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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Reagan, Ronald: Gubernatorial Papers,
1966-74: Press Unit
Folder Title: [Environment] - Environmental Quality
Study Council Progress Report, February 1970
Box: P35
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
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PRESS
State of California
Environmental Quality Study Council
Progress Report
February 1970
State of California
Environmental Quality Study Council
Progress Report
February 1970
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
RONALD REAGAN, Governor
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
SACRAMENTO
February 1, 1970
Honorable Ronald Reagan
Governor of California
Honorable Howard Way
President pro Tempore, and
Members of the State Senate
Honorable Robert Monagan
Speaker, and Members of
the State Assembly
Gentlemen:
It is my privilege to submit to you the progress report
of the State Environmental Quality Study Council. The
Council was created by the Legislature in 1968 for the
purpose of inquiring into the condition of the quality
of the state's physical environment, to recommend the
appropriate action necessary to effectively protect,
manage, and improve environmental quality on a long range
basis, and to make recommendations for immediate action
by state agencies. The legislation requires that a
progress report be made to the Legislature on February 1,
1970.
Since its activation in April of 1969, hearings have been
held in six cities. Each involved extremely controversial
environmental issues with statewide implications. In
addition to the public hearings, numerous work sessions
have been held. Council members have been extremely
diligent and are committed to the task which has been
assigned to them.
The Council trusts that this report will prove helpful
to the Governor and to the Legislature in addressing the
serious environmental issues which confront the State.
Submitted on behalf of all members of the Council.
Respectfully
David F Baber David
David L. Baker
Chairman
-i-
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Council Membership
>
Preface
1
Recommendations
Land Use
3
Air Quality
4
Noise Abatement
7
Water Resources
7
Council Activities
The Public Hearings
8
Results - Palm Springs Hearing
9
Hearing Format
9
Study Sessions
11
Some Accomplishments
11
Fundamental Changes Required
12
The Future
13
Council Financing and Staff
13
Perspective
14
Committee Reports
Land Use
15
Air Quality
31
Noise Abatement
41
Water Resources
47
APPENDIX
Resolutions
A-1
Schedule of Activities, 1969
B-1
Tentative Schedule of Hearings, 1970
C-1
-iii-
YY
#
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
COUNCIL MEMBERS
DAVID L. BAKER, CHAIRMAN
Supervisor, County of Orange
LAND USE COMMITTEE
NOISE ABATEMENT COMMITTEE
Professor Frank J. Tysen,
Edward M. Ross, Chairman
Chairman - Program of
Attorney, Little, Ross
Urban and Regional Planning,
and Pierson
University of Southern
California
WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Arthur F. Pillsbury, Chairman
AIR QUALITY COMMITTEE
Director, Water Resources
Albert Pearlson, Chairman
Center, University of
Attorney, Pearlson and
California
Pearlson
Senator Tom Carrell
Gordon C. Luce, State
Samuel A. Egigian, President
Secretary for Business and
Southern District Refuse
Transportation
Removal Council
Chester Morris, Attorney
Dr. A. J. Haagen-Smit, Chairman
Kerry Mulligan, Chairman,
State Air Resources Board;
State Water Resources
California Institute of
Control Board
Technology
Helen B. Reynolds, President
Bruce J. Held, Sandia
California Roadside Council
Corporation
Randolph E. Siple, Attorney
Norman B. Livermore, Jr., State
Gair and Siple
Secretary for Resources
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS
Louis M. Saylor, M.D., Director
City and County Members of
Department of Public Health
Council on Intergovernmental
Jerry Fielder, Director
Relations:
Department of Agriculture
William Penn Mott, Jr., Director
Paul J. Anderson, Supervisor
Department of Parks and
County of Riverside
Recreation
James V. Fitzgerald, Supervisor
Ray Arnett, Director
County of San Mateo
Department of Fish and Game
Thomas Bradley, Councilman
James G. Stearns, Director
City of Los Angeles
Department of Conservation
Maurice K. Hamilton, Councilman
James Moe, Director
City of San Bruno
Department of Public Works
Wesley McClure, City Manager
William R. Gianelli, Director
City of San Leandro
Department of Water Resources
Charles R. LeMenager, Director
Department of Housing and
Community Development
STAFF SPECIALIST
Eldon E. Rinehart
V
PREFACE
The 1968 California Legislature, as an expression of
the growing deep concern over the deterioration of
the State's physical environment, enacted Part 14,
Division 3, Title 2, of the Government Code, creating
the State Environmental Quality Study Council. This
report has been prepared in accordance with Section
16055 of the above, which requires that the Council
submit a progress report to the Governor and the
Legislature on February 1, 1970.
The Council was convened on April 10, 1969, and after
two months of organizational meetings commenced with
its in-depth study. This report will relate progress
made by the Council during the first nine months of
its existence, together with an indication of how it
intends to proceed during the next year.
It hardly needs to be pointed out that the State's
environmental problems are extremely complex and
not prone to easy solutions. As a recent Christian
Science Monitor cartoon put it: "It is getting too
serious for just a mop-up." Recognizing this, the
Legislature provided the Council with a broadly
based set of duties.
Briefly stated, the Council has been directed to
study, in depth, State policies affecting environ-
mental quality, to determine whether existing
approaches are adequate, and to identify "unmet or
inadequately met needs, undesirable overlaps, or
conflicts in jurisdiction between or among Federal,
State, regional and local agencies." In addition
to being charged with developing long-range environ-
mental quality goals and recommendations, it shall
also make recommendations for immediate action.
The Council's fact-finding and recommending tasks
are thus of enormous breadth and scope.
- 1 -
-
my
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were adopted by the Council.
It should be noted that other recommendations developed by
the various Committees were taken under advisement. These
will be found in the Committee reports. In the appendix
are resolutions adopted by the Council dealing with
specific environmental problems.
LAND USE
1. Immediate adoption, in principle, of a population-
distribution policy, together with a commitment to
utilize the State's ability to influence water, power,
transportation and other facilities in order to imple-
ment such a policy.
2. Immediate adoption of a go-slow policy on all major
public works projects whose adverse impact on the
environment seems irreversible. State agencies
responsible for any such project should prepare a
report detailing its environmental consequences;
e.g., on population density, air, water, noise, and
visual pollution, loss (or gain) of open space and
recreational facilities. Such reports should be
submitted promptly to the newly formed cabinet-level
State Environmental Policy Committee so that it can
evaluate the impact on the environment, and provide
for alternative courses of action, where necessary.
3. Adoption of a strategy for developing appropriate long-
range policies for establishing and implementing
highest-use criteria, based on environmental quality
considerations, for the State's regions and sub-
regions. Appropriate State Administration mechanisms
should be established to implement such policies.
This should be accomplished by a greater utilization
of full time environmentally knowledgeable personnel.
4. Preparation, in the interim, of an emergency inventory
of the State's regions and sub-regions for the purpose
of establishing temporary criteria, indicating their
possible highest use, environmentally. In this, the
help of the Nation's most respected ecologists,
planners, and other environmental professionals should
be sought.
- 3 -
Recommendations
5. Adoption of a set of policies, upon completion of the
emergency inventory, that will preserve areas from
urban, commercial or industrial intrusions likely to
change their character until a final "highest-use"
policy has been established.
6. Immediate adoption of legislative and administrative
directives to require all State and local agencies to
incorporate environmental quality criteria as a part
of all relevant decisions, including those of a regu-
latory nature.
AIR QUALITY
1. Mandatory preparation of a report on air quality impact
by any agency involved in developing plans for new State
facilities or freeways, or modification or additions
thereto. The report shall include estimates of added
vehicular traffic involved and emission rates of
stationary sources, and shall be made available to the
State Air Resources Board, counties, cities, and local
air pollution control districts in the area affected,
for comment.
2. Establishment of air basin control agencies within the
State similar to the presently utilized water basin
approach. Air quality standards should be set for each
air basin, along with enforceable emission rates.
Furthermore, areas within each air basin must be
examined, intra-air basin control zones formed, and
different standards set where health, economics, or
other factors demand separate treatment.
3. Mandatory establishment of local air pollution control
districts until such time as a basin approach is adopted.
In areas with few problems at the present time, this
requirement may be limited to just one part-time person
who has the responsibility to see that State requirements
are met. However, a responsible person whom the Air
Resources Board can contact as the need arises is
necessary in all counties.
4. Passage of appropriate State legislation requiring a
permit from the Air Pollution Control District or from
the basin, whichever has jurisdiction, for construction
and operation of any new potential stationary air
pollution source. It is further recommended that such
legislation should include the following features:
- 4 -
Recommendations
a. Construction of a potential stationary air pollution
source may not commence until the construction permit
has been granted.
b. Operation of a potential stationary air pollution
source may not commence until the operating permit
has been granted.
C. Variances should be good for only one year at a time
(as is presently required in all local districts
using the permit system). Renewals for variances
should be referred by the local districts to the
State Air Resources Board for approval.
a. The State Air Resources Board should be given more
authority in reviewing emission standards established
by local districts. Furthermore, the Air Resources
Board should have the authority to reject any emission
standards which are not stringent enough to meet the
State Air Quality Standards for an area.
e. Stationary air-pollution source facilities failing
to operate within the scope of the provisions of the
operating permit requirements should be subject to
fine on a daily basis as well as complete closure
if corrective action is not taken within a specified
number of days.
f. The Air Resources Board should be given the authority
and enforcement powers to control certain types of
pollution which can only be done adequately on a
statewide basis. For example, open burning at dumps
and wrecking yards should be stopped throughout the
State. Limiting other smoke and dust emitters is
highly desirable within the next five years. The
Air Resources Board should be consulted regarding the
extent of this recommendation.
g. A program of increasingly strict emission standards
must be set for all types of emission sources (new
and existing). Target goals for five to ten years
ahead must be set now.
5. Encouragement by the State of nuclear power plants and
discouragement of fossil-fueled power plants. This can
be done by a two-pronged approach:
a. The State Department of Public Health should be
given the necessary funds for public information
programs on the truth about nuclear power and the
air pollution problem from fossil-fueled plants.
- 5 -
Recommendations
b. The State must work with the U. S. Atomic Energy
Commission to find suitable sites for nuclear power
plants. The State should seriously consider the
purchase of sites along the coast which could be
turned into nuclear power plant parks. Site selec-
tion can be in cooperation with the USAEC, conser-
vation groups, and other interested organizations.
The land can be leased to power companies for
nuclear power plant construction sites, while the
entire park complex stays under the direct guidance
of the State. The plants can be located back from
the beach SO that the beach area can be used by the
public.
C. The State of California Power Plant Siting Committee
should be given statutory authority.
6. Immediate control of agricultural burning, as a source of
pollution in the State, through two approaches:
a. The Air Resources Board should immediately start a
study program to determine means of disposal of
agricultural waste without polluting the air.
b. As an interim measure, the Air Resources Board
should set up the conditions of burning in all air
basins. For example, one rule might be that only
thoroughly dry prunings may be burned. Furthermore,
the Air Resources Board should assist the local
agencies by forecasting days when burning is or is
not permitted.
7. Encouragement and funding should be provided to institutions
of higher learning to initiate or expand programs for
training air pollution control personnel. Such training
programs must include graduate, undergraduate, and AA
degrees, as well as special technician training through
night courses or special short-term courses.
8. Reduction of air pollution from motor vehicle sources
by the following methods:
a. The State should continue to seek emission control
devices for older used cars (pre-1966). Present
legislation states that for older cars, a device
shall not be required unless it sells for $65 or
less; however, it is believed that legislation
should be flexible enough to raise the price if a
promising device is found that costs somewhat more
than $65.
- 6 -
Recommendations
b. An incentive program for purchasing low emission
vehicles should be started. The program might include
lower tax rates for buying cars with emissions sub-
stantially lower than presently required for the 1970
model cars.
C. An inspection program should be instituted to assure
that anti-pollution devices have not been disconnected
and that the device is performing satisfactorily. An
inspection sticker should be visibly displayed on the
windshield, certifying compliance.
9. Adequate funding of the Air Resources Board to provide
the staff and facilities necessary to conduct a good
statewide air pollution control program.
10. Establishment of the Air Resources Board on a full time
basis in the same manner as the State Water Resources
Control Board.
NOISE ABATEMENT
1. Coordination of the planning, siting, and construction
of new highways in order to alleviate noise conditions
in surrounding areas. -- The State currently has regu-
lations regarding the allowable noise limits of vehicles;
however, the laws now in effect do not take into consid-
eration the number of automobiles traveling a highway,
highway configuration, placement, or volume.
2. Mandatory inclusion in subdivision public disclosures
of noise data comparable to warnings that are given
relative to other possible deleterious factors concerning
the proposed subdivisions.
3. Development of a statewide building materials code that
would take into consideration the noise-deadening or
transmittal capacities of various building materials.
WATER RESOURCES
During 1969 the Water Resources Committee worked with State
Agencies and leading authorities, and participated in
conferences, from which it developed concepts most useful
in long-range planning to enhance environmental quality,
as outlined in its report. These concepts are expected to
form the basis of Public Hearings during 1970, from which
recommendations will be developed. However, no recommen-
dations are made at this time.
- 7 -
COUNCIL ACTIVITIES
The Council's initial concern was to discover a fruitful
way in which to proceed with its challenging task. One of
the first actions of the Chairman was to establish four
committees within the Council to expedite the Council's
work. These were: Air Quality; Water Resources; Noise
Abatement; and Land Use. This provided the Council with
a useful mechanism to handle the enormous workload with
greater efficiency than would have been possible otherwise.
Four committees, working simultaneously, could obviously
cover a great deal more territory in a shorter time than
the Council functioning as one body.
The next concern was what kind of priorities should be
established among the various duties with which the Council
has been charged. For instance, were recommendations for
long-term action more urgent than recommendations for
immediate action; should the first efforts be devoted to
inventorying the State's environmental problems, or to
examining relevant State policies?
THE PUBLIC HEARINGS
The Council's first public hearing, held by the Air Quality
Committee in Palm Springs on June 26, 1969, showed how it
might be possible to manage those various responsibilities
simultaneously. The hearing, which was held at the request
of the City Attorney of Palm Springs, was prompted by two
oil refineries proposed for the San Gorgonio Pass, at the
neck of the Coachella Valley. The Committee's major concern
was how a unique air basin, relatively free of air pollution,
could be adversely affected by a decision-making process
taking place outside of the principally affected area.
The hearing elicited a high degree of interest. Held at the
Palm Springs City Hall with virtually no notice, the hearing
drew a full house and received extensive coverage in the
media. The hearing revealed the deep emotional concern of
the population over the despoliation of their environment.
It also indicated the great need for public forums at which
the aggrieved can testify about their environmental problems.
It soon became clear that many saw the Council as an
Ombudsman, although such a function was hardly intended or
anticipated.
The specific environmental problem brought about by the
proposed refineries proved uniquely designed for probing
the obstacles to the maintenance of clear air standards in
those areas as yet unaffected. The Air Quality Committee,
- 8 -
Council Activities
realizing this value, recommended a full-scale hearing by
the full Council on the subject, which took place in Palm
Springs on August 14, 1969. The evidence gathered at these
two hearings suggested several needed basic improvements
in the organization of air pollution control enforcement,
recommendations for which are contained in the report of
the Air Quality Committee. Other recommendations derived
from these hearings are contained in the Land Use Committee
report.
After both hearings had been concluded, the Air Quality
Committee, fulfilling its obligation relative to immediate
action, strongly recommended that a moratorium be placed
on smog-producing industrial expansion in the Coachella
Valley until data could be assembled as to what the impact
would be on that valley's environmental quality.
RESULTS - PALM SPRINGS HEARING
The hearings were followed by several highly encouraging
developments which have thus far averted the threat to the
air quality in the Coachella Valley and other parts of
Riverside County. Local government rose to the occasion.
Coachella Valley cities banded together in a Regional
Anti-Pollution Authority (RAPA) to protect its people and
properties from environmental pollution This fine example
of local leadership represented a broad-based coalition of
city governments, chambers of commerce, and local residents.
The County of Riverside took the initiative by announcing
that it would take steps to ban smog-producing industries
from the entire County. It also called together its
neighboring counties, in October 1969, in Palm Springs,
to explore the feasibility of establishing a joint powers
authority of Southern California Counties for the purpose
of adopting uniform air pollution regulations in this part
of the State. Thus, it became apparent that these fact-
finding missions not only greatly assisted the Council in
discovering obstacles to pollution control as well as
potential solutions, but also helped the understanding of
virtually everyone else involved.
HEARING FORMAT
Having discovered the usefulness of examining specific
environmental problem situations, it was decided to use
others as topics for future hearings. It was stipulated,
however, that such situations had to represent a class of
problems common to other areas of the State, for only then
would they be capable of assisting the Council in arriving
at meaningful recommendations for both immediate and long-
range action within the framework of the enabling Act.
- 9 -
Council Activities
In an effort to make the most of a limited time period,
the Council requested witnesses to submit solution-oriented
testimony rather than a restatement of the problem.
Even so, the Council and its committees turned down numerous
requests for hearings which answered the criteria it had
established. Time limitations, and the honorary status of
the members of the Council who serve without remuneration,
made it impossible to organize and hold all the hearings
for which there was a demand. The requests, however, helped
the Council and its committees to inventory major environ-
mental quality problems which are reflected in the various
committee reports. They also served as an index of the
frustrations that environmental pollution has created among
people of all walks of life throughout the State. There
seems to be a definite need for a full-time environmental
quality Ombudsman arrangement -- something which the Council
is not really constituted to provide.
Out of a total of seven public hearings, all but the Malibu
hearing followed the Palm Springs format. Besides the Palm
Springs hearings, which dealt with the threat of air pollu-
tion to areas as yet relatively unaffected, the Council
held a hearing in the City of Huntington Beach to investigate
how additional air pollution might be prevented in already
heavily polluted basins. It specifically considered the air
pollution threats posed by new power plants and power plant
additions. The Noise Abatement Committee held two hearings.
One, in Inglewood near the Los Angeles International Airport,
probed ways in which noise problems around existing airports
might be abated. The other, in Palmdale, focused on the need
for preventive noise abatement measures.
The Land Use Committee held two hearings, in Los Angeles and
Malibu, respectively. The Los Angeles hearing was concerned
with the rapidly vanishing open-space and parks in urban
areas. The Committee searched for ways in which to stem the
tide. The Malibu hearing considered the environmental
problems of areas located in the path of expanding urban
centers. It also dealt with such basic questions as popu-
lation distribution and the growth ethic. This was the
Council's only two-day hearing and it employed a different
format. Rather than consider a particular environmental
quality problem, the Committee tried to trace the numerous
private and public decisional processes and interrelationships
which shape our expanding urban environment. Federal, State,
and local officials involved in the Malibu environment were
invited to tell the Committee how their agencies' operations
affected the future of Malibu. This thorough, systematic
approach proved useful to the Committee, but it also made
excessive demands on the Council members and its staff.
- 10 -
Council Activities
The hearing format based on the specific environmental
problem situation remains a more productive fact-finding
device. At any rate, the Council would not have been able
to hold so many fruitful hearings without all the help it
received from the several city governments and their
residents. We are deeply indebted to the cities of Palm
Springs, Inglewood, Huntington Beach, Palmdale, and the
Malibu community for their assistance.
STUDY SESSIONS
The hearings were not the only fact-finding mechanism the
Council and its Committees employed. The Council, in its
regular monthly meetings in Sacramento, systematically
acquainted itself. with the activities of State agencies
concerned with the physical environment. These study
sessions included meetings with such State agencies as
the Department of Public Health (regarding noise), the
Water Resources Control Board, the Air Resources Board,
the Office of Planning, and the Governor's Task Force on
Solid Waste Management, as well as the Los Angeles Air
Pollution Control District.
The various committees organized similar meetings with
such diverse groups as the Acoustical Society of America
and the San Francisco Bay Area Health Committee, and with
knowledgeable individuals, including Dr. Kenneth Watt,
Systems Ecologist of the University of California at Davis.
In addition, the committees held periodic brain-storming
sessions. This device was particularly employed by the
Water Resources Committee which, at least for the time
being, preferred this approach to the public hearing device.
SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Having described the Council's activities and its approach,
what have been its accomplishments during the past six
months? Undoubtedly, its most visible accomplishments have
been those of an immediate nature. The beneficial impact
of the Council on the preservation of high air quality
standards in the Coachella Valley has already been described.
Not yet mentioned is the Council's role in the prevention
of further deterioration of the air quality in the Los
Angeles Basin.
After the Huntington Beach hearing, the Air Quality
Committee recommended that a moratorium be placed on the
construction of fossil-fueled power plants in the Los
Angeles Basin unless it could be demonstrated that they
would not further deteriorate the quality of air in the
- 11 -
Council Activities
basin. One immediate threat was a projected expansion of
the Southern California Edison Company's generating plant
in Huntington Beach. The expansion was denied by the
Orange County Air Pollution Control District. The Board
of Supervisors not only joined the Council in its mora-
torium recommendation, but went several steps further by
calling for a moratorium on the construction of all fossil-
fueled power plants throughout the State.
Shortly thereafter, the Los Angeles County Board of Super-
visors passed Rule 67, aimed directly at limiting the
amount of pollution to be emitted from power plants. This
was followed by a halting of the Scattergood Power Plant
expansion in Playa del Rey by the Los Angeles Department
of Water and Power. It was during the Council's Huntington
Beach hearing that it was uncovered that the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power had spent millions of dollars
and had committed many millions more on this plant, without
obtaining a permit from the Los Angeles County Air Pollution
Control District. The Orange County Board of Supervisors
also passed Rule 67, providing its residents, as well as
those of neighboring counties in the basin, protection from
further deterioration by air pollution. Again, the Council
had been able to participate in preventing the increase of
air pollution -- this time in an already heavily polluted
basin.
FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES REQUIRED
By now many had begun to consider these stopgap Council
activities as the very heart of its existence. Yet, as was
pointed out before, the making of recommendations for
immediate action constitutes only part of its charge. Such
recommendations are extremely important, since the deterior-
ation of the physical environment of the State often proceeds
at great speed. Often the irreversible environmental
consequences of certain decisions make immediate action
seem paramount. Yet the Council is very much aware that
many immediate solutions may in fact be only stopgaps,
however essential and desirable they may be.
Desperately needed are basic reforms of a long-range nature.
Fundamental changes must be effected in both our state laws
and our state administrative structure if we are to protect
and improve California's physical environment. Some desirable
changes have already been impiemented. The new State Water
Resources Management System, which became effective January 1,
1970, under AB 413 (1969), is an important step in the
direction of what might ultimately be a model for environ-
mental control. It is important to recognize that this will
be the first truly regional environmental management system
in the State.
- 12 -
Council Activities
Fundamental changes are not easily accomplished. Neither
are they easily formulated. The Council has progressed a
long way toward outlining the kinds of changes that will
be necessary. Substantial evidence of its members'
thinking in this area is contained in the four committee
reports. Each contains a set of recommendations for
meaningful changes.
THE FUTURE
Where do we go from here? There is an important need to
consolidate knowledge and insights. As a first step in
this direction, the Council decided that after the Malibu
hearing, no more hearings would be held during December 1969
and January 1970. Although much ground was covered by the
Council's committees, the emphasis now will be on Council
activities rather than committee activities.
The bulk of the hearings will take place away from Southern
California, where all 1969 hearings have been held. One
hearing, however, is planned for San Diego, and will consider
the problems faced by an expanding metropolis in setting
aside sufficient open space. Several others are slated to
take place in the Bay Area, and will deal, respectively,
with transportation planning and its relation to air
pollution, and with the organization of local air pollution
control districts. A tentative schedule of planned hearings
is appended. It is our intention to continue the hearing
format used thus far. The basic challenge facing the Council
is not only to cover knowledge gaps, as indicated in the
committee reports, but to integrate the accumulated insights
of the members in order to fashion a viable statewide environ-
mental quality policy by the end of the Council's tenure.
It is apparent that agency coordination is a key element
for effectively managing the physical environment. In this
connection, the Council will make a thorough examination of,
and work closely with, the state administrative structure
and those state agencies involved with questions of environ-
mental quality. No doubt certain recommendations will be
forthcoming in this area.
COUNCIL FINANCING AND STAFFING
How well is the Council equipped to perform this task? The
Act establishing the Council, AB 353 (1968), appropriated
$25,600 to complete the two-year study. An additional
- 13 -
Council Activities
$50,000 was appropriated by SB 249 (1969), which will finance
the Council to June 1, 1970. The current administration
budget contains $80,000 appropriations, which, if granted,
would provide funds for another year beyond June 1, 1970.
These funds enable the Council to maintain an Executive
Secretary, a professional staff assistant, and two clerical
personnel. This constitutes a doubling of the staff existing
before October 1, 1969, but it remains a small staff for the
enormous task at hand. Perhaps more crucial, however, is the
time limitation contained in the Council's enabling Act,
under which the Council is to expire on February 1, 1971.
It would be highly desirable if the Council's tenure were
extended one more year -- particularly since the Council was
not activated until April 1969, about six months beyond the
schedule envisaged by the Act.
PERSPECTIVE
A final word should be said about the way in which the
Council has been received. The areas of inquiry have been
areas of conflict, highly controversial and charged with
emotion. Economic interests are intimately involved. In
many cases, public and private interests seeking to meet
the needs of population centers are at odds with an aroused
public - people from all walks of life who are concerned
with what has happened or is about to happen to their
surroundings. Predictably, the Council became involved in
controversy, commended by some and criticized by others.
Council members are not unmindful of the public and
economic sensitivities which are involved. We are dealing
in an area where solutions will not be easy. However,
economic issues may well become moot unless we learn to
manage our resources and our environment.
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PROGRESS REPORT
LAND USE COMMITTEE
Frank J. Tysen,
Chairman
Samuel A. Egigian
Chester Morris
Albert Pearlson
Helen B. Reynolds
LAND USE COMMITTEE
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: A LOSING BATTLE
The first six months of our in-depth study of California's
environmental ills have revealed an extremely pessimistic
picture. Our beautiful State is in severe danger of
being destroyed as a desirable place to live. Our lush
orange and walnut groves, our vineyards, our primeval sage-
brush country, our secluded valleys, our meandering streams,
our majestic mountains, and our windswept beaches are going --
and they are going fast, replaced largely by depressing
urban sprawl. It is even questionable whether major portions
of the State will be capable of supporting tolerable human
life within several more decades.
Having been called upon for the past 25 years to accommodate
one of the greatest bursts of in-migration and population
growth the world has ever known, California's legendary
environmental assets have been squandered in a grossly
negligent fashion, and much of it obliterated beyond repair.
If the present course is continued, our posterity will
inherit a vast wasteland.
It is not that constructive action has been lacking to
counteract the rapidly growing deterioration of our environ-
ment. The very existence of the Environmental Quality
Study Council constitutes a definite recognition of the
State's environmental crisis by the Legislature. Also,
steps have been taken to save the integrity of the San
Francisco Bay, Lake Tahoe, and Northern California's Round
valley. Tough water pollution legislation was adopted
last year providing the State with its first truly regional
environmental quality management system. Air pollution and
pesticide controls have also been the subjects of recent
progressive legislative actions.
The simple fact is that the State's population continues
to burgeon, so that despite stepped-up efforts to correct
the problems, we continue to lose ground in the fight to
maintain the quality of our physical environment -- let
alone in our efforts to meet the challenge of improving
the environment. From a population of 6.9 million in 1940,
California has grown to 20 million. The forecast is for
50 million by the year 2000.
1/. This report is based, in part, on evidence presented
at all Council and Committee hearings held to date.
Membership of the Land Use Committee is represented
on all Council Committees.
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Land Use Committee
Population growth, per se, must be to a major extent a
national concern. It is, therefore, encouraging that
President Nixon has announced plans to establish a
Commission on population growth, and has already issued
appropriate directives to various federal agencies to
implement his concern. Such efforts must be stepped up.
The State of California must play an increasing role in
dealing with population growth - hopefully diminished --
in such a way SO as not to destroy California's environ-
mental quality.
There is an urgent need for the immediate adoption in
principle of a population distribution policy. Unchecked
urbanization will not only lay waste to our beautiful
landscape, but will result in a way of life in which
personal freedom and privacy will become increasingly
extinct and peace of mind and body perpetually endangered,
as exemplified in the ever-increasing occurrence of mental
illness and in the rapid growth of major crime in California.
URBAN SPRAWL: NO END IN SIGHT
It is now clear that the forecasters of a continuous linear
sprawl from Northern California to the Mexican border are
absolutely right, for there is now no mechanism which can
prevent this fro m happening.
In the Committee's two-day hearing at Malibu on land use
patterns, it became crystal clear that every buildable
piece of land in this area would be urbanized in the path
of both the northward expansion from Los Angeles and the
southward expansion from Ventura. Once this area is filled
in, this sprawl is destined to jump to the north of Ventura
and on up the coast.
In a hearing held in Palmdale on the proposed international
airport, a pattern emerged of another major urban sprawl
city bound to fill in buildable land between the Los
Angeles Basin and Palmdale, to be followed by an ultimate
northward march toward Bakersfield. The hearing in Palm
Springs - a city located over 100 miles from Los Angeles ---
left no doubt about the urbanizing pressures of the Los
Angeles Basin in an eastward direction, in spite of its
extreme summer heat.
To counteract this will be extremely difficult, for specu-
lative land practices have built expectations of large
gains among many. If the dehumanized, sprawling megalo-
polian monsters are to be prevented, the expectations of
personal gains among those who have banked on such growth
must inevitably be denied. Such an approach would be
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Land Use Committee
analogous to a set of anti-inflation policies which may
deny investors in securities anticipated growth, or even
decrease the value of their holdings, but which are justi-
fied as serving the common good. Nevertheless, the
obstacles to such policies are clearly self-evident. It
is neither easy nor pleasant to adopt policies unpopular
with powerful vested interests. It will take almost
superhuman political will to do so, but it is not
impossible, as other countries such as Holland have
already proved.
THE MORIBUND LOS ANGELES BASIN
At the same time that the Los Angeles Basin is sprawling
in all directions, the Basin itself is becoming increas-
ingly more densely populated, which raises questions of
human survival as we know it today - questions well
beyond those of a desirable existence. With major new
water resources on their way and numerous new power
plants either planned or under construction, continued
industrial and commercial expansion seems assured. This,
in turn, encourages new in-migration to the Basin, and
each new resident increases congestion and adds his share
of pollution, particularly by his use of an internal-
combustion-powered automobile.
At the Council's hearing in Huntington Beach, the question
was raised as to the carrying capacity of the Basin.
Stated differently: how much human life can the Basin
reasonably support? At this point, the question has not
been answered; but the Committee would like to pursue
this subject during 1970. The evidence being compiled
strongly suggests, however, that there is a limit as to
how much air pollution can be generated without serious
health consequences. In fact, Professor Kenneth Watt,
Systems Ecologist of the University of California at
Davis, who met with this Committee in study session, has
already predicted that by the winter of 1975-76, air
pollution in the Los Angeles Basin will be at levels
where mass mortality can be expected.
An indisputable fact is that a comfortable existence in
the Los Angeles Basin is already seriously endangered by
smog, with State air quality standards for various kinds
of pollutants exceeded numerous times a year, and the
frequent warnings to school children not to exercise on
certain days. Pollution by oxidants in the Basin, which
is related to eye irritation, exceeds the State standards
well over 200 days a year.
Dr. Arie Haagen-Smit, Chairman of the State Air Resources
Board and a member of the Council, has stated that the
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Land Use Committee
bucket is full and it is spilling over. This is irrefut-
ably evidenced in the dying of the Ponderosa pines on the
rim of the Basin. In the Lake Arrowhead region alone -
located 6,000 feet high in the mountains, some 100 miles
from downtown Los Angeles - millions of trees are doomed
to die of smog in the next decade. But smog is only one
form of pollution. Noise pollution is rapidly becoming a
serious contender.
During a hearing in Inglewood on noise abatement, it was
learned how noise levels created by the operations of the
Los Angeles International Airport have already forced the
closing of several schools. Tapes were played to demon-
strate how the noise levels in numerous other schools in
the vicinity of the airport are now seriously hampering
the educational process. Teachers and children are
repeatedly forced to stop in the middle of a sentence as
deafening aircraft noises fill the air.
Witnesses from affected neighborhoods, many of which are
located as far as 20 miles from the Los Angeles Inter-
national Airport, testified to their rapidly deterio-
rating living conditions, including loss of sleep due to
ever-increasing noise levels. Already one million
residents living in the vicinity of the airport are
seriously affected by noise generated by airport opera-
tions. But it will get much worse, and it will affect
a great many more people as population growth calls for
more airports and the expansion of existing ones. Los
Angeles International Airport alone is slowly but surely
absorbing several once desirable neighborhoods, such as
Playa del Rey and Westchester.
A recent study undertaken by graduate students of USC's
Urban and Regional Planning Program has turned up some
frightening predictions. Given projected population
growth in the Los Angeles Basin, and the concomitant
growth of air transportation, particularly VSTOL aircraft,
noise levels will reach 95 pndb within twenty years
throughout the Basin. Most people would consider such
noise levels unbearable for normal daily living -- not to
speak of the undesirable impact on their health.
It is not necessary to dwell on the inability of the Los
Angeles Basin freeway system to accommodate endless
population growth or on the dangers inherent in a never-
ending destruction of stable, established communities,
and the resulting alienation. But the point should be
clear. Continued growth of the Basin is sure to court
disaster, or at best, considerably reduce the quality of
human existence below the presently prevailing conditions.
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Land Use Committee
MORATORIUMS: THE NEED TO BUY TIME
Two planned extensions of power plants in the Basin have
been blocked by courageous action by the Boards of Super-
visors of Los Angeles and Orange Counties, who concluded
that the air quality of the Basin would simply not allow
the additional pollution. These actions were consistent
with a resolution of the Council's Air Quality Committee
calling for a moratorium on additional fossil-fuel plants
in the Los Angeles Basin, which was adopted after the
Huntington Beach hearing.
Assemblyman George Milias, Chairman of the Assembly
Committee on Conservation and Natural Resources, has called
for a similar moratorium on the State Water Project, as
well as on other major environmentally questionable public
works projects, especially those whose effects would be
irreversible - at least until their environmental impact
has been fully evaluated. Hailing from Santa Clara
County, Assemblyman Milias is well aware of the potential
dangers this plan poses to the ecology of Northern
California, as well as to the water resources of the San
Francisco Bay Delta -- something the Committee hopes to
study during the coming year. The impact of the State
water plan on the continued population growth of the Los
Angeles Basin is particularly in need of consideration.
We strongly hope that the Legislature will heed the advice
of Mr. Milias, not only regarding the State Water Project,
but concerning all State public works projects, for they
provide the State with powerful tools to affect growth and
development patterns throughout California. At Malibu it
was demonstrated that the absence of a freeway had been a
crucial reason for its relatively slow development. A
decision to build a freeway in essence is a decision to
stimulate growth along its path. The same is true for a
decision to locate a major airport as was indicated at
Palmdale - or for that matter to build a branch of a
State university.
The unfortunate fact is that most of the State's public
works projects currently under way were planned in an era
when there was little, if any, environmental consciousness.
This is no attempt to place the blame on anybody or any
group. For this shortsightedness we are all to blame.
The important question is: should we continue with these
projects if they may do serious harm to our environment,
or perhaps even destroy portions of the State for tolerable
human habitat? As was suggested above, present policies
affecting the Los Angeles area may very well lead to the
death of the Basin.
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Land Use Committee
Similar claims have been made for the San Francisco Bay
Area. A recent report entitled Handbook of the San
Francisco Region, by Dr. Robert H. Dreisbach, professor
at the Stanford School of Medicine, warns that an environ-
mental catastrophe is already in process in the San
Francisco Bay Area. The Council intends to hold several
hearings in the Bay Area to familiarize itself with the
problems of that region. Meanwhile, there seems to be
every reason to slow the pace of major state public works
projects until it can be determined what exactly their
environmental impact will be -- particularly to what
extent they will foster dangerous population build-ups
in already heavily congested areas of the State. The
resources involved in such projects could, in fact, be
redirected into activities that would enhance environ-
mental quality. It hardly needs to be pointed out that
a slowdown policy would be consistent with the current
policy to control inflation. Such dislocations must be
faced if we are truly serious about saving our environ-
ment. We have little choice. This is the price that
must be paid for years of neglect. The time is overdue
for a searching re-examination of where our present
projects and plans are taking us.
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION OR STRANGULATION
Concomitant with such measures, positive steps are needed
to develop a well-thought-out population distribution
strategy. If some areas of the State have already reached
or exceeded their capacity to absorb people, where can
additional people go? Where should growth be encouraged
in order to alleviate the pressures on the already heavily
congested areas? Directing population growth is by no
means a new phenomenon in America. By the Homestead Act
and the system of land grants to railroads, the Federal
government played a significant role in settling this
continent. Now the challenges lie in directing population
growth away from congested areas.
Again, the Federal government has begun to take up this
challenge with a policy of rural economic development.
The Presidential Task Force on Rural Development is
currently preparing recommendations for reversing migra-
tion patterns from the cities to as yet sparsely populated
areas. These efforts have the full support of President
Nixon, who told a recent convention of the American Farm
Bureau: "There are 200 million Americans now. By the
end of the century there will be 300 million. Where are
those 100 million going to be? You can't pour them into
New York, Los Angeles, into Chicago, and choke those
cities to death
It is going to be necessary for
America to grow toward its heartland, toward the center."
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Land Use Committee
It is indeed encouraging to note that various California
State legislators, including Assembly Speaker Bob Monagan,
have already publicly expressed the need for such a policy
in this State. As mentioned earlier, the State has sub-
stantial powers to guide population through its public
works. Once a given area is provided with adequate water
and power resources, transportation facilities, and perhaps
even a branch of the State university, industry and commerce
can take hold.
If necessary, a series of tax incentives could be estab-
lished to attract industry to particular areas. People
will follow. The outflow of people leaving California
is sufficient evidence that many would gladly exchange
life in such new town areas for their hectic existence
in the crowded, sprawling metropolis where the California
dream has long since been killed. But there must be
decent jobs elsewhere before they can move. And California
utilities, currently frustrated over the opposition to
building power plants in the heavily populated portions
of the State, would no doubt be happy to devote their
efforts to providing power in these new towns.
Flying from the State Capitol to the Los Angeles Basin along
the western edge of the Sierras, it is clear that there is
a great deal of beautiful country in this State for such
developments. In fact, private enterprise is already
showing the way by the construction of several major second-
home developments in those areas, as well as in other
sparsely populated portions of the State -- a phenomenon
the Committee intends to study during the next year.
It is not that the State's population density is so unfavor-
able. In fact, it compares extremely favorably with many
foreign countries and other U. S. states, such as New Jersey,
which has the same population density as India. The problem
lies in a highly inefficient utilization of our land
resources due to the total lack of official guidance. One
of the world's greatest problem cities has been described
as "chance-directed, chance-erected". This description
fits California all too well. A population-distribution
policy could change that description, not by greater controls
to keep people away from congested areas, but rather, by
incentives which stimulate growth elsewhere.
AN ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY FOR CALIFORNIA: A MUST
In order to implement a population distribution policy we
need to decide in some detail how to develop what is left
of California. Before this can be done, the highest use
of each of the regions and sub-regions that constitute the
State must be determined. In this context, highest use
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Land Use Committee
does not necessarily mean the highest economic use, at least
not in short-range economic terms, but the highest use
environmentally speaking.
For example, in the Coachella Valley where Palm Springs and
numerous other desert resorts are located, the highest
economic use in short-range terms might be to fill that
valley with heavy industry and refineries, but this would
mean a severe loss to California's environmental quality.
The Coachella Valley, particularly the so-called "cove"
communities such as Palm Springs, is blessed by a geography
which is not only beautiful but unique. This provides the
area with a clean, dry, healthful atmosphere as well as
with a benevolent winter climate where temperatures are
often 30 degrees higher than those of the coastal regions
of metropolitan Los Angeles. Large open-space desert areas
are found adjacent to the Valley's resort cities which not
only provide visual relief, but help to maintain the Valley's
clean air and relatively low noise levels. All this lies
only two hours' driving distance from one of the world's
largest metropolitan centers, containing eight million
harassed city-dwellers very much in need of an occasional
escape into the countryside. For those who suffer from
respiratory diseases, it is an essential escape, a respite
from dirty air. Moreover, the area's climate and soil
conditions make possible the growing of certain "indigenous"
fruits and other produce which has given it the name of
"Date Capitol of the U. S."
Thus the Valley is not only a unique State - and even
national - resource as a rest and recuperation spa, but
it is also a unique source of certain food items. Its value
for the State's environmental quality is irreplaceable, as
well-known planning consultant Simon Eisner told the Council
at its August Palm Springs hearing. Its highest use,
environmentally speaking, is for health, leisure, and
certain kinds of agriculture.
A similar argument could be put forth for California's
coastline, and several other portions of the State. During
our hearing in Malibu, it was suggested over and over again
that most of this undeveloped coastal mountain range might
have its highest environmental quality use as a close-in
National Seashore to serve the recreational needs of the
masses of Los Angeles as well as to provide a "lung" for
the city. Our current "non-system" does not consider
environmental quality in determining the future use of such
areas. In fact, the continued existence of such unique
areas as productive health, recreational, and agricultural
resources is frightfully fragile.
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Land Use Committee
During two hearings in Palm Springs the Council examined
ways to maintain air quality levels in those basins which
are not as yet suffering from serious air pollution. It
was clear that the future of the Coachella Valley was
seriously endangered by a few perfectly natural and legal
acts by a small city and a small oil company. The city,
located at the neck of the San Gorgonio Pass, simply
wished to broaden its tax base, and this desire coincided
with the intentions of a mid-Western oil company which
wished to build an oil refinery in California. So, the
beginnings of a petro-chemical complex were launched. The
Council's Air Quality Committee, in turn, felt justified
to call for a moratorium on oil-refinery building until
the full impact on the Valley's air quality could be
ascertained. At present it appears that the refinery will
not be built, largely due to vigorous opposition by
Coachella Valley residents. Yet a similar major threat
could re-emerge tomorrow, and the Valley's highest environ-
mental-quality use may be endangered all over again.
We should not be playing Russian roulette with our environ-
ment. Drastic new approaches to the development of the
State are necessary. Such approaches are within the power
of State government to effectuate.
EMERGENCY MEASURES IMPERATIVE
Several local officials who testified at the Palm Springs
hearings recommended that the State play a role in the
location of refineries and other heavy industries. This
apparently is already practiced to some extent in the
Pacific Northwest States, which practice the Committee
intends to investigate. The Committee also will take a
closer look at Hawaii's experience in State land-use
control. At this point it is not certain whether the
Hawaii experience holds promise for California, but it does
seem clear that the State must at once assume a greater
role in protecting unique recreational and agricultural
regions from undesirable urbanization. Already available
are State tools to influence the development of water, power,
and transportation facilities, but obviously other tools are
needed -- and needed fast. Changes affecting environmental
quality happen all too rapidly.
There is an immediate necessity to inventory the State's
regions and sub-regions to establish highest-use criteria
based on environmental quality, and to protect those areas
which qualify as unique resourses from industrial, commercial,
or other intrusions likely to change their character. The
help of the nation's most respected ecologists. planners,
and other environmental professionals should be solicited
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Land Use Committee
for this task. At the same time we must begin at once to
develop appropriate policies and plans to determine the
ultimate highest use of each area.
The urgency and importance of implementing short- and
long-range highest use criteria cannot be overstated. If
California is to survive as a viable State, we must develop
bold policies for sensibly and sensitively developing our
natural resources, supported by substantial financial
commitments and mobilization of our finest talent. Also
much needed is an appropriate State administrative mecha-
nism to implement such goals. This should be accomplished
by a much greater utilization of full time environmentally
knowledgeable personnel. During the coming year the
Council hopes to arrive at meaningful recommendations for
such a mechanism. Meanwhile, the newly formed cabinet
level State Environmental Policy Committee, chaired by the
Lieutenant Governor, is an important step toward such a
goal. It must be as if we were preparing for a major war --
a war for the survival of a great State.
AN END TO THE GROWTH ETHIC
Even if measures are taken to guide statewide growth, local
growth may continue helter-skelter, and each day our envi-
ronment will suffer further irreparable damage. There is
a desperate need to save open space in crowded cities,
where existing parks are vanishing at an alarming rate.
At our Los Angeles hearing we witnessed the sacrifice of
one of the last remaining park spaces in the city's
crowded downtown area. City officials apparently saw
nothing wrong in transforming the existing library park
into a parking lot, despite the fact that an office-hotel
complex is slated to soon pour an additional daily load of
50,000 office workers into that very area.
The Committee has been beseiged with calls and letters
from San Diego -- California's second largest city -- from
citizens deeply concerned with the vanishing canyons and
lagoons which attracted most of them to this area in the
first place. Even the prehistoric Torrey Pines are
threatened by the bulldozer. It seems that nothing is
sacred. The Council is scheduling a hearing in San Diego
to ascertain what might be done to help growing urban areas
to set aside sufficient public space for a burgeoning
population. In the meantime, the Legislature might well
consider the adoption of emergency legislation preventing
existing public parks from extinction or encroachment.
The simple truth is that, in general, public activities
not only fail to recognize environmental quality as an
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Land Use Committee
important consideration, but they often are in direct
opposition to this goal. Our whole legal system has grown
up over several centuries during which the all-important
consideration was development. During this period the
growth ethic was born and firmly established in our values
and attitudes. And this goal was necessary in a society
which wanted to settle a continent that often seemed hostile
and uninviting. But the continent has long since been
settled. Not only is the growth ethic no longer needed,
but it has become destructive to a high-quality existence,
as Professor Watt illustrated so eloguently during our
Malibu hearing.
The bulk of our public policies remain growth oriented:
growth at any cost. This is why freeways have trampled
neighborhoods and continue to do so, or at least residents
of such communities as San Francisco, South Pasadena, and
Santa Barbara think SO. The Committee received requests
from the latter two communities to hold a hearing on this
subject. Transportation planning will be considered at
the Council's first Northern California hearing, to be held
in Livermore. Neither Santa Barbara nor South Pasadena
citizens are so much in opposition to freeways, per se,
but rather to the way in which the location and design of
freeways threatens to damage the environmental quality of
their communities.
Santa Barbara has been unsuccessfully trying to persuade
the State for almost a decade -- in itself an incredible
fact -- to provide a depressed freeway through a few blocks
of its downtown area. Santa Barbarans are understandably
concerned at losing their uninterrupted view of the ocean,
an important amenity in that community.
In South Pasadena, opponents to the route currently favored
by the State feel that despite the recent improvements in
freeway planning, this route continues to simply connect
two points in the shortest possible way, ignoring the qual-
ity of their community. One local urban design critic calls
it a disaster. As he puts it: "This route cruelly divides
a small, cohesive, long-established community, while
brutalizing its urban fabric and destroying its open spaces."
During the Malibu hearing, the Malibu Community Freeway
Committee reported a long battle with the Division of High-
ways to locate the freeway away from the ocean in West
Malibu. A location close to the coast would seriously
impair the unique beauty of this scenic area. The Highway
Commission has under consideration new procedures which
would incorporate environmental quality concerns in
decision-making processes. These new procedures would
also invite greater public participation. This is
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Land Use Committee
encouraging indeed, and it may help reduce the numerous
skirmishes which aroused citizens have waged against the
Division of Highways throughout the State.
Such battles have been fought against government bodies
on all levels, which must seem paradoxical in a democratic
society where officials are theoretically responsible to
the people. This is perhaps the reason for the numerous
requests to the Council to hold hearings. We must alle-
viate the sense of deep frustration so often found among
the populace. Unmet frustrations can be a dangerous
thing, as was brought out during our Inglewood hearing.
At this hearing, an FAA official told the Council that
in 1969 alone there had been a half dozen threats to bomb
the control tower at the Los Angeles International Airport
by individuals outraged by aircraft noises.
People feel too often that they really do not count. One
case brought to the attention of the Committee by a group
of North San Fernando Valley residents indicated an almost
total unwillingness by the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power to try to work out ways in which Chatsworth Lake
could be transformed into a reservoir in such a way as to
harmonize with its natural surroundings. The homeowners
had no intention of trying to stop the transformation of
the lake into a reservoir. All they wanted was to have
environmental quality considerations included in the
project. They were rebuffed.
Government officials are often blamed unfairly, simply
because existing laws do not allow them to take overall
environmental quality into consideration. In fact, they
are often specifically prohibited from doing so. This
became clear at the Palmdale hearing on the proposed inter-
continental airport, which has been granted a permit by
the State Department of Aeronautics. Opponents have
criticized the planned location because of the inadequate
consideration given to the impact of noise on the existing
community. Indeed, they have a valid argument, but the
State Department of Aeronautics at the time it held its
hearing, was not allowed by law to consider either noise
or other environmental quality factors. They have since
been given authority to develop airport noise regulations.
Thus, the Council recommended that the Department of
Aeronautics set aside its decision and schedule a rehearing
to take environmental quality into consideration.
To forestall such unhappy situations and to prevent
increasing damage to the States environmental quality,
administrative directives and legislative authority
should be provided promptly to require all State agencies
to include environmental quality considerations in their
decision-making, both in their own activities and in
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Land Use Committee
regulatory actions. The time has come for environmental
quality to have primacy over development. There is also
a necessity to provide greater public participation in the
actual decision-making processes. Ultimately, all existing
legislation should be carefully examined and changed as
necessary so as to be made consistent with environmental
quality objectives. The outcome may require greater
expenditures in some cases, and it may not always coincide
with other so-called practical considerations. But that
is what must be done if we are seriously interested in
promoting environmental quality.
TRADITIONAL PLANNING OBSOLETE
The Committee especially recommends an early re-evaluation
of the present State enabling legislation governing local
planning activities. We have found local planning especially
deficient in view of the new concern for the environment.
It is even doubtful whether one can honestly use the term
"local planning", and it is equally doubtful whether this
will change without pressure from the State.
It has often been said that Houston, which lacks a zoning
code, does not look any different from most cities with a
zoning code. Indeed, there are many indications that local
planning is sadly deficient in California. At the Los
Angeles hearing on urban park space, it was learned that
there is no master plan to guide the growth of the rapidly
developing downtown area. Belatedly, the City has allocated
$250,000 to develop such a plan, which it is asking the
business community to match. Even so, it would take several
years before a plan would be available. In view of this,
the Land Use Committee asked the City to postpone any actions
that would eliminate downtown park land until a plan for the
area would have been prepared; but the City chose to ignore
this recommendation. Meanwhile, all those skyscrapers are
going up without either a plan, or a concept of what the
downtown area should become.
The state of county planning appears to be at least equally
discouraging. During the Malibu hearing, a dozen public
officials were heard from, most of whom represented Los
Angeles County, although some State and Federal officials
were represented. It became evident that they shared no
common concept of how Malibu should grow. Each agency
pursues its own narrow objectives, as required by law,
which, as we have seen, generally fails to consider envi-
ronmental quality. Urban development, in most instances,
is shaped by a series of unrelated decisions by public
officials such as the county tax assessor, county engineer,
the county sanitation district, etc.
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Land Use Committee
Unfortunately, the role of the County Planning Department is
a minimal one, and even more unfortunate, the main thrust of
its activities seems to be to react to already existing
problems, while satisfied to accommodate as much growth as
possible. A lady testifying at the Malibu hearing on behalf
of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Advisory Council described the
county planning process as "stuffing a Christmas turkey and
attempting to get as much stuffing in it as possible." With
such a philosophy, natural features assume little value and
must always yield to accommodate more people. For example,
this is the basis for ordinances which allow the cutting up
of our hills and mountains into building pads. It is usually
not the fault of the individual planner, for he is simply
following the directives given him.
There is an obvious great need to incorporate ecological
values in the local planning process. Land-use decisions
directly affect the quality of air and water in a given area
as well as many other important factors. In fact, they
determine the very quality of life in that area. A decision
to plan for certain kinds of industrial growth or a higher
residential density may, in fact, be a decision that results
in the deterioration of the total environment.
We must plan for the overall quality of a particular environ-
ment, which means that the quality of air, water, and other
environmental values must help determine our land-use
decisions. This, in turn, will require an ecological inven-
tory of an area as a prerequisite to land-use planning, an
approach that the Council will study this year. Human
settlements must be planned to be in harmony with their
natural environment. The State should require, through its
local planning enabling legislation, that such considera-
tions be incorporated in the planning process. This might
go a long way toward correcting the current "turkey
stuffing" process.
A BATTLEFIELD OF VESTED INTERESTS
This report would not be complete without a brief discussion
of the obstacles which will have to be overcome if, indeed,
we are to have a high-quality environment. Unfortunately,
despite much lip-service, not everybody is wholeheartedly
in favor of environmental quality. It may require public
officials to alter established procedures or habits with
which they feel comfortable. Moreover, it may actually
diminish their jurisdiction and powers. These are important
obstacles that must be overcome. But perhaps the most
important deterrents come from outside government.
Resistance from individuals holding land investments which
they anticipate will increase in value has already been
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Land Use Committee
mentioned. It is only natural to expect them to disagree
with any public policies which might upset such expectations.
Yet, in some instances it may well be necessary to do so in
order to preserve environmental quality for all. For instance,
measures to save the Tahoe Basin by holding down growth to a
level that will not destroy the lake and its environs -- in
other words, to keep the growth within the basin's carrying
capacity -- may hurt certain landowners.
If it ever came to pass that the internal combustion engine
were outlawed, this would certainly not benefit automobile
stocks for several years to come. Needless to say, the
retooling costs would be enormous. The point is that almost
every time environmental quality concerns are advanced, some-
body or some group suffers. When the Council's Noise Abate-
ment Committee held its hearing in Palmdale on the proposed
intercontinental airport, it made some people very happy and
others very unhappy. Even a slight realignment of airport
borders could mean substantial financial losses for those
whose holdings might then be placed at a greater distance
from the proposed airport.
A FINAL CALL FOR BOLD LEADERSHIP
At one time, when America had fewer people and the frontier
seemed limitless, everyone seemed somehow to be able to
pursue his own self-interest without getting into the next
person's way. Unfortunately, those days are over. During
a recent speech, Speaker of the California Assembly, Bob
Monagan, quoted 19th Century Scottish essayist, Thomas
Carlyle: "You won't have any trouble in your country as
long as you have few people and much land. But when you
have many people and little land, your trials will begin."
Our trials have begun.
There is an increasing competition for the rapidly
decreasing resources of fresh air, clean water, and open
space. As time goes on, we will be forced by a set of
increasingly more difficult choices: whose interests are
to be sacrificed? We won't be able to please all. It is
extremely important that this dilemma is recognized, as
an outraged populace clamors for a quality environment.
There is every indication that this clamor will grow
louder. It might even become violent, as mentioned earlier.
This is why tinkering with the fringes of the problem is
no longer enough. We must also be careful to avoid
"tokenism". Both are natural reactions, but they would
only compound the problems. Instead, immediate and drastic
actions are imperative. At times the task at hand will
seem an almost impossible one. Wise, courageous states-
manship is of the essence.
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Land Use Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS
In summary, the Committee's major recommendations to the
Legislature and the Administration are:
1. Immediate adoption, in principle, of a population-
distribution policy, together with a commitment to
utilize the State's ability to influence water, power,
transportation, and other facilities in order to
implement such a policy.
2. Immediate adoption of a go-slow policy on all major
public works projects whose adverse impact on the
environment seems irreversible. State agencies
responsible for any such-project should prepare a
report detailing its environmental consequences;
e.g., on population density, and on air, water,
noise, and visual pollution, loss (or gain) of open
space and recreational facilities. Such reports
should be submitted promptly to the newly formed
cabinet level State Environmental Policy Committee
so that it can evaluate the impact on the environ-
ment, and provide for alternative courses of action,
where necessary.
3. Adoption of a strategy for developing appropriate
long-range policies for establishing and implementing
highest-use criteria -- based on environmental quality
considerations -- for the State's regions and sub-
regions. Appropriate State Administration mechanisms
should be established to implement such policies.
This should be accompanied by a greater utilization
of full time environmentally knowledgeable personnel.
4. Preparation, in the interim, of an emergency inventory
of the State's regions and sub-regions for the purpose
of establishing temporary criteria, indicating their
possible highest use, environmentally. In this, the
help of the Nation's most respected ecologists, planners,
and other enwironmental professionals should be sought.
5. Adoption of a set of policies -- upon completion of the
emergency inventory -- that will preserve areas from
urban commercial or industrial intrusions likely to
change their character until a final "highest-use"
policy has been established.
6. Immediate adoption of legislative and administrative
directives to require all State and local agencies to
incorporate environmental quality criteria as a part
of all relevant decisions, including those of a regu-
latory nature. Environmental quality must have
primacy over development.
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PROGRESS REPORT
AIR QUALITY COMMITTEE
Albert Pearlson,
Chairman
Dr. A. J. Haagen-Smit
Bruce J. Held
Edward M. Ross
Frank J. Tysen
AIR QUALITY COMMITTEE
The major effort by the Air Quality Committee of the
Environmental Quality Study Council has thus far been
directed toward stationary sources. This has been due
primarily to two "emergency conditions" which occurred
in Southern California.
The first problem was encountered in the Coachella Valley
during June in regard to the proposed construction of an
oil refinery by the Clinton Oil Company. A meeting of
the Air Quality Committee and the City of Palm Springs
was held in June at the request of the City Attorney.
The city found itself powerless to stop construction of
the refinery which would add further to the smog levels
in that resort community. The city was and is already
threatened by having its entire economy jeopardized from
increasingly higher smog levels. The smog coming in from
Los Angeles and San Bernardino could ruin Palm Springs as
a resort and health area. The refinery would certainly
have worsened a bad situation.
As a result of the meeting, a public hearing was arranged
and held in August by the full Council An in-depth probe
on how the situation developed and the impact of a refinery
on that area (or similar areas in the State) gave the
Council some insight into the deficiencies of existing
legislation in the realm of environmental quality. It
became readily apparent that different areas have different
problems. Legislation must take into account that require-
ments differ from area to area.
To relieve the immediate local problem of the threat of a
refinery in the Coachella Valley, the Committee passed a
resolution recommending a moratorium on any industrial
expansion in the Valley until technical data is available
to permit formulation of an effective regulatory program
(Appendix, pg A-1). The Riverside County Air Pollution
Control Officer denied the petition for an operating
permit a few days after publication of the Resolution.
No appeal by the oil company has been attempted to date.
The other public hearing on air pollution was held at
Huntington Beach on October 20, 1969, by the full Council.
of immediate concern was the planned construction of two
750-million watt oil-fueled power plants by Southern
California Edison. However, the entire question of power
plants and their contribution to air pollution was studied.
Testimony was given by four major utilities concerning their
present and future plans in California. of the four
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Air Quality Committee
(San Diego Gas and Electric Company, Southern California
Edison Company, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power,
and Pacific Gas and Electric Company), only Pacific Gas
and Electric appears to be totally committed to nuclear
power plants in the years to come.
The Council was also disturbed to discover that the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power had an oil-fueled
power plant under construction at Playa del Rey without
receiving a construction or operating permit from the Los
Angeles Air Pollution Control District. The apparent
attitude of the LADWP was that the additional power capa-
bility was necessary and the LAAPCD would have to issue
a variance to their air pollution regulations if emission
standards could not be met.
As a result of the hearing, the Air Quality Committee of
the EQSC passed a resolution opposing the addition of
the two power plants at Huntington Beach, recommending a
moratorium on the issuance of any construction or operating
permits for fossil-fueled power plants in the Los Angeles
Air Basin, where further deterioration of air quality must
be stopped before a disaster occurs, and recommending that
the State Attorney General take legal steps to enforce the
resolution upon request by the EQSC or the Air Resources
Board (Appendix, pg A-3).
In action after this resolution was passed, the Los Angeles
Air Pollution Control District denied the application for
the construction and operating permits by the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power after presentation and passage
of Rule 67 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
The Air Quality Committee of the EQSC testified at the
hearing on behalf of the passing of Rule 67, an ordinance
which drastically reduces emission standards from fossil-
fueled power plants. Denial of the permits and presentation
of Rule 67 to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
was done in part on the strength of the resolution by the
Air Quality Committee of the EQSC, according to Louis Fuller,
Air Pollution Control Officer, Los Angeles County.
The Air Quality Committee has scheduled a public hearing in
the City of Livermore on March 7, 1970. Livermore has had
the highest air pollution levels recorded in Northern
California. Almost all of the pollution originates from
motor vehicles. The valley in which Livermore is located
is now threatened with two additional freeways plus the
opening of a new State recreational area. The recreational
area alone is expected to add one million additional cars
per year during the time of the year when air pollution is
at its worst. Other hearings now in the planning stage are
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Air Quality Committee
with automobile manufacturers and on petroleum-industry-
produced air pollution in the Richmond area.
As a result of the hearings, study of available literature
and meetings with air pollution control officials, problem
areas begin to emerge. Some specific recommendations for
immediate action are presented in this report, and problems
on which the Air Quality Committee will devote future
consideration are also noted.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. It has become all too obvious that many State and local
agencies do not consider air pollution (or environmental
quality in general) in project planning. Examples of
this are freeway and highway planning, location of
recreational facilities, and establishment of industrial
parks or zoned areas.
Recommendation
In developing plans for new State facilities or freeways,
modifications or additions thereto, or any other actions
which could affect the air quality, the State agency
involved shall prepare a report on the impact of the
action or facility on the air quality of the area involved.
The report shall include estimates of added vehicular
traffic involved and emission rates of stationary sources.
The report shall be made available to the cities and
counties in the area affected, local air pollution
control districts, and the State Air Resources Board,
along with requests for comments.
2. Many areas of the State have no local air pollution
control districts, although air pollution of one form
or another is found everywhere, statewide. In those
areas without control districts, there is no one to
establish or enforce regulations that may be needed
locally or required by the State.
Recommendation
Establishment of local air pollution control districts
be made mandatory on a statewide basis. In areas with
few problems at the present time, this requirement may
be limited to just one part-time person who has the
responsibility to see that State requirements are met.
However, a responsible person whom the Air Resources
Board can contact as the need arises is necessary in
all counties.
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Air Quality Committee
3. The use of construction and operating permits varies
from fairly effective control, but with the privilege
of variances in some air pollution control districts
such as in Los Angeles County, to no permits required
whatsoever, such as in the Bay Area.
Recommendation
The State pass appropriate legislation which requires
a permit from the Air Pollution Control District for
construction and operation of any new potential
stationary air pollution source. It is further
recommended that such legislation should include the
following features:
a. Construction of a potential stationary air pollu-
tion source may not commence until the construction
permit has been granted.
b. Operation of a potential stationary air pollution
source may not commence until the operating permit
has been granted.
C. Variances should only be good for one year at a
time (as is presently required in all local
districts using the permit system). Renewals
for variances should be referred by the local
districts to the State Air Resources Board for
approval.
d. The State Air Resources Board should be given more
authority in reviewing emission standards estab-
lished by local districts. Furthermore, the Air
Resources Board should have the authority to
reject any emission standards which are not
stringent enough to meet the State Air Quality
Standards for an area.
e. Failure to operate a stationary source within the
scope of the provisions of the operating permit
requirements should draw a fine on a daily basis
plus complete closure of the facility after a
certain number of days.
f. The State Air Resources Board should be given the
authority and necessary enforcement powers to
control certain types of pollution which can only
be done adequately on a statewide basis. For
example, open burning at dumps and wrecking yards
should be stopped throughout the State. Limiting
other smoke and dust emitters is highly desirable
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Air Quality Committee
within the next five years. The State Air Resources
Board should be consulted regarding the extent of
this recommendation.
g. A program of increasingly strict emission standards
must be set for all types of emission sources (new
and existing). Target goals for five to ten years
ahead must be set now.
4. The Air Resources Board has divided the State into air
basins and set air quality standards for the State as
a whole; however, both the basins and the air quality
standards are meaningless because the Mulford-Carrell
Act did not give the Air Resources Board authority to
do anything further in meeting the standards. Furthermore,
air quality standards must necessarily vary between
areas for health and economic conditions. For example,
Palm Springs is a resort area which attracts people for
health reasons and its pure fresh desert air. Thus,
the air quality in Palm Springs plays a direct part in
the economics of the region. Until the entire State
can have unpolluted air, those areas with good air must
be completely protected.
Recommendation
Establish air basin control agencies within the State
as has been done with the water basins. Air quality
standards should be set for each air basin along with
enforceable emission rates. Furthermore, areas within
each air basin must be examined, intra-air basin control
zones formed, and different standards set where health,
economics, or other factors are involved.
5. Fossil-fueled power plants are one major stationary
source of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and
nitrogen oxides for which a satisfactory control method
must be found. Increasing power demands force power
companies to plan for more power generating facilities.
Recommendation
The State must take the lead in encouraging nuclear
power plants and discouraging fossil-fueled power plants.
This can be done by a two-pronged approach:
a. The State Department of Public Health should be
given the necessary funds for public information
programs on the truth about nuclear power and the
air pollution problem from fossil-fueled plants.
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Air Quality Committee
b. The State must work with the U. S. Atomic Energy
Commission to find suitable sites for nuclear power
plants. It is the opinion of the Air Quality
Committee that the State should seriously consider
purchase of two or three sites along the coast,
which could be turned into nuclear power plant parks.
Site selection can be in cooperation with the USAEC,
conservation groups, and other interested organi-
zations. The land can be leased to power companies
for nuclear power plant construction sites, while the
entire park complex stays under the direct guidance
of the State. The plants can be located back from
the beach so that the beach area can be used by the
public.
6. Disposal of agricultural wastes by burning is a cause
of air pollution in many areas of the State. This type
of pollution is becoming the subject of growing concern.
Some areas prescribe the time of burning to reduce
effects during unfavorable weather conditions.
Recommendation
Two approaches must be started immediately to control
agricultural burning as a source of pollution in the
State:
a. The Air Resources Board should immediately start
a study program to determine means of disposal of
agricultural wastes without polluting the air.
b. As an interim measure, the Air Resources Board
should set up the conditions of burning in all air
basins. For example, one rule might be that only
thoroughly dry prunings may be burned. Furthermore,
the Air Resources Board should assist the local
agencies by forecasting days when burning is or is
not permitted.
7. The lack of technically trained people to man the State
and local air pollution control programs presents diffi-
culties in implementing these programs.
Recommendation
The State college and university system should be
encouraged and funded to initiate or expand programs
for training air pollution control personnel. Such train-
ing programs must include graduate, undergraduate, and
AA degrees, as well as special technician training
through night courses or special three-month courses.
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Air Quality Committee
8. The motor vehicle is recognized as the leading contrib-
utor to air pollution in the State of California in all
urban areas. While it is recognized that the Pure Air
Act of 1968 sets stricter standards for emissions from
motor vehicles beginning with the 1970 models, it is
believed that further controls are necessary to reduce
vehicular pollution on a faster scale.
Recommendation
Gaps existing in the control of motor vehicle emissions
must be closed immediately to reduce air pollution, by
the following methods:
a. The State should continue to seek emission control
devices for older used cars (pre-1966). Present
legislation states that for older cars a device
shall not be required unless it sells for $65 or
less; however, it is believed that legislation
should be flexible enough to raise the price if a
promising device is found that costs somewhat more
than $65.
b. An incentive program for purchasing low emission
vehicles should be started. The program might
include lower taxes for buying cars with emissions
substantially lower than presently required for the
1970 model cars.
C. An inspection program should be instituted to assure
that anti-pollution devices have not been disconnected
to get better gas mileage and that the device is
performing satisfactorily. An inspection sticker
should be visibly displayed on the windshield.
Two types of inspection programs might be considered by
the State. The first is similar to that used in New
Jersey, where the State built inspection stations. A
safety and air pollution emission check is required
every six months. A fee is required which is sufficient
to cover the cost of the station and the state employees.
The second system is like that used in Pennsylvania,
where the State licenses garages to perform the safety
inspection. The State splits the fee between itself
and the garage owner. While Pennsylvania does not
measure emissions as does New Jersey, an emission
measuring device can be installed either by the State
of California or the garage owner for approximately
$1,000.
The inspection programs described would have a number
of advantages. First, they would allow for the
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Air Quality Committee
inspection of all vehicles to enforce emission control.
Second, they would insure that 100 percent of all cars
in the State would be inspected for safety, instead of
a random sample as is now done by the Highway Patrol.
Third, the cost would be borne by the car owner and
not by the State, as is currently the practice. Fourth,
it would free the Highway Patrol from conducting the
program, as is now being done in California, and release
them for patrolling the highways.
9. The Air Resources Board is grossly under-funded for the
work that must be done. Implementation of any of the
recommendations already made will require additional
funding. The air pollution problem is spreading into
new areas of the State. Additional air monitoring is
needed to continually inventory the extent and degree
of the problem.
Recommendation
The Air Resources Board should be adequately funded to
provide the staff and facilities necessary to conduct
a good statewide air pollution control program.
10. The State Air Resources Board is, at present, a part-
time board. The extent of the air pollution problems
make it appear that a full-time board may be desirable.
Recommendation
The Air Resources Board should be established on a
full-time basis in the same manner as is the State
Water Resources Control Board.
FUTURE PROBLEMS
The Air Quality Committee of the EQSC has a number of
problems which must be considered in the coming months.
They are given here as an indication of the legislative
recommendations that the Committee is considering.
1. Motor Vehicles
a. What further controls are necessary?
b. What emission standards should be set for diesel-
powered trucks and buses?
C. Are the emission rates of the Pure Air Act of
1968 sufficient to offset potential pollution
problems in areas with rapidly growing popu-
lations?
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Air Quality Committee
d. What penalties for violations are in order?
2. Pollution from Other Means of Travel
Should emission standards be set for planes, trains,
and boats?
3. What is the proper relationship between the State Air
Resources Board and the local Air Pollution Control
Districts?
4. What stationary sources must yet be controlled?
5. Other Air Pollutants
How serious is the problem of pollutants such as
pesticides, lead and other metals, and odors?
6. How much research is still necessary in air pollution
control?
Are present measuring devices adequate (e.g., the
Ringelmann test developed around the turn of the
century) ?
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PROGRESS REPORT
NOISE ABATEMENT COMMITTEE
Edward M. Ross,
Chairman
Albert Pearlson
Frank J. Tysen
NOISE ABATEMENT COMMITTEE
IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM
The first charge to the Noise Abatement Committee was to
define the scope of activity and to identify noise problems
facing the State of California. To attempt an identification
of the problems, members of the committee conducted public
hearings in Palmdale and Inglewood, consulted at various
times with acousticians prominent in the area of community
noise abatement, and consulted with federal authorities and
with authorities of other states supposedly conversant with
the area and problems of state regulation of community noise.
As a result, the committee has concluded that there is
virtually no state regulation of community noise in the
country. In the State of California, recognition has been
taken of this problem, but to date, and outside of the
activities of this committee, few actions have been taken
to identify, cure, or eliminate the problems caused by
community noise pollution.
The committee has identified community noise problems
ranging from the exhaust of motorcycles to that of jet
engines. Excluded from consideration has been the problem
of industrial noise, that is now encompassed within the
charge of the State Department of Industrial Relations.
This is noise, mostly contained within buildings, that
affects the health and welfare of workers. It is felt that
this aspect of noise is already adequately regulated.
Community noise problems may be considered in at least two
aspects. The advent of the jet airplane has created its
own particular set of noise problems. Then there are a
whole host of other sources of "community noise". These
problem areas are discussed in the next section, and possible
solution of the problems, in the context of a need for State
action.
NEED FOR STATE ACTION
The ever-increasing use of the jet airplane, the coming of
the SST, the jumbo jet and V/STOL aircraft, have given rise
to a conspicious extent an ever-increasing degree of commu-
nity concern over the effects of the noise pollution. The
major obstacle to local solution of this problem, and hence
the need for state action, is that a landing or take-off
pattern may cut across dozens of jurisdictional boundaries.
It is elementary to note that the economic benefit to an
area may lie in favor of one jurisdiction geographically,
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Noise Abatement Committee
while the burden of that economic benefit may be spread
over dozens of jurisdictional areas. It is not surprising
to find, therefore, that the political entity in whose
jurisdiction an airport lies, and hence the reaper of the
economic benefits, is hesitant or unwilling to control the
actions of the airport or aircraft operators. Other commu-
nities that share the burden of the noise pollution have no
effective means of achieving relief. The problem is
compounded, of course, by the question of federal preemption
of airspace routes. While the committee is aware of the
passage of AB 645, no opinion can be expressed as yet
regarding its eventual effect.
Another obstacle, which is the corollary of the need for
State action, is that industry has not generally been
concerned about the noise of its products. Increasing
congestion of people, together with a technology that is
producing ever more sources of noise, and accompanied by
a growing public indignation at this offense to the sensi-
bilities, have led us to where we are.
It is the opinion of this committee, that local areas,
including but not limited to county jurisdictions, cannot
control the community noise problem, at least not from
aircraft. It cannot be stressed enough that a local
community will not control noise that affects nearby
communities while the area perpetrating the noise -- or
permitting it -- reaps economic benefit from it to the
degradation of a surrounding area. Control of noise
pollutants that may affect multiple jurisdictions must be
taken out of the hands of local municipalities. Lacking
statewide controls, or at least state standards, the
obstacle to the solution of community noise pollution will
be insurmountable.
It is to be noted also, that in some areas, particularly
that of the jet airplane, even state control may be too
narrow an answer. For example, in October 1969, one hundred
and fifty representative cities, states, and even foreign
countries met in Washington, D. C., to found the first
nationwide noise pollution control organization. This
organization, named the "National Organization to Institute
a Sound Controlled Environment", was organized by various
local governments. While composed mainly of cities and
affected areas, it also includes representatives from the
State Attorney General's offices of New York and Illinois,
as well as representatives from Canada. No delegate from
the State of California was present at the initial meeting,
although it is contemplated and urged that the State of
California be represented in this nationwide organization.
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Noise Abatement Committee
SHORT RANGE SOLUTIONS
At the public hearing held in Inglewood on September 23,
1969, it was repeatedly demonstrated that much jurisdictional
confusion existed concerning governmental regulation of the
aircraft-produced community noise problem. It was therefore
requested in EQSC Resolution No. 69-3 that the State Attorney
General render an analysis of the authority and responsi-
bility of Federal, State, and local governmental agencies
having jurisdiction over the community noise problem, with
emphasis on the voids and overlaps that might exist. The
Council requested by resolution dated December 18, 1969,
that the State Attorney General intervene in actions seeking
injunctive relief against further expansion of the Los
Angeles International Airport until it could be demonstrated
that this would not result in a noise producing level unduly
detrimental to the surrounding communities.
The Inglewood resolution stemmed from the finding of the
Noise Abatement Committee that there existed a complete lack
of coordination between the various governmental agencies
concerned with the operation of the airport. It was suggested,
for example, that changes in flight patterns might alleviate
or eliminate much of the noise damage to the surrounding
areas.
The Inglewood hearing demonstrated problems inherent in a
developed area. The Noise Abatement Committee suggests that
the State consider forbidding establishment of airports or
increased use of existing airports in developed areas, unless
use can conform with noise limits established within pre-
existing zoning uses and requirements.
At a hearing in Palmdale on November 12, 1969, the Noise
Abatement Committee heard testimony that crystallized the
situation to be found in a new undeveloped area. The
committee found an appalling lack of coordination between
those State and local agencies that should be concerned with
the development of an area and the protection of its people,
and those interests that were coupled with the economic
development of the area. The Noise Abatement Committee
feels most strongly that to allow the expansion of the
Palmdale International Airport as proposed, without a
thorough evaluation of the ecological and environmental
results that will follow, would be a disgraceful and
abhorrent surrender of the State's police power to the
economic interests apparently present in and around the
City of Palmdale.
It should be made clear that it was beyond the scope of
this committee's function to judge the question as to
whether or not the proposed international airport should
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Noise Abatement Committee
be located in or about the City of Palmdale. To this
question the committee has no recommendation. It was
apparent, however, and demonstrated time and again during
the course of the public hearing, that a massive airport
was proposed to be established, which would irrevocably
change the ecological and environmental status of the area;
and WITH NO CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
OF THE IMPOSITION OF THE AIRPORT ON THE AREAS SURROUNDING
THE PROPOSED AIRPORT. It was repeatedly and forcibly
brought home to the committee that no State or local entity
that one might presume to have jurisdiction over this
question would admit to having the responsibility for
considering the environmental effects of the airport.
This committee, while again emphasizing that it has no
opinion as to whether or not the proposed site is a proper
location, could not condone the massive construction and
operation of such an airport without careful consideration
of the ecological and environmental consequences.
It was brought out at the hearing that the State Department
of Aeronautics had issued a permit for the airport only
weeks before legislation went into effect which would enable
the Department to consider environmental effects as a
condition to granting approval of the proposed site. This
new authority was not available at the time of the initial
hearing, although it apparently was prior to the time of
issuing the permit. Consequently, the Council resolved
on November 20, 1969, that the State Department of Aero-
nautics set aside the approval previously given to the
location of the Palmdale International Airport and schedule
a new hearing to take into account the environmental aspects
of the airport upon the surrounding areas.
The Department of Aeronautics has not acted on this recom-
mendation. It is inconceivable to this committee that the
Department of Aeronautics will not schedule a rehearing to
consider the environmental aspects of the airport prior to
the purchase of land and construction, and at a time when
there is apparently nothing to lose by the thorough consid-
eration of such factors. The alternative may well be an
irrevocable and irreparable potential loss to a large
geographic area of California.
LONG RANGE SOLUTIONS
The need for State action in the regulation of noise pollu-
tion, aside from the actions indicated above, can be divided
as follows:
1. Automobiles -- The State currently has statutes control-
ling the allowable noise limits of vehicles. These are
- 44 -
Noise Abatement Committee
inadequate inasmuch as they do not take into consider-
ation such things as the number of automobiles traveling
a highway, highway configuration, placement, or volume.
There should be better coordination in the planning,
siting, and construction of new highways in order to
alleviate noise conditions in surrounding areas.
2. Subdivision public disclosures should provide noise data
comparable to warnings that are given relative to other
possible deleterious factors concerning the proposed
subdivisions.
3. A State noise pollution board should be created to estab-
lish noise zones and to promulgate noise standards on a
statewide basis, in a manner comparable to air basin and
air quality standards.
4. A statewide building code should be established that
would take into consideration the noise-deadening or
transmittal capacities of various building materials
and construction practices.
- 45 -
PROGRESS REPORT
WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Arthur F. Pillsbury,
Chairman
Bruce J. Held
Chester Morris
Kerry Mulligan
WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE
The Committee commends the California Legislature for
passing the Porter Cologne Act of 1969. This well conceived
document, now in the initial stages of implementation by
the State Water Resources Control Board, and by the several
State Regional Water Quality Control Boards, provides
admirably for solution of the more immediate water quality
control needs of California. Because of this, the Committee
felt that it was unnecessary to hold public hearings during
1969, and instead, devoted its limited time to the formu-
lation of concepts most likely to have optimum long range
favorable impact on California's environment. These
concepts can be summarized as follows:
1. The concept that something must be done to alleviate
the tremendous population growth that California has
experienced. Various alternatives have been explored.
Policies directly aimed at stopping or limiting growth
in any part of the State seem certain to result in
some type of environmental deterioration that is not
acceptable. There are, however, vast areas east of
California, from the Canadian to the Mexican borders,
where further development is severely limited by lack
of adequate water supplies. Massive water development
throughout the West is the instrument that can make
these areas attractive places to live, esthetically
and economically. Because of trade interdependencies,
California would benefit economically while promoting
the growth of all other western states in this manner.
Further, the concept of optimism for the future is,
in our view, most important now, as it has been to the
past.
2. The concept that man's "thirst for energy" has been
a vital force in the shaping and growth of the Nation.
We question whether or not the United States in general,
and California in particular, could continue to be a
dynamic society with concern for the environment and
the quality of life unless man, in his ingenuity, can
continue to develop ever new ways to utilize energy.
In large part, man depends upon fossil fuels for his
energy needs, and his use of fossil fuels is the basic
cause of essentially all air and noise pollution, and
a major factor in land and water pollution. The non-
renewable fossil fuels are essentially for lubricants,
for chemicals, for rubber, and for plastics. There
are sources of energy -- nuclear power for steady
load, and hydro-power for peaking -- that can in time
substitute more and more for the combustion uses of
fossil fuels. A vast instrument for environmental
- 47 -
Water Resources Committee
enhancement could be policies which give relatively
clean electric power an ever stronger competitive
position over fossil fuels for the ever growing energy
needs of man. Electric power today is only a small
fraction of the capacity needed for the future. The
water essential for cooling needs in electric power
generation, exists in the West now only (a) along the
Pacific Ocean shore, and (b) in and north of the
Columbia and Missouri River systems. There is also
inadequate water for essential pump storage in the
same region. For these reasons alone, massive water
development with maximum attention to the interior
regions is essential now.
Attention is also brought to the fact that there is
urgent need for reasonable nuclear power plant siting
criteria, and such criteria must make it feasible to
locate plants in and near urban developments. Nuclear
energy developed as a bomb, and the public is unaware
of the remarkable safety characteristics of nuclear
power generation. This calls for a vital educational
campaign.
3. The concept of disparity in land utilization and
population. While your Committee has only given
consideratio to this where water is a prime consider-
ation - preservation of the flood plains and basins
for agriculture, greenbelts, etc. there is need, if
the quality of life is to be enhanced, of establishing
policies to insure continuation of a wide range of
population densities. of necessity, the wildlands,
with little or no population and severe utilization
limitation, must be lands of low economic value, but
of high esthetic value to some segment of the population.
Also, there appears need to have urban populations more
compact and denser than at present, but with nearby
greenbelts and other open spaces (agriculture represents
a definite greenbelt). However, successful policies to
establish land utilization disparity must be based on
rational physical criteria. The interpretive soil
surveys, developed originally for agriculture but
broadened to encompass all manner of non-agricultural
capabilities, along with largely available geologic
and climatic information, definitely have the potential
to supply the rational physical criteria on which
policies can be based.
4. The concept of dispersion. The report brings out that
the land, specifically its soil mantle, and the oceans
have developed over the eons the ability to ameliorate
and beneficially utilize all manner of residues from
- 48 -
Water Resources Committee
former plant and animal life. Most of man's environmental
problems pertain to the fact that, in his efficiency, he
concentrates all manner of his wastes. Many solutions
rest in proper dispersal of the concentrated wastes, or
in adopting policies that do not result in concentrations.
This pertains particularly to liquid and solid waste
disposal, to noise, and to land degradation. However, as
to air pollution, there is evidence that the total of
earth's air is so limited that the concept of dispersion
can no longer be applied. The total world-wide emissions
must be reduced. However, it has been said that the
oxides of nitrogen produced in fossil fuel production
would convert to nitrates, and the subsequent fallout of
this nutrient would "pollute" our streams. More probable,
and because of the tremendous dispersion in the atmosphere,
any such fallout would more likely be on the positive side -
a very slight increase in the fertility available to all
plants, and a very slight increase in utilization of CO₂
and a very slight increase in the release of 02. Like
other valuable resources, nitrates become pollutants only
when unduly concentrated.
5.
The concept of massive water supply development for the
West. A massive water supply development for the West
has already been suggested as a mechanism to provide new
places for man to live that are attractive economically
and esthetically. This is a mechanism that will aid
rather than detract economically from California because
of trade interdependencies, but it should relieve popu-
lation pressures, and give environmental quality a chance
for enhancement. In consideration of matters such as
economy of scale, capital repayment, and the optimization
of the development potential for all areas affected --
areas of origin and areas of need alike -- it was concluded
that all future water development must be a completely
integrated massive project. There has been a cry for
"500 new cities" to alleviate the problems of the central
core of cities, and only massive water development through-
out the West can provide the economic basis for new cities.
There is further the historical evidence that agriculture
is the vital precursor of urban development. As a city
grows, agriculture may move farther and farther away, but
agriculture grows as the city grows. There certainly is
question today whether or not a city can grow and flower
without such an agricultural base. The need for greatly
augmented water development to provide a clean source for
man's ever expanding energy needs has already been
mentioned.
There is another problem related to water resources
development. That concerns the gradual mineralization
of all developed ground water basins. In the interior,
-49-
Water Resources Committee
the only solution now on the horizon is to provide
greatly augmented supplies, which will solve the problem
through dilution.
6. The concept of implementation through a taxing policy.
It is suggested that State agencies continue to function
more or less as at present, except that the State Water
Resources Control Board, and its Regional Boards, need far
more substantial funding if they are to fully implement
the Porter-Cologne Act of 1969, and except that several
departments (probably Public Health and Water Resources)
should have increased funding in order to carry on proper
and necessary activities in water quality monitoring. On
the matter of taxes it is suggested that the ad valorem
tax on land be a tax reflecting the use value of the land.
This would serve to prevent agriculture from being driven
away from the urban fringes by speculative value taxes.
There might be substituted for present taxes a high
one-time " change in land use" tax particularly appli-
cable to the flood plains, basin land, and possibly to
certain wildlands. This should be high enough to prevent
urban sprawl. Further taxes recommended include a flood
control tax, a water use tax, a waste discharge tax based
on total BOD loading plus any refractory materials loading,
and a recreational use fee.
It is further suggested that there be a tax on all fossil
fuels utilized for combustion purposes. Such a tax could
go into a fund to subsidize nuclear power and hydro power
development. The concept of "power parks" is challenging.
The State could provide coastal land in which nuclear
power plants could be located, but much of which might
be developed as parks. Power parks might also be developed
where pump storage projects might be developed, when and
if an adequate supply of water becomes available. In a
few coastal urban centers, reclaimed waste water might
even now supply a source.
The Water Resources Committee is pleased to submit this summary
report. It recommends to the Council that the above concepts
form the basis for public hearings during 1970, as a mechanism
for developing firm policies.
-50-
APPENDIX
Page
RESOLUTIONS
No. 69-1
Air Quality
A-1
No. 69-3
Noise Abatement
A-2
No. 69-4
Air Quality
A-3
No. 69-5
Noise Abatement
A-5
No. 69-7
Noise Abatement
A-6
SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES, 1969
B-1
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF HEARINGS, 1970
C-1
RESOLUTION NO. 69-1
RELEASE: September 11,
1969
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
AIR QUALITY COMMITTEE
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Clinton Oil Company has indicated
their intention to build an oil refinery in the Coachella
Valley near Beaumont, California; and
WHEREAS, in public testimony before the State
Environmental Quality Study Council it was clearly
demonstrated that insufficient technical data exist to
properly evaluate the impact of the refinery on the air
quality of the valley; and
WHEREAS, it was also clearly demonstrated at this
same hearing that considerable legitimate doubt exists
concerning the adequacy of the regulatory program govern-
ing the air quality of the area: Therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Air Quality Committee of the
State Environmental Quality Study Council strongly
redommends that a moratorium be called on industrial
expansion in the Coachella Valley, of the type that can
produce air pollution, until adequate background technical
data is available to permit formulation of an effective
regulatory program.
THIS RESOLUTION SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE FORTHWITH.
Air Quality Committee
Albert Pearlson, Chairman
Albert Pearlson, Chairman
Attorney at Law
Air Quality Committee
A. J. Haagen-Smit, Ph.D.
Chairman, State Air
Resources Board
Date: September 5, 1969
Bruce J. Held, Group
Leader, Industrial
Hygiene, Sandia Corporation
Edward M. Ross, Attorney at Law
Frank J. Tysen, Professor,
Urban and Regional Planning
University of Southern California
- A-1 -
RESOLUTION NO. 69-3
RELEASE: Immediate
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, in testimony before the Noise Abatement
Committee of the State Environmental Quality Study
Council at a public hearing in Inglewood, California,
on September 23, 1969, it was repeatedly demonstrated
that much jurisdictional confusion exists concerning
governmental regulation of the aircraft-produced
community noise problem: Therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the State Environmental Quality
Study Council request of the State Attorney General an
analysis of the authority and responsibility of Federal,
State, and local governmental agencies having juris-
diction, with emphasis on the voids and overlaps that
might exist.
David of Baber
David L. Baker, Chairman
Environmental Quality Study Council
State of California
Date: September 30, 1969
- A-2 -
RESOLUTION NO. 69-4
RELEASE:
October 21, 1969
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
AIR QUALITY COMMITTEE
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, it is apparent from testimony presented
to the State Environmental Quality Study Council at
public hearings, including that held in Huntington
Beach on October 16, 1969, that inadequate consideration
has been given to the severe air pollution effects of
fossil fueled power plants in the Los Angeles Air Basin
(Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, and parts of Santa
Barbara, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties), and
WHEREAS, insufficient effort has been exerted
by the major utilities in the area to develop non air-
polluting alternatives, such as nuclear power plants,
and
WHEREAS, it has become painfully apparent that
the Los Angeles Air Basin has passed the saturation
point relative to air pollution and that the situation
has truly reached the crisis state: Therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Air Quality Committee of the
State Environmental Quality Study Council strenuously
opposes the proposed addition of two 750-megawatt
fossil fueled power units by Southern California Edison
Company at Huntington Beach; and be it
RESOLVED further, That the Air Quality Committee
of the State Environmental Quality Study Council strongly
recommends the institution of a moratorium on the issuance
of construction and operating permits for fossil fueled
power plants in the Los Angeles Basin until and if it
can be clearly demonstrated to the satisfaction of the
State Air Resources Board that the quality of the air in
the Basin is in conformance with the statewide air quality
standards recently adopted by the State Air Resources
Board, and that the addition of fossil fueled power plants
will not further deteriorate the quality of the air in
the Basin; and be it
- A-3 -
Resolution No. 69-4
State of California
Environmental Quality Study Council
Air Quality Committee
RESOLVED further by the Air Quality Committee
or the State Environmental Quality Study Council: That
the State Attorney General be directed to take appropriate
legal steps to enforce the effect of this resolution,
upon request thereof by the State Air Resources Board
or the State Environmental Quality Study Council.
THIS RESOLUTION SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE FORTHWITH.
Air Quality Committee
Albert Pearison, Chairman
Albert Pearlson, Chairman
Air Quality Committee
Attorney at Law
A. J. Haagen-Smit, Ph.D.,
Chairman, State Air
Date: October 20, 1969
Resources Board
Bruce J. Held, Group Leader
Industrial Hygiene,
Sandia Corporation
Frank J. Tysen, Professor
Urban and Regional Planning
University of Southern California
- A-4 -
Resolution No. 69-5
RELEASE: October 30, 1969
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
NOISE ABATEMENT COMMITTEE
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS in testimony before the Noise Abatement
Committee of the State Environmental Quality Council at a public
hearing in Inglewood, California, on September 23, 1969,
considerable information was presented concerning the severe
community noise problem which exists in Inglewood due to jet
aircraft operations in and out of the Los Angeles International
Airport; and
WHEREAS no substantive testimony was presented by any
governmental body reflecting positive plans for corrective
measures in the immediate future, and
WHEREAS community noise quite obviously is not a
major consideration in the airport expansion decision making
process: Therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Noise Abatement Committee of the
State Environmental Quality Study Council respectfully request
intervention by the State Attorney General to seek injunctive
relief in the form of modification or termination of jet air-
craft operations on existing runways, to the extent necessary
to reduce community noise to acceptable levels in Inglewood and
other affected areas and cessation of construction of new jet
aircraft runways until it can be demonstrated that their use
will not result in unacceptable noise levels.
Noise Abatement Committee
Counth.,Nu
Edward M. Ross, Attorney at Law,
Edward M. Ross, Chairman
Chairman
Noise Abatement Committee
Albert Pearlson, Attorney at Law
Frank J. Tysen, Professor, Urban
and Regional Planning,
Date: oct. 23,1969
University of Southern California
- A-5 -
Resolution No. 69-7
Release: December 5, 1969
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS in testimony before the Noise Abatement Committee
of the State Environmental Quality Study Council at a public
hearing in Palmdale, California, on November 12, 1969, no
substantive information was presented which would indicate
adequate consideration of the environmental quality problems,
such as community noise and air pollution, which would result
from the proposed Palmdale International Airport, and
WHEREAS considerable testimony was presented which
strongly suggests that severe environmental quality problems,
such as excessive noise levels in seven schools in that area,
will result from aircraft and related operations at this airport,
and
WHEREAS it was pointed out that at the time of the public
hearing, on March 10, 1969, and April 29 and 30, 1969, by the
State Department of Aeronautics, said Department did not have the
statutory authority to consider environmental quality problems
such as community noise; but that, effective November 10, 1969,
the Department now does have said authority, pursuant to
Section 21666 of the Public Utilities Code: Therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the State Environmental Quality Study
Council recommends that the State Department of Aeronautics
proceed posthaste to develop and promulgate rules and regula-
tions, as authorized by Section 21666 of the Public Utilities
Code, to insure adequate consideration of environmental quality
problems in the planning, design, and operation of airports; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That the State Environmental Quality Study
Council recommends that the State Department of Aeronautics set
aside the approval decision reached at its aforementioned hearing
on the proposed Palmdale International Airport and reschedule said
hearing so that thorough evaluation can be made of the environ-
mental quality problems that are involved and an equally thorough
review made of proposed corrective measures.
world S Baber
David L. Baker, Chairman
Environmental Quality Study Council
Date: 12-1-
- A-6 -
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
SCHEDULE
COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES
April 10 - December 31, 1969
Date
Activity
Location
April 10
First EQSC Meeting - Orientation
Sacramento
May 8
Second Regular EQSC Meeting -
Sacramento
Organization and Planning --
Appointment of Committees
June 5
Third Regular EQSC Meeting -
Sacramento
Planning of Committee Activities;
Analysis of AB 413 (California
Water Quality Act of 1969) i
Presentation on Noise, Department
of Public Health
June 12
Air Quality Committee Planning
Beverly Hills
Meeting
June 12
Noise Abatement Committee
Beverly Hills
Planning Meeting
June 24
Air Quality Committee Planning
Beverly Hills
Meeting
June 24
Noise Abatement Committee
Beverly Hills
Planning Meeting
June 26
Air Quality Committee Public
Palm Springs *
hearing regarding Proposed oil
Refinery in Coachella Valley,
near Palm Springs
June 29
Fact-Finding Trip by Chairman,
Washington, D.C.
thru
Noise Abatement Committee, to
and Rutgers
July 1
confer with Federal Officials
University
and Technological Experts on
Noise Problems and Controls
July 7
Water Resources Committee
Sacramento
Meeting with Water Resources
Control Board -- Drafting of
Committee Report
- B-1 -
State of California
Environmental Quality Study Council
Schedule - Council and Committee Activities
Through December 31, 1969, continued
Date
Activity
Location
July 9
Land Use Committee Planning
Sacramento
Meeting
July 10
Fourth Regular EQSC Meeting -
Sacramento
Presentation, Air Pollution
Control Officer, Los Angeles
County
July 22
Noise Abatement Committee
Inglewood
Meeting with Acoustical
Society of America -- Educa-
tional Seminar
August 7
Meeting re Ad Hoc Committee
Commerce
Report on State Regulations
and Practices, Oil and Gas
Operations, and oil Pollution,
Chaired by Mr. Samuel A.
Egigian, appointed by Chairman
Baker to review Report
August 14
Public Hearing (Full Council)
Palm Springs
*
on Effects of Proposed Oil
Refinery on Air Quality of
Coachella Valley
August 19
Meeting of Executive Secretary
Riverside
with Riverside County Board of
Supervisors (at their request)
re Air Pollution Controls
August 21
Fifth Regular EQSC Meeting -
Sacramento
San Francisco Bay-Delta Sewege
Disposal Plan; Power Plant Crisis
September 5
Water Resources Committee Meeting
Sacramento
with Water Resources Control
Board -- for preparation of
Report
September 17
Land Use Committee Public Hearing
Los Angeles
re Proposed Blacktopping of
Los Angeles Library Park
September 23
Public Hearing, Noise Abatement
Inglewood
*
Committee - largely concerned
with Airport Noise
September 25
Sixth Regular EQSC Meeting --
Sacramento
State Air Resources Board
Presentation
- B-2 -
State of California
Environmental Quality Study Council
Schedule - Council and Committee Activities
Through December 31, 1969, continued
Date
Activity
Location
October 3
Land Use Committee Meeting with
San Francisco
Planning Experts, and UC, Davis,
Ecologist, Dr. Kenneth E. F.
Watt
October 7
Air Quality Committee Meeting
San Francisco
with Bay Area Health Committee
re Future Hearing in SF Bay
Area
October 16
Public Hearing (Full Council)
Huntington Beach *
re Effect of the Growth of the
Power Industry on Environmental
Quality
October 20
Air Quality Committee Meeting -
Beverly Hills
to review above Hearing
October 23
Seventh Regular EQSC Meeting --
Sacramento
Water Resources Control Board
Presentation
October 28
Land Use Committee Planning
Malibu
Meeting w/Malibu Citizens
preparatory to Hearing
November 3
Water Resources Committee
Sacramento
Meeting with Water Resources
Control Board to finalize
report draft
November 4
Land Use Committee Meeting with
Malibu
Malibu Business Community -
preparatory to Hearing
November 12
Noise Abatement Committee
Palmdale
*
Public Hearing re proposed
Palmdale International Airport;
Emphasis on Planning and Decision-
Making Process
November 14
Water Resources Committee
Sacramento
Meeting with Water Resources
Control Board -- to complete
report
November 20
Eighth Regular EQSC Meeting -
Sacramento
State Office of Planning
Presentation
- B-3 -
State of California
Environmental Quality Study Council
Schedule - Council and Committee Activities
Through December 31, 1969, continued
Date
Activity
Location
December 3
Public Hearing, Land Use
Malibu
*
and
Committee, focusing on
December 4
Population Distribution;
Existing Land Use Policies;
Alternatives
December 12
Special EQSC Meeting - to
Sacramento
Discuss Future Activities;
Scheduling; and Operating
Philosophy
December 18
Ninth Regular EQSC Meeting ---
Sacramento
Presentation of Report from
Governor's Task Force on
Solid Waste Management
*
Denotes public hearing
- B-4 -
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STUDY COUNCIL
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF HEARINGS -- 1970
February 13
San Diego -- Land Use and Water
March 7
Livermore -- Air Quality, Water
Resources, and Land Use
Other hearings contemplated; place and time to
be determined
1. Automobile Industry
2. Petroleum Industry
3. Population Distribution
4. Open Space and Agriculture
5. Regional Environmental Quality Management
6. Water Resources and Ocean Pollution
- C-1 -
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