Barbeques are next. Then, BIC lighters.
Barbecue Rule Adopted to Take a Bite Out of SmogOctober 6, 1990
Moving their battle against smog to back-yard barbecues and beach cookouts, Southern California air quality officials Friday adopted the nation’s only rule intended to force consumers to use environmentally sound ways to cook outdoors.
Smog-causing barbecue equipment--including traditional types of lighter fluid and pre-soaked briquettes--must be removed from store shelves in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties by January, 1992, under the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s new rule.
“It’s a very small bite (in smog), but it’s a necessary one,” said Marvin Braude, an AQMD board member and Los Angeles city councilman. “We must regulate individuals’ activities. . . . This is a genuine and important aspect of cleaning the air.”
The regulation marks one of the first times that Southern California consumers have been required to change their habits to clean the region’s notoriously smoggy air. But it will not be the last. Sixteen other polluting household products--from bug spray to air fresheners--will be targeted by the state Air Resources Board next week.