Government Exempts Central Valley Pollution

House of Representatives passed a bill which will block new clean air rules which California Central Valley cities would have flunked. The same bill also includes funding for the new University of California, Merced campus. The Clinton administration opposes the bill. Eight San Joaquin Valley counties have earlier been classified as being in "severe" non-compliance of existing ozone standards, and at issue is how the new Environmental Protection Agency bill will impact the Central Valley.