CLEAN AIR MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 1964 U.S. SENATE, SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON AIR AND WATER POLLUTION, The special subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m., in the supervisors' hearing room, hall of administration, 500 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, Calif., Senator Edmund S. Muskie presiding. Present: Senators Muskie, Moss, and Bayh. Senator MUSKIE. The committee will be in order. For about two decades, residents of the Los Angeles area have lived intimately with a stubborn air pollution problem. Now, for whatever small comfort it may offer, it is clearly apparent that you do not suffer alone. Most Americans particularly the 100 million who live in our modern metropolitan areas either live now where there is a serious air pollution problem, or where there will soon be a serious problem, unless we devote a major effort to preventing the further fouling of our air resources. The Congress of the United States recently passed new legislation which was signed into law by President Johnson only last month. The clean air act was drafted after extensive hearings were held before this committee and before a similar committee of the House of Representatives. Its passage by overwhelming majorities in both Houses of the Congress with the strong support of the administration is concrete proof that the Federal Government is convinced that air pollution presents a genuine threat to the health and economy of our entire Nation. In a few minutes, the Special Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution of the U.S. Senate Public Works Committee will begin the first of a nationwide series of public hearings and field inspection tours on the problem of air pollution. Before the month of February is over, we will have examined, at firsthand, local and State air pollution problems in seven American cities-Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Wheeling, Boston, New York, and Tampa. The air pollution problems in these cities are representative of those suffered by thousands of communities throughout every region and State of our country. Our purpose is simply to gather as much on-the-spot knowledge as possible about how the recently passed clean air act can help lead to more effective control of air pollution throughout the Nation. Los Angeles is, without doubt, the most logical place to begin our hearings, for it is here that air pollution, a seriously harmful byproduct of our technological achievement, has struck hardest, and it is here also that the strongest retaliatory blows have been struck. Our 1 committee had not been involved very long in its study of this problem when it became overwhelmingly clear that the people of Los Angeles County have launched the most aggressive air pollution control program in the world. Without your efforts, the problem would have become utterly unbearable, and indeed might have halted or critically jeopardized the growth of a great metropolis. Furthermore, your vigorous response-to the tune of more than $30 million in tax funds and more than $100 million in expenditures by industry-has been of indirect but important benefit to other communities in this State and in other States where the modern miasma of air pollution is taking hold, less slowly than many think, and surely beyond the slightest doubt. The Clean Air Act marks the beginning of a renewed Federal recognition of air pollution as a national problem, demanding attention by and support from all American citizens. The act will not of itself lift the veil of smog which too often conceals the face of this city, but it will in several important ways assist you and other cities in your struggle for cleaner air. The act authorizes the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, for the first time, to grant Federal funds to help local, State, and regional air pollution agencies initiate, expand, or improve their programs. It outlines procedures for Federal action to cope with interstate as well as certain intrastate problems; and it expands the research, training, and technical assistance programs the Department has conducted and supported for the last 8 years. The act singles out for special attention two of the major unsolved air pollution problems-both of special concern to Los Angelesmotor vehicle exhaust and high sulfur content fuels. One entire section of the act is devoted to the problem of preventing the discharge of pollutants from automotive vehicles. The Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is directed to appoint a technical committee of representatives from the Department and from the automotive vehicle, exhaust control device, and fuels industries. That committee is charged with evaluating progress in the development of devices and fuels, and with recommending research which would lead to the development of appropriate devices and fuels. The Secretary is further required to report to Congress, at specified periods, on the progress of measures taken toward the resolution of the automotive vehicle and fuels pollution problem. In its totality, the Clean Air Act reaffirms and gives impetus to the point of view that the solution of the problem can best be reached through the constructive cooperative efforts of all levels of government, industry, and the public, all of whom contribute to and suffer the consequences of polluted air. We hope to learn more about your problems and the progress made toward their solution during our next 2 days here in Los Angeles. I know we will not be disappointed. During today's hearings we will hear from those who have so generously agreed to testify, including government officials, as well as representatives of industry, research, and civic groups. Tomorrow, our helicopter inspection of the area and our visits to research facilities and industrial control operations will add to our knowledge of the problem. I would now like to invite my colleagues on the committee to make such opening comments as they would like. First, to my right, an old friend and distinguished Member of the Senate from Utah, Senator Frank Moss, who is a member of this subcommittee and the full Committee on Public Works. Senator Moss, would you care to make an opening statement? I have no formal opening statement to make of any sort. The chairman has stated rather clearly the purpose of the hearings. These are exploratory and educational as far as the committee is concerned. What we are trying to do here is to define the problem, gather as much information as we can from the local efforts that have been made to solve the problem, and then, having gathered data from all parts of the country, to sit as a committtee to see if there is something that needs to be done further at the Federal level. As the chairman pointed out, the clean air bill is new legislation and has just been signed into law, and so we are in the very beginning of our educational process. I am glad to be back in Los Angeles. I was here just over a week ago holding some hearings and it is always good to return here where so much goes on. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator MUSKIE. Thank you, Senator Moss, and on my left 1 of the 10 outstanding young men of America, from the State of Indiana, another very effective member of this subcommittee, Senator Birch Bayh from Indiana. We are delighted to have him with us here this morning. Senator BAYH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no statement to make. I want to compliment you as the chairman of this subcommittee for your intense interest and for taking this committee into the field to study the problem first hand. It is going to be a very interesting hearing and certainly will gain much from observing what Los Angeles has done. I have no further comment at this point. It is now my pleasure to welcome our first witness, an old friend whom I've known for some 10 years, the chief executive of this State, the personable, hospitable, and able Governor of California, Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. Governor BROWN. Thank you. Senator MUSKIE. You may proceed, Governor Brown. STATEMENT OF HON. EDMUND G. BROWN, THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Governor BROWN. Distinguished Senators, let me first officially greet you; I have already unofficially greeted you into our State, but I hope that you have enjoyed the short time that you have been with us. I hope that before you return to the cold weather of Washington that you will spend a little time on our desert. I have just returned from there myself and it is beautiful. Senator MUSKIE. I might say that though the weather is cold the climate is getting warmer all the time. |