AQMD honored 10 individuals and organizations for their outstanding efforts in cleaning up the Southland's air at its 11th annual Clean Air Awards ceremony today at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Here are this year's winners:
LEADERSHIP IN GOVERNMENT
ASSEMBLYMAN CARL WASHINGTON - Assemblyman Carl Washington is a champion of clean air causes in the California Legislature and in the community. In 1998 and 1999 he introduced and supported legislation to ensure ongoing funding for the region’s clean fuels research and demonstration program. He was instrumental in the passage of Senate Bill 98, reauthorizing the Clean Fuels Program, which was signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis in 1999.
In 1988, the legislature authorized a $1 surcharge on vehicles registered in the South Coast to fund the AQMD-administered program through 1999. In that time, AQMD has helped develop cleaner heavy-duty trucks and buses, new locomotives that emit 75% less pollution and it has expanded the region’s alternative-fuel vehicle infrastructure. The program has been a vital tool for doing the necessary work to carry out federal and state clean air laws. Without reauthorization of the $1 surcharge, the Clean Fuels Program would have folded.
Washington’s 1998 bill, AB2194, proposed an extension of that surcharge to fund the program for an additional five years. The draft legislation received bipartisan support in both the Senate and Assembly before it was vetoed. In 1999, the key components of Washington’s bill were reintroduced in the Senate by one of its newest members, former AQMD Board Member Richard Alarcón.
Assemblyman Washington was a key player in securing bipartisan support for SB98, which cleared the Senate and Assembly floors and was signed into law in June of this year, allowing AQMD’s Clean Fuels Program to be funded through 2004. He has supported other clean air legislation as a member of the Appropriations Committee and was a guest speaker at AQMD’s Black History Month festivities.
In February 1998, he served as a judge at the National Engineers Week Future City Competition, in which clean-air considerations are incorporated into urban design models submitted by junior high students. In 1997, Assemblyman Washington participated in AQMD’s Clean Air Ambassador Program, conducting face-to-face meetings with business owners in his district and listening to their air quality concerns.
ADVANCEMENT OF AIR POLLUTION TECHNOLOGY
HONDA R&D - Torrance-based Honda R&D developed the 1999 Civic GX NGV, a compressed natural gas vehicle with the cleanest internal combustion engine on the market. Honda specifically targeted and voluntarily achieved 1/10 of ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) emission performance for all three criteria pollutants on the mass-production vehicle for sale in California. Catalyst conversion efficiency is up to 99% with cold starts included. Compared to a similar gasoline vehicle, toxic emissions are reduced by 97% and carbon monoxide emissions by 25% as tested by the U.S. Department of Energy. The award is the third such honor for Honda in the past four years. Honda received its first Clean Air Award in 1996 for becoming the first automaker to develop gasoline low-emission vehicle (LEV) technology with the introduction of the Civic LEV in 1995. In 1997, the company was lauded for introducing a gasoline-powered ULEV to the California and Northeast markets two years ahead of requirements (the 1998 Accord). In 1997, Honda also voluntarily expanded the sale of the California LEV technology to all 50 states and Canada, on 50% of its vehicles.
LITTON GUIDANCE & CONTROL SYSTEMS - Litton GCS division in Woodland Hills developed a series of alternative methods for cleaning parts used in manufacturing optical components for laser-based guidance systems. These accomplishments were achieved well in advance of AQMD Rule 1122’s 2003 deadline requiring that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) be replaced by water-based products.
To achieve this goal Litton’s glass gyro section employed state-of-the-art adhesives and cleaning products. Specifically, Litton has replaced pitch with a thermoplastic to bond mirror substrates during the lapping and polishing processes. The thermoplastic is dissolved using acetone and detergent, instead of the more toxic methylene chloride and a terpene solvent for the pitch. In the prism operation, Litton has replaced the terpene-based cleaning process with a water-based product. For the frame fabrication, wax, which was used to block the internal bores from polishing compounds, has been replaced with plugs. This has eliminated a VOC-type solvent previously used in this process. These changes will reduce Litton’s VOC consumption by nearly 16,000 pounds per year.
INNOVATIVE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
ANAHEIM TRANSPORTATION NETWORK - The Imagination Speedway is a new service that uses chartered Metrolink commuter rail trains to transport regional visitors to Anaheim to sports events and shows.
The Anaheim Transportation Network has operated one Disneyland Grad Nite train, several Angels and Mighty Ducks trains and trains to shows at the Arrowhead Pond, such as Disney on Ice and the Flying U Rodeo. The service can be marketed anywhere in the Metrolink service area: north to the Antelope Valley, east to Riverside, south to Oceanside and all points in between. Trains arrive at the Anaheim Metrolink Station located at Edison Field. Riders are shuttled to events at other facilities. Between 600 and 1,300 riders frequent each train, depending on how many cars are added.
In its first year of operation, Imagination Speedway eliminated over 275,000 vehicle miles traveled by 6,300 commuters who would otherwise drive their own vehicles an average of 44 miles to and from these events.
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS - In an effort to address an increasing traffic problem, the City of Palm Springs launched an Electric Bicycle Demonstration Program in 1997. With the help of matching funds provided by the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee under Assembly Bill 2766, the city purchased 30 electric assist bicycles from four manufacturers (Aerovironment, Battery Automated Transportation, Charger and Zero Air Pollution).
The bicycles were loaned to city employees and residents at no cost for a 30-day period. The city also worked with SunLine, the local transit agency, which provided free bus passes to electric bicycle users, as well as outreach, advertising and bike racks on all its transit lines. Sun Utility Network provided solar powered charging stations to the city and promoted the project at shows and in solar industry trade journals. The 112 bike riders in the demonstration project were asked to log their mileage.
At project’s end, 83 of the 112 riders surveyed stated they would use an electric bicycle to commute to work rather than a car. At least 45 people in Palm Springs have purchased electric bicycles as a result of the project. Over an 18-month period between February 1997 and August 1998, the Palm Springs Electric Bicycle Demonstration Program reduced the following pollutants: 269 pounds of VOC; 353 pounds of nitrogen oxides; 494 pounds of carbon monoxide; and 114 pounds of particulate matter. Long-term, the emission reduction benefits resulting from the demonstration project will most likely be greater.
PUBLIC EDUCATION ON AIR QUALITY ISSUES
LEUZINGER HIGH SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTAL CAREERS ACADEMY - Alison Suffet, a former attorney now teaching social science, loves her work with young people. Her most prized involvement in education is her position as coordinator of the Environmental Careers Academy of Leuzinger High School in Lawndale. She used her creative teaching skills to organize a two-day high school air quality conference that brought together more than 100 young people from throughout the South Bay region.
The Clean Air ‘R’ Us Conference was held April 30 and May 1 at USC and challenged students to examine the major causes of air pollution in Southern California and consider solutions. The conference brought together students from areas as diverse as Santa Monica, Torrance, Lawndale and South Central Los Angeles. It also attracted a broad range of sponsors, such as USC, Mobil Oil Corporation (Adopt-A-School partner of West Torrance High School), Southern California Edison, Generation Earth (funded by L.A. County Dept. of Public Works), Clean Air Now, Audubon YES, Communities for a Better Environment, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County and the AQMD.
The conference included a keynote address, breakout sessions and an advertising campaign. The teens were exposed to genuine air pollution issues, such as transportation, urban planning and environmental justice. Sponsors assisted in organizing the conference by providing input on the content and design of the sessions. But it was Alison Suffet’s innovation and leadership skills that made the conference a success. Organizers came away feeling so good about the conference that they have committed to doing it on a larger scale in 2000.
CENTRO DE NIÑOS INC. - In the fall of 1998, Centro de Niños Inc., a Los Angeles-based non-profit children’s social service agency, began work developing a two-year project to educate and mobilize Latino immigrants and other ethnic communities in Downtown Los Angeles and eastern Los Angeles County on the environmental health conditions affecting their neighborhoods. The Community Keepers project was administered by Niños "Earth" Centro, a project of Centro de Niños Inc.
The organization worked with area businesses, community and environmental groups and government agencies to form a planning committee to develop a leadership conference, which was held in April 1999. The Community Keepers Conference was designed to develop and strengthen local leadership, create opportunities for cooperation and empower individuals and communities to take charge of their own health. The conference drew 200 attendees who heard bilingual presentations on children’s health and the environment, hazardous waste issues, neighborhood polluters and toxins in the home.
Keynote speaker Martha Escutia, of the California Senate, stressed community involvement in environmental policy development, especially in issues related to children’s health. At the conclusion of the conference, the community leaders developed an action plan for addressing the environmental issues listed as a priority in their community.
The group selected 60 people (three teams of 20 members each) to identify a key issue, thoroughly research the topic and develop an action plan. The plan will include a media strategy, a neighborhood community education campaign and documentation of end results. The findings will be presented at next May’s conference.
PROMOTION OF GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
RICHARD CROMWELL III - Under the leadership of General Manager Richard Cromwell III, SunLine Transit Agency made history by becoming the first public transit fleet in the nation to park its entire fleet of diesel buses and switch overnight to a fleet powered entirely by compressed natural gas (CNG).
That was in 1994. In the five years since SunLine’s CNG rollout, Mr. Cromwell has been a driving force behind numerous clean air accomplishments, the effects of which have been felt around the world. He was instrumental in developing the nation’s first community college curriculum for alternative fuels and a statewide instructional network certified by the National Automotive Technician Education Foundation.
He opened Coachella Valley’s first four public-access CNG fueling stations at SunLine’s Thousand Palms headquarters and Indio sites, Waste Management of the Desert and Palm Springs International Airport. Cromwell has created hundreds of local fleet customers for CNG motor fuel. He established the Coachella Valley Clean Cities Region, a coalition of over 100 stakeholders including nine cities, the County of Riverside and four Indian nations. He supported the American Gas Association’s clean air CNG bus effort at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta by providing buses and technicians. Cromwell implemented regional street sweeping service with CNG-powered vacuum sweepers. He has fostered the development of CNG stations in the Coachella Valley.
He participated in a multi-million dollar National Automotive Center project to utilize hydrogen extracted from an on-board diesel reformer to power a fuel cell engine on SunLink - a SunLine shuttle to Metrolink in Riverside. Cromwell also built a hydrogen generation facility at SunLine’s headquarters and worked with the Sacramento Regional Transit District on a three-year study, which concluded that CNG simultaneously reduces operating costs and harmful emissions.
McKESSON WATER PRODUCTS COMPANY - McKesson Water Products (MWPC), the largest of the American-owned bottled water companies, operates a fleet of nearly 2,000 vehicles.
To make this fleet more environmentally friendly, the company has replaced many of its older vehicles with new, alternative-fuel delivery trucks. Additionally, MWPC has worked with AQMD’s Technology Advancement Office on a custom-built, mid-duty electric delivery truck powered entirely by 100 sealed batteries with a range of 70 miles.
Other innovations include a full-height cab that allows the driver to walk through the cab to the curbside exit, a dramatically lowered door and a larger windshield, allowing better vision in residential environments. Roger Weaver, Director of Fleet Operations, approached AQMD’s Technology Advancement Office about the idea after seeing an electric bus at an International EV Symposium.
He thought, "If we can build an electric bus, why can’t we build an electric truck? The only difference is instead of carrying people, it could carry bottled water."
IN MEMORIAM – BRUCE ROBERTS (1945-1998)
By Carolyn Roberts (Reprinted with permission)
Bruce’s background in transportation includes working for the City of New York, as Transportation Manager for the City of Montebello, Vice President for Airport Services and later for Greyhound. Bruce knew that the formidable task of setting up a commuter program for the City of Los Angeles’ more than 38,000 employees would be a challenge, but with excitement he accepted the assignment.
His extensive transportation background served him well while he enthusiastically trained his office staff and on-site coordinators at the more than 300 regulated work sites on the benefits of ridesharing. He often quoted the domino effect of "teach one and you will teach many" and encouraged each one to give thought to the health effects associated with unclean air.
He developed the city’s vanpool program and provided driver’s training for more than 200 van drivers resulting in transportation safety for more than 1,000 employees each day. Bruce developed the specifications for the configuration of the current vans to assure that employees would have a safer and more enjoyable ride.
Bruce was a qualified trainer for the AQMD, and with help from a contractor, effectively trained more than 350 on-site coordinators for the city.
I know Bruce would want me to especially thank those who found ways to honor him in so many thoughtful and kind ways.
Bruce Roberts was Rideshare Program Administrator for the Personnel Department of the City of Los Angeles. He died in October 1998 at age 53.
AQMD takes pride in annually recognizing the outstanding innovation and leadership of organizations and individuals contributing to the improvement of air quality. However, such recognition does not represent an endorsement by the agency of a product or service.
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