LA's Worsening Smog Hits Inland Communities Disproportionately

LOS ANGELES, CA — Air quality in Southern California is on the decline, and the unhealthy air is having an uneven impact on the region where residents in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys are choking on heavy smog while residents on LA's westside are breathing easier, according to a new report.

After decades of improvements, the effort to reduce carbon emissions is slowing nationwide. As a result, bad air days are on the rise along with deadly asthma attacks, the Los Angeles Timesreported. The problem is worst in Southern California, where deaths attributable to ozone pollution increased by 10 percent from 2010 to 2017, the Times reported. The nation's longtime smog capital, the Southland has seen a resurgence of dirty air dividing wealthy coastal enclaves from lower-income inland communities.

It's a costly problem, and the state hasn't earmarked the billions it will take to meet federal requirements this year demonstrating the state is on track to slash ozone pollution, according to The Times. Officials say it will take billions in spending to meet smog- reduction deadlines under the Clean Air Act, but no one knows where the money will come from, according to The Times.

The most notable setback has been with ozone, the lung- damaging gas in smog that builds up in warm, sunny weather and triggers asthma attacks and other health problems that can be deadly, the Los Angeles Times reported. Health effects from ozone pollution have remained essentially unchanged over the last decade -- stubbornly high, according to a study published this year by scientists at New York University and the American Thoracic Society.

Funding shortfalls aren't the only roadblock to cleaner air.

There are other obstacles, such as the Trump administration's efforts to roll back emissions standards that California relies on to reduce pollution from cars and trucks. With each passing year, Southern California smog regulators are falling further behind in raising the $14 billion they say is needed to pay for less-polluting vehicles and clean the air to federal health standards, according to The Times.

Within Southern California, the amount of pollution you breathe is highly dependent on where you live.

Smog has eased considerably across the region compared with decades ago. The gains are particularly dramatic in areas closer to the coast such as L.A.'s Westside and downtown, which are now largely spared persistent unhealthy levels of ozone pollution. It's another story farther inland, where communities such as San Bernardino continue to suffer more bad air days, elevated smog levels and some of the highest asthma rates in the state, The Times reported.

In 2018, there were only two bad air days for ozone pollution on the Westside and just four in downtown L.A. Not far away in the San Fernando Valley there were 49. San Bernardino had 102 -- more unhealthy days than the city has logged since the mid-1990s, air monitoring records show.

"We're not seeing the same improvements as people living near the coast," said Anthony Victoria of the Riverside County-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. "When you're in San Bernardino you look toward the mountains and it's not clear. You have layers of smog you can see in the sky. You have people with asthma struggling to breathe, and it's a devastating thing."

If California regulators fail to submit an adequate smog-reduction plan by the end of this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could begin imposing a series of escalating sanctions, including increased restrictions on polluting industries and the loss of federal highway funds. Even more draconian measures could take the form of no-drive days and gas rationing. Airports and shipping harbors could also face limits on emissions.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.