City Council Approves New Resolution to Enforce Clean Air Act

The Los Angeles City Council today approved a resolution putting the city on record in support of strict enforcement of the Clean Air Act by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The resolution authored by City Councilman Paul Koretz specifically supports a provision of the act that requires about 1,400 coal- and oil-fired power plants nationwide to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution fromcoal plants to meet new tougher standards by 2016.

The EPA estimates the stricter standards will prevent 11,000 deaths and
130,000 asthma attacks annually.

The council approved the resolution on 10-0 vote.

About 39 percent of the city's electricity comes from coal-fired power
plants. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said it will comply with
the new EPA standards and is committed to eliminating coal as an energy source.

The utility is scheduled to stop using one of its coal-fired power plants, the
Navajo Generating Station in Arizona, by 2015.

"Mercury poses a particular threat to children, pregnant women (and)
fetuses, and it's estimated by the EPA we will save as much as $90 billion
annually in health care costs if this (rule) is fully implemented,'' Koretz
told the council.

The vote was applauded by environmental groups, including the Center for
Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club's
Beyond Coal Campaign.

While much work remains before Los Angeles is coal-free, new reminders
of why moving beyond coal is crucial continue to arise,'' said Aura Vasquez,
a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign.

Whether it be the deadly impact these coal plants have on public
health, the rising costs associated with coal power or the new jobs L.A. can
generate by getting more power from local clean energy, there are numerous
reasons why the coal to clean energy transition is an urgent matter important
to Los Angeles' future,'' Vasquez said.

Center for Biological Diversity Climate Campaign Director Rose Braz told
the council the timing of the city's approval of the resolution was important.

"We just saw two studies come out last week on the intensity and number
of heat waves for Southern California dramatically increasing and also sea-
level rise dramatically affecting California at two to three times higher than
had been previously estimated,'' Braz said.

The council delayed action until Aug. 1 on a separate resolution
opposing the expansion of the Alton Coal Coal Hollow mine in Utah onto 3,500
acres of federal land near Bryce Canyon National Park. The resolution was
delayed after the LADWP raised concerns that without the expansion, the utility
might have to pay more for coal -- a cost that might be passed along to
ratepayers.

The mine sells about 5-10 percent of the coal to the Intermountain Power
Plant, an LADWP-managed coal-fired power plant in Utah that supplies power to
Los Angeles residents.

Koretz said last week he would move forward on the resolution with or
without the utility's support.