Introduction
Air and water quality are essential indicators showing how well government agencies protect people’s health. In this regard, it is necessary to constantly monitor these indicators to observe them in the norms recommended for maintaining residents’ health. California is the third-largest western state in the US and has the largest population (Keeley & Syphard, 2019). Thus, maintaining the purity of air and water parameters is essential for people’s well-being.
This state is known for its diverse natural landscape, so ensuring water and air purity should be easy. However, some problems in this industry can significantly worsen people’s health. In this regard, it is necessary to investigate problematic points to find ways to solve them.
Air and Water Quality Issues
Air and water quality have been a major California issue for years. Water and air pollution problems in California stem from many vehicles and factories emitting waste (EPA, 2023a). The state is home to some of the most polluted cities in the United States, such as Los Angeles and Bakersfield (Reames, 2020).
In addition, one of the leading causes of drinking water pollution is that filters cannot handle high levels of toxins (EPA, 2023b). However, transportation is a major contributor to air pollution since most people in California have private cars to get around. The emissions they produce constantly enter the atmosphere, contributing to air pollution and provoking environmental degradation. A large amount of smog that accumulates over large cities can harm the health of people who inhale it. The state has adopted many environmental improvement programs, such as the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) increase policy, to mitigate this harmful effect.
Laws, Regulations, and Programs
In the state of California, the federal legislative process includes several steps that are required to pass legislation. The first critical phase is the introduction of the bill in the House of Representatives. After that, the bill is sent for consideration to the commission, which checks all the information following current legislation to ensure it is legal and appropriate (Eckstein et al., 2019).
If this committee finds a bill that can be admitted for further hearing, it is redirected to the Senate for a vote on its adoption. If the majority of the necessary votes were cast for the bill’s adoption, it is sent to the President for signing. In most cases, the President signs the bill, which officially becomes law. However, if the President uses his veto power, the bill must go back to the Senate for a further vote.
Program Effectiveness – Time and Cost
To solve the problems caused by water and air pollution, the government needs to take the necessary measures promptly. California has hosted many programs that could potentially solve this problem. The ZEV program is one of the most ambitious and effective policies to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions. This program creates acceptable conditions to motivate people to switch to electric vehicles instead of cars with internal combustion engines. However, car dealers have criticized this program as being too aggressive and could cause a sharp market distortion (Long et al., 2020).
In the future, this may lead to the fact that prices of conventional cars will begin to fall rapidly, which will cause some inflation in the market (Long et al., 2020). In this regard, the government should analyze aspects of ZEV promotion better to optimize the risks. It is essential to consider the long-term implications of this program to fully assess whether it is worth the time and money spent on it. Improving air quality can significantly impact the economic sector by increasing regional tourism. Thus, the costs of its implementation can be recovered.
Another initiative to improve the quality of the state’s environment is the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program. It has been designed to manage runoff better and reduce farming waste. Reducing harmful chemicals used to protect crops from pests can protect the state’s water resources and ensure they do not re-contaminate.
However, some farmers negatively received this government initiative. They complained that this cleaning program does not consider each crop’s characteristics and is universal, leading to worse field treatments (Lewis & Rudnick, 2019). As a result, many crops can be killed by insects. Thus, this initiative may not justify its investment, causing losses due to crop failures. The program should be fine-tuned so that farmers can use certain harmless types of chemicals that could provide them with a better harvest.
Recommendations
To improve the state of air and water in California, the government needs to take a comprehensive approach to solving this problem. At the same time, the experience of implementing previous programs indicates that developing an intervention strategy that considers all stakeholders’ opinions is necessary. In the future, this will help to improve the interaction of management with all areas that may be affected by changes, such as cleaning water and air.
One of the correct and effective solutions may involve the cooperation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which will advise the authorities on the solutions being developed. Innovative technologies can become one of the main factors helping in the fight against ozone layer depletion (EPA, 2022). In this way, it will be possible to achieve a better infrastructure to make life easier for people using electric cars. In addition, the agency can allocate tranches to projects that are in development and require funding that is not in the state budget. This would significantly speed up the implementation of new, practical solutions.
The interaction of various individuals and legal entities with the public sector can occur in different ways. This interaction is essential for the environment as it can significantly accelerate restoring air and water quality (Haight & Butler, 2013). Society can become a source of potentially useful ideas that can later develop into full-fledged projects.
One of the effective ways of interaction is taking people’s participation in public discussions of projects with the authorities (Liao et al., 2020). This may allow for discussing all controversial points and avoiding implementing erroneous decisions. In addition, it is essential to interact with large companies operating in the state. This is the right decision, as they have a lot of capital and, in some cases, can take on the development of innovative solutions for cleaning the environment.
Conclusion
California is one of the most polluted states in America due to the high concentration of industries and transportation. Thus, the state’s ecological situation is dangerous and poses a particular threat to its inhabitants. However, California is introducing specific measures to improve the situation by motivating people to buy electric vehicles. In addition, the state is actively promoting the initiative to reduce chemical waste after irrigating fields. However, each strategy has its problems, which need to be improved.
References
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EPA. (2023b). Basic information about your drinking water. Web.
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