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Subscribe to PrintBy Mark Grossi / The Fresno Bee
California's air standards are the toughest in the country, yet they are rarely a part of the clean-air discussion in the San Joaquin Valley.That's because they are toothless. Break these standards -- as most of the state does -- and suffer no consequences.Only the weaker federal standards carry penalties, such as a delay for billions of dollars in road-building funds. So local regulators aim for the federal standards."It means we're only doing the minimum," said Liza Bolaños, Fresno-based coordinator for Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, a nonprofit representing health and environmental organizations.The difference between the two standards is stark.Jane Hall, a researcher at California State University, Fullerton, estimates the Valley's annual health costs caused by air pollution that exceeds federal standards are more than $3 billion.When counting health problems caused by failing to meet the state standard, the price tag doubles.Another example: By federal standards, coarse bits of dust, soot and chemical specks are no longer a health problem in the San Joaquin Valley. But by state standards, which eliminate all health risk, the region is wildly out of whack, with 150 violations a year.Nobody is quite sure how many years -- perhaps decades -- it will take to achieve those safer thresholds. That's why activists say they will campaign to put teeth in the state health thresholds."Two years ago, I worked on legislation to put some deadlines and penalties into the state standards," said lawyer Brent Newell of the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, a nonprofit legal watchdog group based in San Francisco. "We could not get a sponsor in the legislature for it."But such legislation would mean billions of dollars to achieve the stricter state standards -- and certain industry opposition.Meanwhile, federal standards get tougher as they are periodically reviewed. With each revision, they have come closer to California's standards because studies show health damage at lower thresholds.Federal and state authorities use the same health studies in setting their standards, but federal law allows a minimal amount of public health risk.Almost no one will suffer lung problems from breathing air that meets California's thresholds, said Deborah Drechsler, staff air pollution specialist with the state Air Resources Board.Next year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to drop its ozone or smog threshold down to a level similar to California's. The federal ozone standard is 0.08 parts per million, and the state threshold is 0.070. EPA is considering a new standard between 0.070 and 0.075.The Valley is projected to be among the two worst offenders, alongside South Coast Air Basin in Southern California.