Southern California air quality regulators delayed action on a major smog-reduction plan Friday after hours of public testimony and debate about what steps should be taken to curb the nation’s worst air pollution over the next 15 years. The South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted 9-3 to postpone consideration of the plan until its March 3 meeting. The air district would first seek collaboration with the industry but may switch tactics and begin seeking formal rules within a year if the freight centers fail to agree to adequate and enforceable measures. The air district’s plan aims to go beyond existing regulations to slash smog-forming gases called nitrogen oxides by another 55% by 2031. Another change to the plan proposed Friday by Rolling Hills Estates Councilwoman Judith Mitchell, a Democrat on the air board, would accelerate reductions under the district’s troubled pollution-trading program, then replace the cap-and-trade program with traditional regulations.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 04, 2017 01:30 UTC