Mayor Ted Wheeler said Friday that if Portland wants clean air, it must create a local air pollution authority and stop waiting for the state to fix the long-standing problem.

"The state is moving in the wrong direction," Wheeler told The Oregonian/OregonLive. "It's our responsibility at the local level to move forward."

Wheeler became the first local leader to endorse the formation of a regional air pollution district, saying that industry influence had undercut state attempts to clean up the air for too long.

Wheeler said he became convinced a local district was necessary after reading a story in The Oregonian/OregonLive Friday that revealed the Department of Environmental Quality diluted its plan to crack down on toxic air pollution amid industry pressure.

A local district would take power away from the Department of Environmental Quality and no longer subject Portland, a progressive city with Oregon's dirtiest air, to the influence of conservative Salem lawmakers. The Legislature earlier this month killed an effort to fund the department's overhaul of Oregon's toxic air laws.

The district would have the authority to monitor the air, set enforceable standards and issue penalties, Wheeler said. He acknowledged major questions remain, like how the agency would be funded and structured. But he said the city needs to act.

"The question now isn't if we move forward – we have made that decision – it's how do we do it," Wheeler said.

The city council hasn't voted on the plan, but Wheeler said he expects his four fellow city commissioners will be supportive.

The city and Multnomah County launched a $120,000 study in June to determine the feasibility of creating a local air regulator. Until Wheeler's statement Friday, no local politicians had pledged to follow through, saying they first wanted to give the state the chance to prove a local district wouldn't be necessary.

A recently released draft of the plan allows more cancer risk than earlier versions. It also gives local politicians a say about whether major polluters should be exempted from some standards.

For now, Wheeler is on his own. Deborah Kafoury, chairwoman of the Multnomah County Commission, said she still believes that a statewide air fix is best, while noting that a consultant had recently begun the local management feasibility study.

"I don't want to let the state off the hook here," Kafoury said. "We need to keep the pressure on the state."

State leaders responded to Wheeler's announcement Friday by saying they remain up to the task of overhauling Oregon's air laws.

Gov. Kate Brown oversees the Department of Environmental Quality and proposed the overhaul after high concentrations of heavy metals were found in the air near Portland's Bullseye Glass in 2016. She said she is committed to developing laws that will be among the strongest in the country.

"The state will not abdicate its responsibility to stand up to polluters and stand up for the health of Oregonians," Brown said.

Richard Whitman, director of the environmental quality department, said his agency supports local air regulation. He cited the success of Oregon's only standalone air district, which enforces the Clean Air Act in Lane County.

"At the same time, I know that Governor Brown, the new Environmental Quality Commission and I all continue to be firmly committed to a strong statewide industrial air toxics program," Whitman said.

Portland, a city frequently lauded for its environmental credentials, has struggled for years to crack down on toxic air pollutants. Harmful concentrations of heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium are present in the ambient air that Portlanders unwittingly breathe every day.

A 2011 effort to solve Portland's toxic air problem, which was led by the Department of Environmental Quality, failed to clean anything up. Brown has pledged that this time will be different.

Mary Peveto, president of Neighbors for Clean Air, a Portland advocacy group, lauded Wheeler's position, saying it was overdue.

"For years, Portland ignored the toxic pollution while trying to be one of the most green cities in the world," she said. "A city like Portland needs to make sure that air pollution problems and the solutions we demand are on par with all our other green sustainable goals."

— Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis