HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-04-06; City Council; 6952; Council Policy Position HR252 Clean Air ActAB#le9.S.g
MTG. 4-6-82
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CIT\ JF CARLSBAD -AGENDJ.. dlLL
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COUNCIL POLICY POSITION ON HR252
REGARDING THE CLEAN AIR ACT
RECOMMENr'l:D ACTION:
Consider adoption of resolution supporting HR252.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
DEPT.HD-~
CITYAm~
CITY MGR.~
At the council's March 23, 1982 meeting, Council member Casler
asked the Council tc take a position on HR252, The League of
California Cities is asking cities to support HR252.
HR252 would express the sense of the House of Representatives
that clean air is fundamentally important to citizens and
that the existing Clean Air Act should be maintained and
strengthened subject only to such changes that will improve
its administration and effectiveness.
FISCAL IMPACT:
EXHIBIT:
1. Copy of HR252
2. Resolution No.
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97TH CONGRESS H RES 252' 2D SESSION • •
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llOl~Y> \.-o:i
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that clean air is fundamen-
tally important for the health and well-being of the citizens, economy, and
environment of the United States and concluding, therefore, that the Nation's
existing Clean Air Act should be maintained and strengthened subject only to
such chang..:.:. that will improve its administration and effectiveness.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 21, 1981
Mr. VENTO (for himself, Mr. LEWIS, l\lr. BEDELL, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BnowN
of California., Mr. D'AMOURS, Mr. DOWNEY, Mr. EDGAR, Mr. FASCELL, Mr.
GARCIA, Mr. lIARKIN, Mr. HOLLENBECK, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. LoWRY of
Washington, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr. MINl>TA, l\fr. MOFFETT, Mr.
MOLINARI, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. SABO, Mrs. ScUNEIDER, Mrs. ScmWEDER,
Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SNOWE, Mr. STARK, ?i!r. PBITCHARD, Mrs. FENWICK,
Mr. DENARDIS and Mr. SOLOMON) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
MARCH 17, 1982
Additional sponsors: Mr. BONER of Tennessee, Mr. FoGLIETTA, .Mr. GORE, Mr.
'13INOHAM, Mr. SCHEUER, Mr. WEAVER, M~. SHA."lNON, Mr. ERDAHL, Mr.
MAvRour,Es, Mr. HAWKINS, Mr. WEISS, ?ifr. WYDEN, Mr. MITCHELL of
Maryland, Mr. SEmERLINO, Mr. KA.STENMEIER, Mr. FAZIO, Mr. GIBBONS,
Mr. GRAY, Mr. WILLlAM J. COYNE, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr.
AUCOIN, Mr. JOHN L. BURTON, Mr. FRANX, Mr. 0TTINOER, Mr. COUR-
TER, Mr. REUSS, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Mr. JAMES K. CoYNE, Mr.
PHILLlP BURTON, Mr. YAT£S, Mr. ROSENTHAL, ?ifr. LUNDINE, Mr. GUN-
DERSON, Mr. GREGO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. GUARINI, Mr. DICKS, Mr. WIRTH,
Mr. MINISH, Mr. EMERY, Mr. GREEN, Mr. FLORIO, Mr. FlTUL\.N, Mr.
FISH, Mr. 8'.l'UDDS, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. FERRARO, Mr. 0BERSTAR, Mrs.
CHISHOLM, Mr. RINALDO, Mr. ROYBAL, Mr. AnDABBO, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr.
RArCUFORD, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. RODINO, Mr. PATTERSON, Mr. LANTOS, ?ifr.
DIXON, Mr. LUJAN, Mr. FORD of Tennessee, Mr. JioYER, Mr. BARNES, Mr.
HOWARD, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. AKA.KA, Mr. SOLARZ, Mr. ROE, Mr. DAN·
IELSON, Mr. SHA?tlANSKY, Mr. SMITII of Pennsylvania, Mr. BOLAND, Mr.
DASCHLE, 1-!r. lfEFTEL, Mr. FARY, Mr. STOKES, Mr. DY.MALLY, Mr.
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l!'AUNTROY, Mr. EcKA&T, Mr. NEAL, Mr. MORRISON, Mrs. KENNELLY, and
Mrs. HECKLER
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that clean
air is fundamentally important for the health and well-being
of the citizens, economy, and environment of the United
States and concluding, therefore, that the Nation's existing
Olean Air Act should be maintained and strengthened sub-
ject only to such changes that will improve its administra-
tion and effectiveness.
1 Resolved, That this resolution may be cited a~ the
2 "Commitment to the Clean Air Act Resolution of the Ninety-
3 seventh Congress".
4 PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR A S'l'RONG CLEAN AIR ACT
5 SECTION 1. The House of Representatives finds and de-
6 clares that-
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(a) in 1970 the Congress enacted, and in l 977 it
improved the Clean Air Act (Pµblic Law 95-95) which
establishes programi: to clean up polluted air and to
10 preserve air quality in clean air regions;
11 (b) the Olean Air Act has achieved documented
12 improvement in air quality, to the betterment of public
13 health, welfare, and environmental quality;
14 (c) tbe National Commission on Air Quality, cre-
15 ated by the Congress to review the effectiveness of the
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1 Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977, has found that
2 "the structure of the Olean Air Act is sound and needs
3 refinement instead of fundamental changes"; and
4 (d) current public opinion surveys by a variety of
5 polling organizations demonstrate sound and over-
6 whelming public support for the Clean Air Act among
7 persons of all political persuasions, ages, and economic
8 groups and from all regions of the country. Such J>Ublic·
9 satisfaction with the Clean Air Act is remarkable at a
10 time of generally perceived pu'blic dissatisfaction with
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Government regulatory programs.
THE PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO BREATHE CLEAN Am
SEC. 2. The House of :Representatives finds and de-
14 olares that-
15 (a.) the Clean Air Act embodies a fundamental
16 guarantee to the American people that their lives and
17 health will not be jeopardized by involuntary exposure
18 to dangerous or harmful levels of air pollutants;
19 (b) traditional scientific debate should not be a
20 basis for inaction. As found by the N ationai Commis-
21 sion on Air Quality, "to protect public health, govern-
22 ment must act to control potentially harmful pollutants
23 despite scientific uncertainty about the precise harm
24 they cause and the levals of exposure that cause that
25 harm";
llRES 252 SC
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1 (c) for this reason the Commission recommended
2 that "the current statutory criteria and requirements
3 for setting air quality standards at the levels necessary
4 to protect public health without consideration of eco-
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5 nomic factors should remain unchanged";
6 (d) the House of Representatives reaf{irms its sup-·
7 port of the current process for establishing air quality
8 stimdards and commits itself to continue the Olean Air
9 Act's guarantee of the right to breathe air free from
t 10 harmful or potentially harmful levels of air pollutants;
11 and
12 (e) the House of Representatives further commits
13 itself to encourage and support long-term basic re-
14 search designed to improve the needed scientific base
15 for the ·review and evaluation -0£ standards. The House
16 of Representatives also supports research to improve
17 the scientific base for the review and evaluation of pol-
18 lution control requirements in order to ayoid unnec~s-
19 sary adverse economic impacts.
20 PROTECTION OF CROPS AND FORESTS FROM: POLloUTION
21 DAMAGE
22 SEC. 3. The House of Representatives finds and de-
23 clares that-
24 (a) air pollution causes significant damage to the --25 nation's agricultural and forestry rcsoul'ccs. The Clean
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1 Air Act contains a number of provisions designed to
2 work toward the elimination of this damage; and
3 {b) States should continue to work to eliminate
levels of air pollution damaging to the Nation's vital
agricultural and forestry resources. For this purpose,
the Environmental Protection Agency (hereinafter re-
ferred to as "EPA") should continue to set and main-
tain standards which will eliminate such damage.
9 CONTROLLING ACID RAIN AND ACID DEPOSITION
10 SEC. ·4. The House of Representatives finds and de-
ll clares that-
12 (a) the Clean Air Act fails to adequately address
13 pollutants transported long distances. Acid rain now
14 threatens aquatic, industrial, and agricultural resources.
15 The impacts of acid rain have been seen in many re-
16 gions of our country and have demonstrated the dra-
17 matic ecological damage which occurs in tl.reas with
18 critically low threshold levels of acid buffering materi-
19 als. Acid buildup within the environment, has damaged
20 potable water supplies; causes soil deterioration
21 through the leaching of minerals; and threatens
22 aquifers with the release of abnormally high levels of
23 heavy metals concentration into the total environment;
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{b) sufficient documentation of acid rain exists to
necessitata emissions reduction efforts from existing
l!RES 252 SC
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1 sources within the context of the Olean Air Act. The
2 House of Representatives expects the Interagency
3 Task Force on Acid Rain (created by Public Law 96-
4 294) to provide additional data upon which to base de-
5 cisions;
6 (c) international tensions caused by the acid rain
7 problem indicate the need for both Canada and• the
8 United States to act, jointly and independently, to
9 solve this common problam;
10 (d) the National Academy of Sciences finds that
11 action should be taken to control the major sources of
12 acid rain; and
13 (e) the House of Representatives concurs in the
14 findings and should rapidly control these sources.
15 AUTO POLLUTION REMAINS A PUl3LIC HEALTH THREAT
16 SEC. 5. The House of Representatives finds and de-
11 clares that--
18 (a) the automobile remains the largest s'in'gie -
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19 source of air pollution in this country. The Clean Air
20 Act has produced major reductions in emissions levels
21 from cars. Most new cars, foreign and domestic, al-
22 ready meet the emission standards mandated by the
23 Act;
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1 (b) improved economic conditions of the American
2 auto industry need not be financed at the expense of
3 our environment;
4 (c) as a consequence of our Nation's commitment
5 to the Clean Air Act, significant progress has been
l •! 6 made to deal with emissions from trucks and auto-·1
7 mobiles. Retreat from this progress and from the devel~
8 opment of effective requirements would be contradic-
9 tory and counterproductive to our national goals now
10 within reach; and
11 (d) the House of Representatives believes that the
12 auto industry is capable of complying with these stand-!
r 13 ards and therefore, shC1uld not be relieved of these re-
14 quirements ,vithout h clear and co:rivincing demonstra-
15 tion that air quality goals will not be adversely affect-
16 ed.
17 PROTECTING CLE.AN AIR AREAS
18 8Eo.. 6. Th~ House of Representatives finds and de-
19 clares that-
20 (a) regions of the country which still el\:u.r clean
21 air possess a precious natur:11 resource. Thi::: resource
22 should be carefully managed. The Olean Air Act estab-
23 lishes a system to budget these clean air resources and
24 such a system should remain au integral part of the
25 law;
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1 (b) permitting pollution in clean air areas .to rise
2 to those typical of polluted cities will also increase
3 damages to human health and contribute to visibility
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degradation;
(c) less stringent emission requirements in clean
6 air areas should not be used as an incentive for e~1cour-
7 aging industrial relocation. New or relocating industry
8 in clean air areas should use the latest available devel-
9 opments in ~ollution control; and
10 (d) the House of Representatives supports admin-
11 istrative simplification of the present permit system for
12 controlling pollution in clean air regions which can ha
18 carried out while still maintaining the quality of the re-
14 source.
15 PROTECTING PBISTINE AIR IN PARKS AND WILDERNESS
16 AREAS
17 SEO. 7. The House of Representatives finds and de-
18 clares that-
19 (a) the National Park Service has identified air
20 pollutants as one of the major throats to the integrity
21 of national p!lrks in all regions of the country, from
22 Acadia in Maine to Yosemite in California;
23 (b) regions of the country endowed by nature with
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pristine air quality and magnificent vistas have seen a
steady deterioration of visibility as a result of air pollu-
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1 tiou, and this loss of visibility poses a threat to the
2 quality of life and to the economies of these areas; and
3 (c) in 1977 the Claan Air Act Amendments au-
4 thorized the Environmental Protection Agency to initi-
5 ate measures ~o restore visibility and protect the air
6 quality in parks and )vildemess areas. The implernenta-
7 tion of these requirements has only just begun. The
8 House of Representatives reaffirms its commitment to
9 the implementation of this program.
10 NEW THREAT OF TOXIC POLLUTANTS
11 SEO. 8. The House of Representatives finds and de-
12 clares that-
13 (a) certain air pollutants are so highly toxic foat
14 they pose a serious threat.even in small quantities;
15 (b} the Environmental J>rotection Agency has thus
16 far taken action to regulate only a very few toxic pol-
17 lutants and has failed to take final action to regulate
l 8 several pollutants which the Congress specifically in-
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~tructed it to· regulate in 1917;
(c) the National Commission on Air Quality found
that "the potential adverse health effects are likely t('
22 be far more severe from hazardous pollutants than
23 from the more widespread, regulated pollutants," and
24 urged the Congresl3 "to expedite the listing of hazard-
25 ous air pollutants and issuance of emission standards
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1 ior sources that emit a hazardous pollutant in signifi-
2 cant amounts"; and
3 (d) the House of Representatives concurs in that
4 finding and commits itself to improving the effective-
5 ness and workability of these sections of the law.
6 MORE EFFICIENT POLLU'l'ION CONTROL
7 SEC. 9. The House of Representatives finds and de-
8 clares that-
9 (a) the long-range goal of the Nation's clean air
10 effort should be· the reduction of emissions, not merely
11 holding them at present levels;
12 (b) further reduction of air pollution demands ·that
IL 13 as America's aged industrial facilities are gradually re-I .
14 placed with new plants, these new plants will be built
15 to achieve the la.test available control technology in
16 pollution control; it is undesirable for clean air regula-
17 tions to permit major new additions or substitutions of
18 industrial plants without incorparating this more cost-
19 effective pollution control technology; and
20 (c) failure to impose pollution removal reqUU"e-
21 ments on new plants could unfairly penalize regions
22 ,vith more difficult pollution problems, or those whose
28 fuel reserves ru-e of a less advanta 6eous type.
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1 CLE.A.NINO UP DIRTY AIR AREAS
2 SEC. 10. The House of Representatives finds and de-
8 clares that-
4 (a) millions of people across the Nation continue
5 to be exposed to unhealth~, levels of air pollution;
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6 (b) these people have a right to expect the air
7 quality in these areas to be improved to acceptable
8 levels as soon as practicable;
9 (c) new industrial sources of pollution locating in
10 dirty air areas must minimize pollution burdens by ap-
11 plying the lateet available control technology in pollu-
I 12 tion control; and
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' 13 (d) dirty air areas must ensure that additional pol-
14 lution from new sources is off set by corrcspcndir.g re-
15 ductions from existing sources of pollution so that
16 progress toward achieving clean air is maintained si-
\ 17 multaneously with continued economic growth.
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RESOLUTION NO. 6838 ------
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF. THE CITY OF
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, SUPPORTING PRINCIPLES
ENUMERA'rED IN 'l'HE CLEAN AIR ACT RESOLUTION
HR252 AND CALLING UPON THE UNITED STATES HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES TO ADOP'r THIS RESOLUTION
FORTHWITH.
WHEREAS, clean air is fundamentally important for the health
7 and well-being of the citizens, economy, and environment of th~
8 United States, and
9 WHEREAS, the nation's existing Clean Air Act should be
10 maintain€d and strengthened subject only to such changes that
ll will improve its administration and effectiveness.
12 NOW, THEREFORE, BE I'l.' RESOLVED THAT the City of Carlsbad
13 supports the principles enumerated in the Clean Air Act
14 Resolution, H.Res. 252 (Vento-Lewis) and calls upon the United
15 States House of Representatives to adopt this resolution forth-
"16 with.
17 PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of
18 Carlsbad, California, this 6th day of April, 1982,.by the
19 following vote:
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AYES: . Council Menbers Packard, Casler, Anear, Lewis and Kulchin
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
· ABSTlU.N': ·
ATTEST:
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2aj/~~c~.
Lee Rautenkranz, Cit;\::1erk