Fine idea: legislator wants dirty truckers to pay higher prices.Fine idea: Legislator wants dirty truckers to pay higher prices State Assemblyman Richard Katz may not be able to convert the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. into a smog-cutting transitway anytime soon, but he has put the hammer down on polluting big rigs. Ten days ago Gov. George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian, Jr. (born July 6, 1928) is an American Republican politician from California, the thirty-fifth Governor of California (1983-1991), and a former California Attorney General (1979-1983). signed a law, sponsored by the Sylmar democrat, raising the fines for drivers of polluting trucks and buses. Those caught for spewing excessive amounts of pollution can be penalized pe·nal·ize tr.v. pe·nal·ized, pe·nal·iz·ing, pe·nal·iz·es 1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish. 2. between $250 and $2,500 for a first offense and between $500 and $5,000 for a second transgression. In some cases, that amounts to a tenfold increase in fines for those with exhaust problems. "In the past truckers knew the chances of being caught were remote and the ticket for polluting was cheaper than complying with the rules," said the five-term legislatior, head of the assembly's transit committee. "But we have a new message for them: `You darken dark·en v. dark·ened, dark·en·ing, dark·ens v.tr. 1. a. To make dark or darker. b. To give a darker hue to. 2. To fill with sadness; make gloomy. 3. our skies and we'll lighten your wallet.'" Katz's bill, which took almost nine months to move through the legislature and was backed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), formed in 1976, is the air pollution agency responsible mainly for regulating stationary sources of air pollution for most of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside County, and all of Orange county. , had some unlikely support: the powerful California Trucking Association. "In the end the trucking industry realized they had no business being behind polluters," Katz, 39, said. "They now know they need to do things to clean up their image." Local and state police also have an interest in the law - an economic one. A portion of the revenues from each ticket will go back to law-enforcement coffers. The tightened pollution law, aimed primarily at the smaller truck and bus firms that have tried to "slide by environmentally," will also apply to out-of-state trucks, Katz said. He isn't worried the legislation will put a damper on interstate commerce interstate commerce In the U.S., any commercial transaction or traffic that crosses state boundaries or that involves more than one state. Government regulation of interstate commerce is founded on the commerce clause of the Constitution (Article I, section 8), which . "California is too big a market for them to ignore." Katz's idea to turn the Los Angeles River into an expressway for carpoolers Carpoolers is an American single-camera comedy series created by Bruce McCulloch, who also executive produces alongside Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, David Miner, Marsh McCall, Joe Russo and Anthony Russo (formerly of Arrested Development). and buses, with commercial developments and schools lining the side, hasnt' received the same reception as his truck bill. But he isn't quitting. A $100,000 study of the project will be completed this summer and Katz is traversing the Southland in search of sympathetic editorial boards, politicians and homeowner groups. PHOTO : Katz: 'Darken our skies, lighten your wallet' |
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