A month after Clark County officials announced stringent changes to the smog program were in the works, a commission announced this plan has been scrapped and the county will rely on an increase in sales tax for money to reduce smog in the Valley.

The plan is to increase the 7.25% county sales tax by a fraction of a percent every year until 2025. This means extra money for air quality programs would have to be budgeted out of that pot for air quality programs.

This change was brought about because the county realized it couldn’t assure the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that air quality would not suffer.

This tax package should be on the November ballot for an advisory vote before the final decision is made by the Nevada Legislature.

Transportation Commission General Manager Jacob Snow believes voters headed to the polls in November are more likely to support increasing the sales tax — a third of which is paid by tourists — than they would have taxes on gasoline and smog checks. "Everybody likes a tax they don’t have to pay," he said.

By eliminating the increase on smog checks, the Transportation Commission hopes to avoid making enemies of smog station owners. The fee increase, which would have been coupled with a change to every-other-year smog checks, angered many smog station owners who feared it would cut their business in half.

Calnev Pipeline company was recently fined more than $204,000 for Clean Air Act violations at its bulk gasoline terminal in Las Vegas. Federal environmental officials found Calnev had failed to test each tank truck for vapor leaks and neglected to conduct monthly inspection on vapor lock systems.

Also, it was determined that the company increased the size of its pipeline and pumps at its North Sloan Lane terminal without obtaining a permit that would have allowed pollution controls on the equipment.

Don’t forget the Pacific Oil Conference and Trade Show, Sept. 17-19, 2002 at the Reno Hilton, Reno, Nevada. The keynote speaker will be Bruce Smith, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Tesoro Petroleum Corporation. You can register on-line at www.petroshow.com.

It’s not too early to begin planning to attend the Western Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Expo at the Mirage in Las Vegas scheduled for Feb. 18-20, 2003. This is the first year at the new Mirage convention facility, featuring 50 extra booths and lounge space in the trade show area. You can register on-line as an attendee or exhibitor at www.wpma.com.

Originally published in the June 2002 issue of the O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2002 by KAL Publications Inc.