DWP LOOKS FOR WAIVERS TO AIR RULES.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power wants an exemption to proposed clean-air rules so that it doesn't have to replace toxic soot- producing diesel equipment with cleaner-burning models.

Environmentalists said the DWP's efforts are at odds with the utility's ``green'' programs, which include subsidizing the private sector for using less-polluting engines. The clean-air rules are designed to reduce diesel soot, which is responsible for 70 percent of the cancer risk from air pollution in Southern California. However, managers with the DWP said diesel is more reliable and available than compressed natural gas to fuel the dump trucks, hydraulic lifts, bucket trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles that respond to power outages and other emergencies in far-flung areas.

``Our territory is quite large and we have transmission systems that go into Arizona, Nevada, up to the Oregon border,'' said Randy Howard with the DWP. ``Many of those areas would not have the support to fuel those vehicles.''

Officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District counter that CNG-fueled vehicles make up less than 1 percent of DWP's 1,000 heavy-duty fleet, leaving plenty of diesel vehicles to respond to emergencies in remote areas.

And the utility can already apply for an individual exemption for diesel vehicles that are based five miles from a natural gas fueling station.

``At this point we aren't inclined to give them a blanket exemption,'' said AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood. ``We'd like the DWP to make more of a good-faith effort. ... They need to focus on purchasing alternative-fuel vehicles and not looking for blanket exemptions.''

The debate comes as the AQMD tries to resurrect a controversial set of regulations adopted in 2000. They required public and private entities to buy alternative-fuel or low-emission models instead of diesel when adding or replacing heavy vehicles, such as trash trucks, school buses and utility trucks.

Engine manufacturers sued, claiming the rules essentially banned diesel engines and forced them to develop new models solely for the Los Angeles area. The Bush administration sided with manufacturers, saying only the federal government can set engine pollution limits.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the rules, but left open the issue of allowing regulators to reinstate the alternative-fuel order for public agencies.

Now the AQMD is asking the federal government to allow the fleet rules for public agencies. The California Air Resources Board is taking public opinions on the issue until Monday.

Before the rules were invalidated, some 8,900 alternative-fuel and low- emission vehicles were purchased, cutting an estimated 4,800 tons of pollution per year.

Environmentalists argue the fleet rules are especially important because they cut toxic emissions from vehicles that travel through residential areas as well as big rigs that often idle for long periods.

``My hope is that the DWP is not only committed to clean air from an energy-generation perspective but also committed to cleaner solutions in vehicles that deliver service to their consumers,'' said Todd Campbell, policy director at the Coalition for Clean Air.

The DWP has purchased several CNG trucks, but managers said they can use them only in areas near CNG fueling stations.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com