Motorists contribute mightily to air pollution in Utah, producing about half of all emissions. Automobile exhaust is a principal ingredient of ozone, a chemical stew of man-made fumes that cooks under a hot summer sun, posing a variety of health risks. And it's a prime source for the fine-particle pollution that dirties our air and threatens our health in the winter. Yet, when it comes to monitoring pollution and devising a plan to clean our dirty air, motorists don't pay a penny. It's high time they paid their share.
Officials at the state Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Air Quality are trying to find a dedicated funding stream to provide about $3 million per year for air quality program planning and implementation. The money is needed to bring the state into line with new federal Environmental Protection Agency standards for ozone and fine-particle pollution. Failure to comply with the tougher standards - and the prognosis for the Wasatch Front isn't good - can mean the loss of federal transportation funds.
While the Legislature could simply boost DEQ's budget, the department has never been one of our lawmakers' favorite charities. So DEQ has appointed a task force of stakeholders - environmentalists, industrialists, bureaucrats, etc. - to study potential funding mechanisms and make recommendations to the Legislature this fall.
The task force is looking at an a la carte menu of options, from increases in the gas tax and vehicle registration fees to a slate of new fees and taxes for industrial polluters. Industry already covers 44 percent of the state's air pollution control costs, and it's not unreasonable to ask businesses big and small to pay a little more.
But the owners of the state's 2 million cars should be asked to chip in. A small tax could raise a lot of money - a 2-cent tax on 10 gallons of gas would bring in an estimated $3.5 million a year; a $1.96 increase in the annual vehicle registration fee would generate $3.9 million.
One way or another, our Legislature needs to summon up the courage to provide a funding mechanism to make this happen. It may not be popular, but it's absolutely necessary. Our health, our lives and the world that we live in depend on it.
