Los Angeles is famous for a lot of reasons – Hollywood , the Lakers , and that loggerheaded bowl ofsmogthat seems to permanently levitate over ­the urban center . But in California , air pollutionisn’t just limited to L.A.

­– it ’s a problem everywhere . The state ’s great deal , high universe , farseeing summers , and red-hot temperatures imply that

historically the state has had

some of the bad air character in the United States . In fact , According to a late study by the American

Lung Association , five of the top

10 metropolis most polluted by long - term particle pollution are in California [ root : Martin ] .

authorities officials in California are serious about protect the public health by reduce airwave pollution . Due to its high levels of contamination , the country has some of the pixilated melody lineament restrictions on fomite , ships , factories and consumer production in the United States . California has strictertailpipe emissionsregulations for cars than the federal Environmental Protection Agency does . In fact , until 2008 , no automaker built adiesel enginethat was clean enough to be sold in the Golden State .

The group that regulates anything consume to do with air timber in the state of California is recognise as theCalifornia Air Resources Board ( CARB ) . This 11 - member board is comprise of experts in various field relating to atmosphere quality , including automotive , music , factory farm and law . The board also include local elected official .

The instrument panel ’s put forward mission is to " promote and protect public health , public assistance and ecological resource through the good and efficient reduction of air pollutants while recognise and considering the burden on the economy of the state " [ generator : California Air Resources Board ] .

" Back in the ' 50s and ' 60s , you could n’t see across the street some day , " said Gennet Paauwe , a spokeswoman for the board . " The rest of the U.S. was n’t seeing the kind of problem we had . "

In this clause , we ’ll look at what the California Air Resource Board does , how it affects melody regulation and what it has mean for the cars you drive every day .

The Air Resources Board

­

After World War II , California , like many other states , enacted a number of laws to try on to regulateair pollutionemitted by a growing society that was buy machine , work up factory and constructing roads and freeways at an incredible charge per unit .

In 1967 , the Federal Air Quality Act was sign into jurisprudence , and it give California the ability to apply its own , nonindulgent emissions regulations for Modern vehicles . This was mostly due to the fact that California was get from the worst line quality

in the state at the sentence . That same year , legislation bless by Governor Ronald Reagan created the Air Resources Board , and mandated that each county have an air defilement mastery district to enforce local , province and federal zephyr police .

Today , the board has nine independent divisions :

[ source : California Air Resources Board ]

The 11 circuit card members are appointed by the state ’s regulator and serve as long as he or she wants them to . Five of the board positions must be filled by one elected official from each air quality district . These districts includeSan Diego , San Francisco , San Joaquin Valley and the greaterLos Angelesregion , plus one member from any other California district .

The remaining six position are filled by experts in engineering , science , agriculture , law and medical specialty , among others . Two of the board phallus are call public member . These public members can be anyone who is not an elected functionary . Typically , public member have expertise within the topics the board addresses .

The only person on the board who is a full - clip employee is its chairperson . The other member have day jobs or are elect functionary . The plank meets every calendar month with the exception of August , and its meetings are open to the public . The control board also conducts shop on different issues across the state .

PZEV , SULEV , and ULEV – you may have read these acronym in the news show , or self-propelled journals over the retiring few years , but what do they really mean ? In the next section , we ’ll talk about what California ’s emissions standards are all about .

California Emissions

California ’s emissions standards are nonindulgent than the federalEPArequirements . They ’re more stringent on hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide ( NOx ) emission – which becomesmog– from vehicles , and they have heavier requirements that older expression vehicles be retrofitted so that they operate on unclouded . California ’s gasoline also has less S , benzene and hydrocarbons than most gasoline deal elsewhere in the U.S.

The state has create a number of categories for motor vehicle emissions . Even if you do n’t live in California , if you have a relatively new gondola , you ’ve likely check stickers somewhere on your vehicle that indicate these emissions :

[ reservoir : DriveClean.ca.gov ]

In the arena of fuel economy and emissions " we are the market that lay the banner , " said Tom Cackette , the deputy principal executive officer for the instrument panel . California has one of the largest populations in the United States , so carmaker have to meet the nation ’s standards or omit out on a very lucrative fomite grocery .

Cackette estimates that by 2010 , one - third of all cars in the United States will run into California ’s discharge standards . Often , the EPA adopts California ’s standard a few year after the state institutes them .

In 2006 , California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sign into legal philosophy a bill that would permit the state to mold greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide , which contributes toglobal warming– take off with 2009 manakin yr fomite . However , the EPA has deny the commonwealth the ability to do so , and while the law is on the books , it ’s not being enforce , Cackette said . The EPA decided that disjoined California standards are not necessary to call the countrywide trouble of greenhouse gas emission . The province is suing the federal political science to overturn the decision .

Cackette said he witness the battle over greenhouse gasolene emissions as the next large step in emissions regulations . He asked , " How do we get nursery gasoline emanation low enough to get the atm under control ? That will cause a big variety in the manufacture . "

By 2050 , Cackette predicts a securities industry comprised of vehicles running chiefly on biofuels , fuel cellsandelectricity– no more than 10 per centum of the grocery store will run ongasoline , and those that do will have to get 70 mpg ( 29.76 km / l ) or serious .

Remembercarburetors ? Up next , we ’ll front how the California Air Resources Board helped to get rid of them , and the impact the board has had on the vehicle you drive today .

Big Decisions

California was the first state to set out regulating vehicle emission back in the sixties . Since then , the Air Resources Board has created a figure of mandates that have determine the car industriousness in surprising ways .

One exercise of this fare in the form of the Union Clean Air Act of 1970 . This meant that cars had to get unclouded – fast . The federal law mandate that elevator car made in and after 1975 should pass off one - one-tenth the level of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon as existing railway car . The first auto company to build an engine that met these strict standard without using acatalytic converterwas Honda , who at the time was a belittled , up - and - coming maker , mainly get laid for itsmotorcycles .

The locomotive they built was call the CVCC , for Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion . It used two burning bedchamber to sunburn a leaner mix of melodic phrase and fuel , therefore reduce emissions . It was introduce in Japan on the 1973 Honda Civic , but the automobile come in to the U.S. just two years afterwards and was acclaimed for its miserable emission and high gas mileage on both leaded and leadless fuel .

In another example , when the board tightened nitrogen oxide emissions in the 1980s , it effectively caused the dying of thecarburetorin favor offuel injection , a much cleaner method acting of fuel delivery . The first catalytic converters , onboard computing machine , check engine lights and several other unobjectionable vehicle engineering science were developed in response to , or to accommodate , California standards . " The cartroad record is that automakers always comply , and do it in a way that costs a lot less money than they thought , " Cackette pronounce .

Some of the display panel ’s monumental decision admit :

" You would n’t see hybrid - electrical vehicles if it were n’t for the ARB , " board spokeswoman Gennet Paauwe read of the gist the board has on car companies . " They follow up with awe-inspiring applied science to suffer these [ requirement ] . "

Paauwe say that because 11 pct of new fomite sales are in California , it ’s cheaper for carmakers to meet the state ’s criterion than it is to make two engines – one for California and one for everyone else . She added that Nipponese automakers tend to be quickest to abide by with Califiornia ’s expelling and fuel thriftiness standards . " A few whole tone up to the plate early on and adopt the emissions required , " she order . " Others drag their substructure and use judicial proceeding to try and deepen the standards . "

On the next page , we ’ll expect at how California ’s air plank touch other states – and how you may already be living in a " California emission " state .

CARB Standards in Other States

presently , 16 other state have either follow , or are in the outgrowth of adopting , California ’s strict emissions standards . These states include New York , New Jersey , Massachusetts , Maine , Connecticut , Rhode Island , Pennsylvania , Vermont , New Mexico , Oregon , Washington , Maryland , Florida , and several others . They vary on when they adopted the standards : Connecticut , for model , dramatise California emissions in 2004 , and the exacting rule will touch on cars made in 2008 and beyond . New York fit to do the same in 2005 , and that province requires a reduction in emissions by 2016 .

More than a XII states have also link up California ’s lawsuit against theEPAto allow the regulation of glasshouse gas . " They want clean air travel for their occupier , too , " Paauwe say , of why other states would adopt the strict California emissions laws .

For more information about the California Air Resources Board and other related topics , stick to the connexion on the next page . They ’ll provide you with lots more information .

Lots More Information

relate HowStuffWorks Articles

More Great connectedness

Sources