THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

              JAMES LENTS NAMED TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
        MICKEY LELAND NATIONAL URBAN AIR TOXICS RESEARCH CENTER

The President today announced his intention to appoint James Lents to the Board of Directors, Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center.

Dr. Lents has been the Executive Director of the South Coast Air Quality Management District since 1986. Also known as the South Coast Air Basin (SCAB), the district has jurisdiction over major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernadino, Riverside and Orange Counties. Dr. Lents has initiated a number of major advances in environmentally-friendly manufacturing techniques and is presently instituting a first-of-its-kind market-based regulatory system.

A founder and co-chair of the International Association of Air Quality Officials, Dr. Lents holds a Doctorate of Philosophy and Physics from the University of Tennessee where he was a Post-Doctoral Space Institute Fellow. As former Director of the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division at the Colorado State Health Department, he developed and implemented successful air quality management plans for all major cities in Colorado and established the first high- altitude automobile and truck testing facilities, responsible for carrying out the ground-breaking work resulting in today's cleaner gasolines. Prior to that, Dr. Lents was the Technical Director at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau.

In his capacity as a member of the Board of Directors of the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center, Dr. Lents will influence policy and research guidelines, submit views from the Center's sponsors and the public and issue periodic reports of the Center's findings and activities. The Center's research capabilities will focus on the areas of epidemiology, oncology, toxicology, pulmonary medicine, pathology, and biostatistics.