More expensive gasoline would help clean winter air

Southern Nevada's dirty winter air should clear if cleaner fuel, better smog checks and more people work from home, officials said.

The Clark County District Board of Health is expected to consider California-grade gasoline at its October meeting, Air Pollution Control Director Michael Naylor said Tuesday. The Health District enforces pollution regulations.

Without cleaner fuel, Southern Nevada's air will grow worse as the population climbs to more than 2 million people, local officials said.

The gas necessary to clear Las Vegas Valley wintertime skies of carbon monoxide requires ethanol, Naylor said. It will cost motorists about 6 cents more a gallon to remove enough invisible carbon monoxide with the cleaner fuel to make a difference.

The Las Vegas Valley's winter air is considered seriously polluted with carbon monoxide. To meet clean air standards, officials must find ways to get rid of the gas.

Clark County plans to start checking exhausts from heavy diesel engines, such as trucks and buses, said Clete Kus of the county's Comprehensive Planning Division. Trucks are exempt from annual smog checks.

If 17,000 vehicles would stay home each day by drivers car pooling or working from home, the air also would stay cleaner. As an added benefit, the county would spend $63 million instead of $135 million to put 600 more CAT public buses on the streets, a Health District study showed.

Telecommuting -- or working from home by computer -- is not a solution for casino dealers, service workers or emergency crews, Naylor noted. However, government agencies could stagger driving hours or allow employees to work from home at times.

Compared to any alternative, however, the cleaner gasoline offers 10 times the benefits of car pools and telecommuting combined.

Once the Health District approves cleaner gasoline, the Clark County Commission will present a regional clear air plan to the public next year. That plan will need approval from the state's Environmental Commission and the federal Environmental Protection Agency before any controls become effective.

Naylor said cleaner gasoline could become available as soon as Oct. 1, 1999. Clark County's winter smog season runs Oct. 1 through March 31.

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