Stakes are high in vote on air quality

Monday, July 23, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

Clark County commissioners are poised to take control of all air-quality functions in the Las Vegas Valley on Tuesday.

The seven commissioners will take public testimony and then vote to consolidate the planning functions, which are already under the mantle of county government, with the regulatory and enforcement functions now under the direction of the Clark County Health District, an independent agency.

The health board could still balk at the transfer of the responsibilities, but resistance from that quarter would have no effect, Commissioner Erin Kenny said. The health board, of which Kenny is also a member, has been split on the issue.

Some representatives from area cities, particularly Las Vegas, have opposed the transfer to the county. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has led the effort to oppose the consolidation of air-quality functions under the county.

Goodman and others fear that putting air quality totally under the county will undermine the independence of the cities. The air-quality agency could enact policies that would affect land-use decisions throughout the region.

Goodman will join other area mayors, Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera and Gov. Kenny Guinn at a meeting a week from today. Goodman said he will ask the governor to reconsider his decision naming Clark County as the air-quality board.

Kenny said the meeting won't change the outcome of the process started when Guinn named the county as the new air-quality agency.

The county's vote Tuesday is the last thing that matters on the issue, she said.

"It'll be done," Kenny said. "It's really already over. Now it's just a matter of a technicality on the 24th."

Herrera, while supporting the consolidation, is striving to tell the cities that they will be part of the larger air-quality process.

"It's important that we come together, to make sure we're all on the same team," Herrera said. "The Las Vegas community doesn't differentiate between the folks in the city of Las Vegas, the folks in Clark County or in Henderson.

"We all have a stake in clean air," he said. Herrera said he wants policymakers from throughout the region involved in air quality planning, although the county commissioners will be the ultimate authority.

The stakes are potentially high. The region has plans before the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up two different pollutants: fine airborne dust and carbon monoxide.

Failure to get those plans accepted and approved in the next year could mean the loss of hundreds of millions in federal funding for roads and other infrastructure.

"We have a lot of money on the line, hundreds of millions," Kenny said. "Time is of the essence here. Regardless of whatever conversations people may have, we are moving ahead ... We have to clean up the air as quickly as possible."

Herrera said one important move will likely ease the concerns of people representing the cities. Herrera said he and the commissioners are backing Commissioner Bruce Woodbury as chairman of a new air-quality board.

"Bruce is somebody who works well with the cities," Herrera said. "I think he has a reputation for being a consensus builder. He has a lot of institutional knowledge with respect to air quality.

"People in this community look to him as a voice of reason in local government," he said.

Although considered a contender for the job, Kenny said she also would support Woodbury as the air-quality chairman. Kenny said she is weighed down with other county and personal responsibilities and would not have the time needed to give to the new position.

However, she said she would like to be the vice-chairwoman of the new board.