May 21, 2008 5:48 pm US/Pacific
Pay-To-Pollute Rules For Bay Area Firms Approved
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Chevron refinery in Richmond.
AP
Air pollution regulators in the San Francisco Bay area have voted overwhelmingly to approve new rules that impose fees on businesses for emitting greenhouse gases.
A spokeswoman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District says the agency's board of directors voted 15-1 on Wednesday to charge companies 4.4 cents per ton of carbon dioxide they emit.
District spokeswoman Lisa Fasano called it a "modest fee" for air pollution generated by stationary sources such as refineries, power plants and manufacturing facilities.
The fee will not be imposed on vehicles, said Fasano.
The first-of-its-kind program in the U.S. will affect some 2,500 businesses in the nine-county Bay Area.
But many Bay Area businesses oppose the rules, saying they could interfere with the state's campaign to fight global warming under a law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.
Fasano said average yearly fees will range widely, from under $1 for small companies to more than $50,000 for the biggest polluters. The vast majority of businesses are only expected to have to pay under $1.
The district will use the proceeds to further its own climate protection activities, Fasano said.
The program, which would require companies to measure and report their own emissions, could make it more complicated and expensive to do business in the Bay Area, said Shelly Sullivan, who heads the AB32 Implementation Group, a coalition of business groups working with state regulators to implement California's global warming law.
"It's going to make Bay Area businesses less competitive because companies outside the area won't face similar costs," Sullivan said. "There would be a patchwork of plans that would not be consistent."
Opponents also question whether the agency, which is charged with regulating air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter, has the authority to impose fees on greenhouse gas emissions.
Bay Area district officials believe the agency has that authority because global warming is raising surface temperatures, which worsens air quality.
"We see a direct connection between the climate and air pollution," said Jack Broadbent, the district's executive director. "We believe think the changing climate is going to require effort on the federal, state and local level,"
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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