Galanter Announces Agreement Between Los Angeles and Owens Valley; Historic Agreement Settles Years of Dispute Over Dust Control at Owens Lake.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 15, 1998--Council member Ruth Galanter Wednesday announced that representatives of the city and the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District have reached agreement on how to address a long-standing conflict between the city of Los Angeles and the Owens Valley.

The agreement will be considered by the Great Basin Air District Board and the Los Angeles City Council before the end of July.

The talks that led to this agreement were precipitated when the Great Basin Air District issued an order to the city to undertake by the year 2001 a series of specific measures designed to reduce dust pollution from the bed of Owens Lake. City staff proposed alternate control strategies, and the result is a program that will both reduce emissions of particulate matter and increase the likelihood that the control measures will be effective.

This historic agreement commits the city to reducing the particulate matter (dust) from Owens Lake to comply with particulate- matter standards of the Federal Clean Air Act by the 2006 deadline but allows greater flexibility in designing or adapting control strategies to increase efficiency and to reduce any possible impact on the city's water rates.

This proposed agreement is part of a series of actions in which the city of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power have taken positive steps to resolve decades of hostility between the city and its neighbors in those parts of the state that provide much of the city's water supply.

In 1996, Galanter played a key role in ending the Mono Lake controversy after nearly 20 years of litigation. As chair of the City Council's Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which oversees water policy and the Department of Water and Power, Galanter has been closely involved with all parties to the negotiations.

Galanter congratulated the negotiators from both sides for their persistence and their creativity in arriving at an agreement that will avoid another costly and lengthy battle in the courts. "I urge my colleagues on the City Council to adopt this agreement and join me in celebrating a new era in the way Los Angeles does business with the rest of the state," Galanter said.

Below are a statement jointly issued by the Great Basin Air District and the city of Los Angeles, and the text of the agreement.

JOINT STATEMENT OF

GREAT BASIN UNIFIED AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT AND CITY OF LOS ANGELES NEGOTIATING TEAMS

July 15, 1998

The negotiating teams from the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (District) and the City of Los Angeles (City) have developed a proposed Memorandum of Agreement to resolve the disputes between the City and the District concerning the City's challenge of the District's proposed 1997 State Implementation Plan and associated Order controlling particulate matter (PM-10) air pollution from Owens Lake in Inyo County, California. The attached proposal is being released to the public for comment and will be presented to the governing boards of both parties for consideration before July 30, 1998, with a recommendation for adoption.

                        MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
                    BETWEEN THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
                                AND THE
          GREAT BASIN UNIFIED AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT


1.   The City of Los Angeles ("City") commits to its responsibility to
     reduce particulate emissions from the Owens Lake bed so that the
     Owens Valley Planning Area ("OVPA") will attain and maintain the
     federal Clean Air Act ambient air quality standards for
     particulate matter (PM 10, hereafter referred to as "the
     Standards") by the statutory deadline. In 2006, the District will
     make a determination whether the OVPA attains the Standards. In
     making that determination, the District will apply EPA's Natural
     Events Policy.

2.   The City and Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District
     ("Great Basin APCD") commit to take the described actions with
     respect to the pending proceedings identified in Exhibit A. These
     actions will be taken in the context of settlement of existing
     disputes between the parties and in no way prejudices future
     actions on similar issues.

3.   Great Basin APCD agrees upon execution of this Agreement to
     revise its proposed 1997 State Implementation Plan (1997 SIP) and
     associated control measure Order (District Order 070297-04) to
     substantially conform to the provisions set forth below and
     consider for adoption such revised 1997 SIP and associated
     control measure Order by November 30, 1998. The City agrees not
     to legally challenge or appeal a revised 1997 SIP and associated
     control measure Order, provided they substantially conform to the
     provisions set forth below.

     (a) City will implement control measures on 10 square miles of
         the Owens Lake bed by December 31, 2001.

     (b) City will implement control measures on an additional 3.5
         square miles of the Owens Lake bed by December 31, 2002,
         unless the District determines on or before December 31,
         2001, that the OVPA will attain the Standards by the
         statutory deadline without implementation of further control
         measures.

     (c) City will implement control measures on an additional 3
         square miles of the Owens Lake bed by December 31, 2003,
         unless the District determines on or before December 31,
         2002, that the OVPA will attain the Standards by the
         statutory deadline without implementation of further control
         measures.

     (d) City will implement control measures on an additional 2
         square miles of the Owens Lake bed in each calendar year
         after 2003, unless the District determines on or before
         December 31 of the previous year, that the OVPA will attain
         the Standards by the statutory deadline without
         implementation of further control measures.

     (e) Control measures implemented pursuant to items a), b), c) and
         d), above, shall be located within the area identified in
         Exhibit C. The Great Basin APCD and the City may jointly
         agree to modify the locations identified in Exhibit C.

     (f) Control measures implemented pursuant to items a), b), c) and
         d), above, shall conform to the following. The City shall
         implement the control measures identified by Great Basin APCD
         as described in Exhibit B. The Great Basin APCD and the City
         may jointly agree to modify, or add one or more control
         measures to those identified in Exhibit B. On the 3.5 square
         miles of the "Dirty Socks" area identified as Areas F and G
         in Exhibit C, the City has the authority to try one or more
         control measures of its choosing not identified in Exhibit B.

     (g) Great Basin APCD will revise the SIP in 2003 to incorporate
         the knowledge gained by early implementation of control
         measures (the "2003 SIP"). The 2003 SIP will provide for
         attainment in the OVPA of the Standards by the statutory
         deadline.

4.   In the event of a 2003 SIP legal challenge by the City, the City
     agrees to implement control measures on an additional 2 square
     miles of the Owens Lake bed annually, as provided in Section 3(d)
     above. Upon State approval of the 2003 SIP pursuant to Health &
     Safety Code Section 41650, the City shall be required to make up
     any control shortfall caused by the City SIP challenge, if any,
     or shall be provided credit for control measure installation
     beyond the State approved SIP, if any. Any required control
     measure shortfall will be made up within one year of the approval
     of the SIP by the State.

5.   The City agrees to fully participate in the SIP revision public
     review process.

6.   The determination of when the OVPA has attained the Standards is
     the authority and responsibility of the Great Basin APCD. The
     City does not waive any legal right or remedy available to it
     with respect to any such determination.

7.   The City and Great Basin APCD staff shall meet at least annually
     for the purpose of evaluating the progress of control measures
     and will consider the advice of scientific experts that each
     party may invite to the meeting.

8.   This Memorandum of Agreement is effective upon adoption by the
     governing bodies of the parties.

9.   Either if CARB does not approve the revised 1997 SIP before
     February 28, 1999, or if EPA does not approve the revised 1997
     SIP before August 20, 1999, this Memorandum of Agreement shall
     terminate.

10.  The City may establish a Joint Powers Authority or other
     appropriate entity as a mechanism to provide the water necessary
     to implement this Memorandum of Agreement.

11.  Wherever in this Memorandum of Agreement actions are authorized
     by joint agreement of the parties, neither party shall be
     obligated to agree.

12.  In this Agreement, the terms "Great Basin APCD" and "District"
     shall mean the Governing Board of the Great Basin Unified Air
     Pollution Control District.


    CONTACT: City of Los Angeles
              Adi Liberman, 213/485-3357
                            213/963-9386 (pager)