.

"I think the environmental community has been absolutely instrumental in bringing this issue to light and providing the kind of caring oversight we all need," Kenny said. "Our hope is that they support us in the path we are going in."

Carbon-monoxide control will happen "with or without lawsuits," she said.

Karina O'Connor, the EPA's project manager for the carbon-monoxide plan review, agreed. She said her agency's review has been mostly positive and approval of the local plan is likely.

"It looks pretty good," she said.