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Builders sue to stop air district rule
| Tuesday, Jun 27 2006 10:20 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jun 27 2006 10:24 PM
Builders, business leaders and housing advocates are challenging San Joaquin Valley air regulators' attempt to cut pollution generated by urban sprawl.
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It's the first air quality rule in the U.S. to target new development for air pollution, and opponents took steps to strike it down Tuesday by filing a lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court.
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District's rationale for the rule, which went into effect in March, is that new homes, strip malls and industrial operations generate new car and truck trips -- known as "indirect" sources of pollution.
The rule requires builders to install bike paths and otherwise wean their developments from the automobile, or pay to offset a portion of their pollution somewhere else.
Its opponents characterize the new rule as a new tax and a "terrible illustration of bureaucracy run amok," the lawsuit says. The district has failed to say exactly how that money will be spent, they say, and it's making a back-door attempt to attack emissions from automobiles, which are regulated by the state.
"We've invested a lot of effort in working with (the air district) to adopt a fee we thought was reasonable," said Nick Cammarota, general counsel for the California Building Industry Association, the lead plaintiff in the case. "Unfortunately those efforts have failed and now we find ourselves here."
So far no local groups have joined the suit, but it's not for lack of sympathy with the cause, said Michael Turnipseed, executive director of the Kern County Taxpayers Association.
"We just think (this rule) was very poorly done," he said.
The district defends its work on a rule that will "pay for very tangible things," said Brenda Turner, spokeswoman for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
It will replace dirty school buses and other engines,she said. It will create bike paths and transit facilities, and encourage builders to plan retail stores near shoppers' homes, she said.
"This is really an excellent opportunity for the building industry to do their part," Turner said.
The rule requires builders to cut or offset a third of a project's smog-forming nitrogen oxides and half of its particulate pollution.
As the less expensive ways of cutting pollution are exhausted, developers will pay more per house, according to the district. The per-house fee could exceed $1,700 by 2008. The rule also governs new commercial space, industrial operations and schools.