Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato yesterday offered environmental groups a compromise over the county's Air Quality Program: He won't hand it over to the state, but he will significantly modify some of its regulations.

Following a full-scale review of the air program and the county's environmental regulations, Mr. Onorato announced a seven-point plan, which he said will "significantly enhance" the program.

Key among his recommendations to the county Board of Health is adoption of a competitive salary structure and hiring of 11 new staffers, elimination of the backlog of permit applications, updating of air monitoring technology, and rewriting the county's air pollution control regulations.

He also has proposed an information plan for the public about air quality issues and a 13-member task force to regularly review the program.

"I hope this will bring closure or a new start on issues around air quality control in the county," said Mr. Onorato, who has proposed to implement his plan as soon as possible using $7 million from the Clean Air Fund and about $13 million in other federal, state and private grants.

The Air Quality Program -- whose origins date to just after World War II, when Pittsburgh was widely known as the "Smoky City" -- has been criticized by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, U.S. Steel Corp. and others for failing to process air pollution permits quickly enough and for driving business away from the county.

That prompted Mr. Onorato to approach the state Department of Environmental Protection about taking over the program's planning, permitting, monitoring and enforcement duties. He also mentioned the idea in a private meeting with state legislators in Harrisburg last year.

His administration faced criticism in the last few months from environmental groups including Clean Water Action and the Group Against Smog and Pollution, which charged that Mr. Onorato was trying to relax the county's air pollution enforcement by handing control of the program to the state.

Yesterday, Mr. Onorato said he hoped to put an end to those fears.

"The program will be staying with the county, and that is why we have made salary and staffing adjustments to show our commitment," he said, "but we are also committed to making our regulations compliant with state [Department of Environmental Protection] regulations."

Tucked in Mr. Onorato's proposal is a line that gave local environmental groups pause: "A plan should be developed to rewrite Article 21 under which all relevant local air quality regulations are replaced by 25 PA Code."

Therein lies the catch, said Michael Parker, legal director for the Group Against Smog and Pollution.

"We feel that large portions of what [Mr. Onorato] has planned are great. We think measures like hiring more staff and increasing pay will go a long way to enhance the functionality of the air program," he said.

"But we have big concerns about his plan to make parts of Article 21 of the county's air pollution regulations comply with the state's regulations."

That would have the effect of lowering the county's air pollution standards, Mr. Parker said, "because the county has some regulations that are specific to this county and are more stringent than DEP regulations."

For example, Allegheny County currently has a regulation limiting how long diesel trucks can idle -- remain stationary with their engines on. The state has no such regulation, he said.

The county's Article 21 has much more stringent coke oven operation regulations than the state DEP, he said.

"One of the reasons Allegheny County has stronger air quality provisions than the state is because we are home to Clairton Coke Works, the largest coke-making facility in the country," he said.

"If we adopt state regulations, wholesale, we will lose a big part of our air control regulations," Mr. Parker said.

Mr. Onorato, who said he met with environmental and business groups before devising his plan, said any county regulation the state doesn't have will be eliminated.

"This is a hybrid of what was being proposed originally, and it is the best compromise," he said. "There is a competitive issue that we have to deal with in southwestern Pennsylvania, and we want to keep our air clean, but we also have to be competitive in business."

Myron Arnowitt, state director of Clean Water Action, commended Mr. Onorato for trying to enhance the Air Quality Program, but wondered whether the changes will have any impact on industry and pollution.

"Allegheny County has some of the biggest sources of air pollution in the region. We are supportive of the effort to increase pay and hire more staff, but the only question is, what rules will they enforce when they are watered down?"

Mr. Onorato said environmental groups that want stronger pollution laws here should take their lobbying to the state. "Get those regulations approved at DEP and we will implement them," he said.

Some aspects of his plan, like the hiring of new staff members, will be immediately implemented with approval from the county Board of Health, but the overall plan will have to undergo public hearings and approval by County Council.