SACRAMENTO — The California Air Resources Board applauds U.S. EPA’s proposal to strengthen the primary health-based national air quality standard for fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5 or soot. EPA made this proposal to revise the annual standard after conducting a careful review of the most recent health science.
Prompted by estimates that California growers are losing as much as 25 percent of some crops to smog damage, the Air Resources Board has speeded up its research into the problem with $1 million in studies over the next five years. The studies are intended to improve loss estimates among the state's largest cash crops and could lead to development of smog-resistant varieties or cultivating practices, such as fertilizing and irrigation habits, that better protect crops.
The State Air Resources Board today approved more than $2.5 million in research projects, highlighted by funds for Southern California's first system to measure dry acidic fallout, considered to be the region's biggest source of acidic air pollution, and to study the feasibility of a Smog Check-like program for big trucks and buses.
The State Air Resources Board's program of roadside checks of cars picked at random, as part of a survey of maintenance habits and tampering with anti-smog systems, will be moving to San Diego County for a two weeks beginning May 6, 1985.
In cooperation with the California Highway Patrol, cars will be flagged down in designated test areas for a voluntary 20-minute check of the anti-smog system and a measurement of the car's tailpipe emission levels. No citations will be issued for illegal engine tampering, since the tests are voluntary and strictly for ARB research use only.
In a move aimed at reducing unexpected emissions increases and lowering repair costs for motorists, the Air Resources Board has required car makers to make the "brain of modern electronic anti-smog systems more durable and capable of diagnosing engine problems, starting with the 1988 model year.
The Air Resources Board, with the aid of the California Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Automotive Repair, will be conducting roadside checks in Ventura County during the week of April 29, as part of a statewide study of anti-smog system tampering and the success of the state's Smog Check Program.
The state Air Resources Board's program of roadside checks of cars picked at random, as part of a survey of maintenance habits and tampering with anti-smog systems, will be moving to Sacramento during the week of April 22.
The California Air Resources Board will be among the government agencies hosting a two-day symposium June 6 and 7 in Southern California dedicated to discussing methods of reducing private automobile use to improve air quality.
The Air Resources Board's roadside checks of anti-smog equipment on passenger cars has moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where it will continue for the next two weeks.
The roadside inspections, with help frum the California Highway Patrol and state Bureau of Automotive Repair will help researchers understand how often and how well cars are maintained by their owners and the extent to which anti-smog systems are tampered with or leaded gasoline is illegally used in newer catalytic converter-equipped cars.
The California Air Resources Board has approved a carburetor and four installation kits that can be used as replacements for original equipment on several models of 1975-84 Toyotas. The new kits, manufactured by Redline, Inc., of Torrance, California, are available for most Celicas and Coronas and for two and four wheel drive pickup trucks.