Opinion ID: 1408898
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: statutory history and administrative construction

Text: The historical background confirms that the board must consider the impact of proposed standards on the economy. Prior to 1967, the health department adopted standards for the quality of the air. The original provision made no reference to the public welfare or economic impact. (Former § 426.1, Stats. 1959, ch. 835, p. 2885.) Local districts were authorized to regulate air pollution (former § 24260) but there was no provision making the department's standards mandatory for the districts. Thus, the standards were goals rather than regulations. In 1967 the Legislature authorized the board to adopt ambient air quality standards providing for the first time for consideration of the public welfare including effects on the economy. It also provided that local districts shall comply with the standards of the board, and nothing in the law excused them because they may have believed that the board adopted a standard which was uneconomic. (Stats. 1967, ch. 1545; former §§ 39051, 39313.) In addition, the statutory scheme empowers the board to oversee the effectiveness of local programs and regulations (§ 41500, subd. (b)), and the board has adopted stricter regulations for a district when it found the district's emission regulations too lenient. ( Stauffer Chemical Co. v. Air Resources Board (1982) 128 Cal. App.3d 789, 793 [180 Cal. Rptr. 550].) As the trial court concluded, before 1967 local districts could be expected to consider local economic concerns in adopting pollution regulations to accomplish the health department goals but when the Legislature provided for mandatory standards to be adopted by the board it provided for the board's consideration of economic effects of these standards. The majority's argument on the basis of long-standing administrative interpretation (e.g., Rivera v. City of Fresno (1971) 6 Cal.3d 132, 140 [98 Cal. Rptr. 281, 490 P.2d 793]), and the reenactment rule (e.g., Division of Industrial Safety v. Municipal Court (1976) 61 Cal. App.3d 696, 701 [132 Cal. Rptr. 573]), is predicated on title 17 of the California Administrative Code, section 70101. The section is a general statement of policy. One provision of the section states: The objective of ambient air quality standards is to provide a basis for preventing or abating the effects of air pollution, including effects on health, esthetics and economy. The question before us is not whether the board shall consider the effects of air pollution on the economy; under any interpretation of section 39606 the board may consider the effects of air pollution on the economy. The question is whether the board must consider the impact of its standards on the economy. The regulation is silent as to that issue. Moreover, the authority cited for the regulation is not section 39606 but two other code sections. In these circumstances, there is no long-standing administrative interpretation limiting the broad language of section 39606 and therefore no reenactment following administrative interpretation. The majority also rely upon Lead Industries Ass'n v. Environmental Protection (D.C. Cir.1980) 647 F.2d 1130, 1148, where it was held that in establishing ambient air quality standards under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq.) the administrator need not consider economic or technical feasibility. The court pointed to statutory history for the view that if industries could not meet the standards, they should be shut down or come to Congress for relief. (647 F.2d at pp. 1148-1154.) There is no comparable legislative history for the state statutes. [3] The federal court also states that there is no language in the federal act that economic feasibility was to be considered. In contrast, section 39606 requires the board to consider economic effects. The relationship between the two statutes provides further reason to require consideration of economic effects when the board goes beyond implementation of the federal act. The federal act provides for state implementation of the federal standards. There are primary federal standards which the state must seek to implement within five years, and secondary standards to be implemented within a reasonable time which may be more strict than the primary standards. ( Lead Industries Ass'n v. Environmental Protection, supra, 647 F.2d at pp. 1137, 1180.) In addition to its duty to adopt ambient air standards under section 39606, the board is directed to implement the Clean Air Act. (§ 39602.) However, the Legislature subsequently limited the implementation power, providing: Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the state implementation plan shall only include those provisions necessary to meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act. ( Ibid. ) The effect then of sections 39602 and 39606 is that the board must implement the Clean Air Act, but when it goes beyond the federal clean air standards, it must consider broad factors such as the public welfare and economic effects of its standards, including not only the potential costs of devices to limit air pollution, but also potential limitations on economic growth and resulting loss of jobs.