Congressman George Radanovich California’s 19th Congressional District

Washington, Aug 10 -
Hi all, I hope everyone is having an excellent August. After an interesting last week of session in the House, I am back in California—thank goodness.

Washington D.C. can be a little too stuffy for me, so it is always great to get back to the District and speak with folks from home. That is exactly what I had the opportunity to do this last Wednesday when I hosted the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen Johnson, for a roundtable discussion on San Joaquin Valley air quality issues.

Almost a year ago I was able to arrange for then Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rob Portman to meet with myself and a few folks from the Valley representing air quality needs. During the meeting we conveyed to Director Portman the importance of securing funds in the President’s budget for cleaning up the San Joaquin Valley’s air. Although it was too late in the Fiscal Year 2008 budget process for additional funds to be inserted, Director Portman understood the severity of the problems that we are facing. During the meeting I suggested bringing the EPA Administrator to the Valley as a means of highlighting the gravity of the Valley’s air situation in an effort to secure funds for FY09.

At my request the EPA Administrator accepted the invitation to Fresno for a closer look at our dirty air and to discuss possible solutions. Last Wednesday saw the meeting come to fruition and Administrator Johnson spent valuable time with comprehensive representation of the Valley’s air quality interest groups.

Representatives from the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley’s Air Quality Work Group, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, California Air Resources Board, National Parks Conservation Association, the Allergy Institute, Operation Clean Air, and Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, all participated in an informative and thought provoking discussion. The inclusion of such a wide variety of representatives from around the Valley—the Air Quality Working Group alone represents over 300 organizations—made for an inclusive discussion.

The Administrator was briefed on the health impacts of our poor air quality; the ozone impact on our national parks; and the specific objective of advancing the recommendation to accelerate attainment of the federal 8-hr ozone standard and PM2.5 standards.
Administrator Johnson was impressed with the hard work and dedication that the participants displayed. The Administrator instructed his Region IX Director, Wayne Nastri, to make accelerated attainment in the San Joaquin Valley a priority. Agreement was reached that EPA and Air Resources Board (ARB) would co-host a conference to look at new technologies to accelerate attainment. There were some other specifics, such as a commitment from the Administrator to try to get railroad companies to give priority to bringing Tier 3 locomotives to California first. The matter of incentive funding was discussed at length and will be followed up by later meetings.

All in all, I was very pleased with the end results of the discussion. The Administrator shared with me his delight in seeing so many passionate people engaged in such an important issue. We have a long road ahead in the San Joaquin Valley to achieve the quality of air that we deserve to breath, but this meeting was a productive step towards that goal.

Many thanks go to all who participated, particularly Administrator Johnson for taking the time to visit with us. I hope the rest of August proves to be as positive and constructive as this meeting was.

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