Calif. underestimates vehicle emissions
Officials fear they won't be able to comply with federal law
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- California air quality officials have underestimated vehicle emissions by almost a third and are worried they won't be able to clean up the pollutants by 2010, the year mandated by federal law.
Reduction measures are being taken across the state, but progress at easing the levels of ozone and haze, two of the most abundant pollutants, is slower than the officials had hoped.
"I'm not ready to give up, but we need to move as aggressively as possible," said Jack Broadbent, director of air programs in California for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "I have concern and alarm."
The revised vehicle emission levels were reported in a preliminary draft of the 2003 air quality management plan, the blueprint that guides clean air efforts for the Los Angeles region.
The final draft, to be released at the end of January, will be sent to the EPA.
Southern California, home to about half of the state's population, is known to have some of the nation's dirtiest air.
Pollutants common to the region are known to cause headaches, asthma, heart attacks and cancer, air quality officials said.
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