NEWS GOVERNMENT Resignation of science advisers ignites concern over California air plan One of the most forward-looking air quality management agencies in the country has been hit by the en masse resignation of 8 of the 11 members on its Advisory Council. The resignation of advisers to California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board reflects the Advisory Council's criticism of recent board actions, particularly a new plan to control ozone emissions. The eight members, experts in fields ranging from environmental sciences to medicine and engineering, had served on the council for much of the past decade. In their Aug. 8 resignation letter, the advisers said there have been "large uncertainties" in the models, data, and assumptions used to predict air quality and, as a result, predictions "have fluctuated dramatically" over the past several years.
The group singled out the board's recentiy proposed Air Quality Management Plan, which is intended to bring the Los Angeles basin into attainment with federal ozone standards. "Based on the announcements and presentations we have seen concerning the new Air Quality Management Plan, we conclude that the district is embarked on a course that will not lead to attainment of the federal ozone and fine particulate standards " the advisers wrote. The Los Angeles basin is the only U.S. region considered by EPA as a "severe" ozone nonattainment area. For much of the past 20 years, SCAQMD has led the nation in issuing tough regulations to help reduce air pollution. But since the early 1990s, the board has come under intense fire from the business community. During this same period,
SCAQMD has faced major cuts, which resulted in the reduction of its staff by more than one-third. It recently announced plans to cut its budget in half (ES&rjuly 1996, p. 287A). "We have been blamed for forcing businesses to leave the region, which we think is unfounded," said Sam Atwood, SCAQMD spokesperson. The former advisers also criticized the work produced by SCAQMD over the past several years, said former Council Vice Chair Jane Hall, professor of economics, California State University-Fullerton. Hall noted that there have been swings in the emissions inventory and in predictions of emissions levels and population growth—factors used to support regulatory decisions. EPA officials, who have received the draft plan, said they will closely examine the predictions used to support SCAQMD's analysis. For example, assumptions used to predict future ozone levels were based on monitoring data from 1987, a period when the basin had relatively low ozone because of favorable meteorological conditions, continued on page 434A
NAFTA environment council probes Mexican pier development In its first formal investigation, the environmental protection council formed under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is studying Mexico's approval of a major development project near a coral reef. At issue is whether the Mexican government is enforcing its own environmental laws, as is required under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The public harbor terminal project in Cozumel, Mexico, started out with the proposed construction of a single pier, which the government approved, but it has since grown to include harbors, hotels, and parking lots. Mexican environmental groups charged that the expansion was made without a proper environmental assessment. The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (NACEC), consisting of the environment ministers of die United States Canada and Mexico unani-
mously agreed to investigate the project at their August meeting in Toronto, following a formal filing in January by Mexican environmental groups. The commission has no enforcement powers, but a finding that Mexico failed to enforce its laws will bring international pressure on the country to reexamine its approval of the project. No deadline for the investigation is required, but the commission plans to finish the report before the end of the year, a spokesperson said. The official added that although the commission had conducted informal examinations Cozumel marks its first formal investigation. Environmentalists complain that in approving the Cozumel project, the government failed to look at cumulative, indirect environmental impacts such as those resulting from road building, drainage, and sewage increases, as is required under Mexican law. The Paradise Reef lies within
200 yards of die shore and is home to several species of turtles, manatees, and manta rays, among other wildlife. NACEC's action is encouraging to groups that feared that trade pressure from NAFTA would lead to lax enforcement of environmental laws. "The NACEC process offers the opportunity to look at particular actions that might be waivers of existing law. The Cozumel project is a perfect example of that," says James Marston, director of the Environmental Defense Fund's Texas office. "Before NAFTA, there was no way to have that kind of review trinationally, and in IVtexico there wcis no way to get it internally " NACEC also agreed to set up air-monitoring and modeling pilot projects throughout North America, to lead toward a joint action for reducing air pollution. The plan will establish compatible air-monitoring technologies across the three countries. —RONALD BEGLEY
VOL. 30, NO. 10, 1996 /ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 4 3 3 A
