EPA Rules on Air Will Be Applied Offshore : Environment: A House and Senate compromise will put 19 oil platforms in federal waters under strict pollution standards.

Ventura County officials have won a lengthy battle to bring offshore oil operations under the same strict air pollution standards that apply to industries onshore.

The victory, engineered by the heads of air pollution control districts in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, for the first time brings offshore platforms and their supply boats under air quality regulations set and enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The arrangement, included in a compromise Clean Air Act package worked out by the House and Senate late last month, means cleaner air for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, said Richard Baldwin, Ventura County air pollution control officer.

After President Bush signs the law later this month, the offshore provision will also provide more equitable treatment for industry as a whole, requiring all polluters to contribute to efforts to clean up Southern California’s smoggy air, Baldwin said.

“Ventura County has a serious air quality problem from ozone,” Baldwin said. “Emissions from offshore oil platforms contribute to that, just as your car does, or the Edison power plant when you turn on your light switch.”

Oil platforms within the state’s three-mile limit are already governed by local air quality standards, but those rules do not apply to the 19 platforms in federal waters off Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Once the bill becomes law, the Environmental Protection Agency will have one year to draft regulations for the offshore platforms in federal waters. The agency will probably transfer enforcement of the program to local air pollution control districts, Baldwin said.

The measure will probably result in the addition of new emission-control technology at some of the 19 platforms, Baldwin said.

But the measure could also cause compliance problems and extra expense to the offshore oil industry, said Michael Wang, manager of operations and environment for the Western States Petroleum Assn.

“If EPA chooses to delegate the regulatory powers to the counties, it sets up the potential for patchwork regulations with differing controls depending on whether the platform is offshore one county or another,” Wang said.

The association also argued before the Senate Energy Committee that total emissions from offshore operations are small compared to pollution from onshore industries.

But William Master, assistant director of the Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, said that argument is irrelevant.

“Whether they contribute 1% or 10% of the total emissions, it is not equitable to exempt some sources of pollution and control others,” Master said.

The typical large offshore oil platform is a small community that depends on fuel-burning generators not only to pump oil but also to provide electricity for workers. Smog-producing emissions from a single platform routinely exceed 600 tons a year, Master said.

Master said the emission levels are lower on some platforms, where the state or local air pollution control districts have required pollution-reducing technology.

Those interventions came only after the districts objected to new installations and delayed the projects with appeals to the California Coastal Commission. Under the new regulations, the oil companies will know early on what their emission control requirements will be, he said.