FEDS OPPOSE SMOG RULES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SIDES WITH INDUSTRIES.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

The U.S. Department of Justice has sided with engine manufacturers and petroleum producers in an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case that challenges Southern California smog rules requiring companies to buy cleaner models when they replace or expand their heavy-duty fleets.

South Coast Air Quality Management District officials denounced the department's decision, saying it was the third time in the past month that the federal government has stymied the agency's efforts to clean the air.

``We are experiencing our smoggiest summer in more than five years, and the federal government is trying to take away the very tools we need to protect the health of 16 million Southern Californians,'' AQMD Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein said in a statement.

The lawsuit involves seven rules adopted in 2000 and 2001 that require private and public entities that operate 15 or more heavy-duty vehicles to buy alternative fuel or cleaner-burning versions when they replace vehicles or expand their fleets.

The rules apply to operators of transit and school buses, trash trucks, airport shuttles and taxis, street sweepers and utility trucks. The goal is to replace hundreds of old, dirty diesel vehicles with natural gas or other alternative-fuel models.

The Western States Petroleum Association and Engine Manufacturers Association sued the AQMD in 2001, saying the district overstepped its authority in passing the regulation.

Only the federal government and, in some cases, the state can regulate pollutants from vehicles, said Joe Suchecki, director of public affairs for the Engine Manufacturers Association. The AQMD regulations essentially ban diesel vehicles even though they are legal in any other jurisdiction.

``There's a set of vehicles that they just don't like and, even though they meet all the emissions requirements in California, they just aren't going to allow them to be bought there,'' Suchecki said.

Association members fear that if the rules are allowed to stand, other states and regional air quality agencies will adopt similar regulations and that heavy-duty-engine manufacturers will find their products barred in many markets, he said.

But AQMD officials argue that the rules do not set pollutant standards from engines.

``They simply ask fleet operators to choose from among the cleanest engines that are commercially available,'' Wallerstein said.

So far, the AQMD has prevailed in U.S. District Court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in December.

The decision by the Department of Justice to side with the petroleum and engine industry is the latest confrontation between the AQMD and the federal government.

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules that would make it easier for thousands of older power plants, refineries and factories to expand or upgrade their facilities without installing better pollution controls. The AQMD sued the EPA earlier this year to stop the rules.

In August, the AQMD chastised the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for refusing to commit to emissions controls on federally-regulated polluters, such as ships, planes, trains and interstate trucks. The AQMD needs to dramatically cut pollution from those and other sources to meet a 2010 deadline for clearing up smog.

``For years, the federal government has threatened to impose harsh sanctions on Southern California's economy, including revocation of billions of dollars of highway construction funds, if the region does not meet federal clean air standards by 2010,'' Wallerstein said last week. ``Instead of doing their best to help us achieve this goal, they are putting roadblocks in our path.''

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry-cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com