State Approves Radical Plan to Clean the Air
EL MONTE — A radical 20-year plan designed to cure the nation’s worst smog problem via sweeping changes in the way Southern Californians live and work was unanimously approved today by state air quality regulators.
On an 8-0 vote, the state’s Air Resources Board adopted the 1989 Air Quality Management Plan for the smog-plagued region, encompassing the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside.
“We will never be able to clear the skies of this basin unless we are willing to innovate and change,” ARB Chairwoman Jan Sharpless said. “While no plan is perfect, (this one) represents an innovative and necessary step forward.”
The plan, approved by local smog regulators in March, will be forwarded to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, although many of its provisions, especially those dealing with vehicles emissions, do not require federal approval.
The plan has been five years in the making and is required by the federal Clean Air Act.
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