Early this month, in an important victory for the independence of locally-controlled regulatory boards, the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Governing Board voted 8-5 against reconsidering its December vote on NOx RECLAIM.
The December vote came after 3 years of meetings, workshops and public testimony and was described by SCAQMD as the “largest emission reduction in the history” of this market-based program. In an unprecedented overreach, the California Air Resources Board and a Senate committee tried pressuring the SCAQMD Governing Board to reconsider their vote.
Now, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León is proposing a bill to increase the number of state appointees to this board that is currently primarily comprised of local elected officials. The LA Times has editorialized that this plan would be highly problematic.
Throughout this process, BizFed has been the consistent business voice stating very clearly our belief that clean and good jobs are both vital to public health.
