California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Breaks Urged for Low-Polluting Cars

The Assembly office of research recommended the waiving of new-car sales taxes and five years of registration fees on purchases of new, low-polluting vehicles--described as those that run on methanol, compressed natural gas or electricity. The recommendation came with others in a report to the Legislature entitled “California 2000: Exhausting Clean Air.” Among the other recommendations were giving parking preference to low-polluting vehicles and charging higher rates for those with dirtier exhaust. The report estimated the cost of dealing with pollutants in the South Coast Air Basin alone at $7 billion to $9 billion.