The Economy and the Environment

s EPA Journal begins in A 1979 its fifth year of pub­ lication, the magazine takes a look at a critical issue-the impact of the environmental cleanup on the economy. Unquestionably one of the most difficult problems EPA must grapple with is how to press the cleanup efforts with­ out crippling industry and con­ tributing to unemployment. To review this complex and controversia I subject. the views of a wide range of authorities are presented. Among those offering their insights are EPA's leadership including Administrator Doug­ las M . Costle, Deputy Admin­ istrator Barbara Blum. and William Drayton. Assistant Ad­ ministrator for Planning and Management. From outside the Agency per­ ceptive comments are made by such distinguished observers as Dr. Paul Samuelson. the Nobel prize-winning economist. and Senator Gary Hart of Colorado. winner of a national award for '9•978 ~E'RBt...oc:::~ his leadership in protecting air quality. Copyright 1978 by Herblock in the Washington Post An engrossing account of the tragedy caused by chemicals Another aspect of the impact ported by Robert Mitchell and Charles Warren, explains how dumped in Love Canal near ot the environmental cleanup on Kathryn Utrup of Resources for Congress acts on EPA's budget. Niagara Falls. N.Y., is provided the economy is reported by in­ the Future. Key facts on the economy by Eckardt Beck, EPA's Region dustrialist Richard Hoard, who Jn other stories, Federal aid and the environment are pro­ 2 Administrator. The Journal notes that the business of sell­ available to help ease the im­ vided in a special one-page plans to review the national ing pollution control equipment pact of pollution cleanup is report. Also reported is the problem of hazardous waste is booming. reported by Edwin Clark. II. a start-up of the new Regulatory disposal in its next issue. Public support for environ­ special assistant to the EPA Council, with streamlining and mental cleanup remains strong. Administrator. The Director of improvement of Government even with today's economic EPA's Office of Legislation. rules as one of its main con­ concerns. suggests a polJ re- cerns. D United States Office of Volume 5 Environmental Protection Public Awareness (A-107) Number 1 Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 January 1979 &EPA JOURNAL

Douglas M. Costle, Administrator Joan Martin Nicholson, Director, Office of Public Awareness Charles D. Pierce, Editor Truman Temple, Associate Editor John Heritage. Chris Perham, Assistant Editors L'Tanya White. Staff Support

Articles EPA is charged by Congress to The Benefits of a Cleaner The Economy and The Public's View protect the Nation's land, air and Environment 2 Regulatory Reform 1 O Robert Mitchell and Kathryn water systems. Under a mandate Administrator Douglas M. Costle An interview with Assistant Utrup report on attitudes toward of national environmental laws reviews the issue of the economy Administrator William Drqyton. cleanup costs. focused on air and water qual­ and the environment. ity. solid waste management and The Environment Regulatory Savings the control of toxic substances, An Economist's and Economics 15 Douglas Costle predicts huge pesticides, noise and radiation, View 4 A fact sheet highlights progress, savings possible with regulatory the Agency strives to formulate Observations by Nobel prize­ benefits, and costs. reform. and implement actions which winner Dr. Paul Samuelson. lead to a compatible balance The Love Canal How EPA between human activities and A Lawmaker's Tragedy 16 Gets Its Money the ab'llity of natural systems to View 6 A report by Eckardt Beck. The budget process in Congress support and nurture life. Senator Gary Hart discusses the is explained by Charles Warren. real cost of cleanup. Cleanliness Pays 20 A report by Richard Hoard on An Environmental Industry Cleanup Savings. Balance 9 The view of Deputy Adminis­ Cleanup Impact Aid 22 trator Barbara Blum. Edwin Clark II explains Federal aids to ease the cost of cleanup.

Departments Almanac 26 People 34 Update 38 Nation 32 News Briefs 37

Front cover: Construction workers Photo credits: Terry Eiler•, Love Text printed on recycled paper. are shown in this photo by Burt Canal photos courtesy of Buffalo Glinn of Magnum. Courier-Express and Niagara Gazette. Boyd Norton•, Lee Lockwood•, ENTHEos·, Burt Glinn/Magnum, Ernest Bucci , Ray Thacker • Documerica

The EPA Journal is published Views expressed by authors do not and other materials. Subscription: monthly, with combined issues necessarily reflect EPA policy. Con­ $10.00 a year. $1 .00 for single July-August and November-Decem­ tributions and inquiries should be copy, domestic; $ 12. 50 if mailed to ber. by the U.S. Environmental addressed to the Editor (A-107). a foreign address. No charge to Protection Agency. Use of funds for Waterside Mall, 401 M St .. S.W ., employees. Send check or money printing this periodic!ll has been Washington, D.C. 20460. No per­ order to Superintendent of Docu­ approved by the Director of the mission necessary to reproduce ments. U.S. Government Printing Office of Management and Bur:lget. contents except copyrighted photos Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Environmentally Speaking

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ments and price increases that don't reflect increased product value. But there are other The Benefits of reasons as well, including possibly the effect of costs imposed by regulations. So a Cleaner Environnient we must continually evaluate our actions to be sure that they are not unduly inflationary. As measured by standard yardi;ticks, By Douglas M. Castle, one of us can be unconcerned that such as the Consumer Price Index, EPA's N prices continue to rise, that Ameri­ programs do contribute modestly to infla­ EPA Administrator cans are again jittery about havinJ to pay tion. Our most recent analysis, done by the more and more for the essentials-food, respected firm of Data Resources, Inc., shelter, and clothing. estimates that EPA's air and water pollu­ As the President leads the attack on in­ tion control programs will add an average of flatlon, we at EPA must be concerned about 0.3 percentage points annually to the Con­ whether the environmenta I program con­ sumer Price Index from 1970 through 1986. tributes to the inflation rate. Thus, if the Index were to increase by Some say the root of inflation is in the 6.0 percent in a particular year without pol- government's monetary and fiscal policies. Others emphasize excessive wage settle-

2 EPA JOURNAL increased prices for food. energy, housing, environment is to them, and the pot Is have and medical care and on avoiding the consistently shown that they are demand­ wage-price spiral set off by these increases. ing such an environment. For instance, a More importantly, the fact that environ­ recent poll for Resources for the Future mental regulations do slightly increase the found that those surveyed would choose by Price Index does not itself mean they are a 3 to 1 margin to pay higher prices to truly inflationary. Projections in the Index protect the environment. do not take into account the benefits of I'm often asked by people. "Who are regulation, such as improved public health, these environmentalists?" My answer Is, reduced property damage, and increased they're your children, your spouses, and in crop yields that result from pollution con­ many cases, perhaps, yourselves. Most trol spending. people don't enjoy living or working in a Such benefits lead to a lower cost of polluted environment, and they are telling living. If the Price Index were adjusted to us that they think the benefits of environ­ take them into account. pollution control mental cleanup are worth the costs. spending would not appear inflationary, as We can all think of cases where environ­ long as the benefits exceed the costs­ mental protection is (or would have been) which I believe is generally the case. clearly worth the investment. The Federal environmental program, For example, the Kepone contamination closely coordinated with State and local of the James River in Virginia has shut efforts, has already achieved significant down the fish and shellfish industry in the results, which are paying off in more bene­ area-probably for decades-because it fits to society. From 1970to 1977,totat would cost billions of dollars to clean the smoke and dust were reduced by 12 per­ river bottom of the contamination. Prevent­ cent. Nationally from 1970 to 1977 sulfur ing the problem in the first place surely dioxide was reduced by 30 percent. Some wou Id have been less costly. rivers that were contaminated, even flam­ Similarly, the cost of disrupting fishing mable, are now open to fishing and swim­ in and near the Hudson River by PCB con­ ming. tamination has been estimated at more These environmental improvements re­ than $11 million a year by New York State. sult in anti-inflationary effects such as fewer These are graphic examples where the illnesses, fewer lost workdays, lower medi­ benefits of pollution control would have cal bi Its, less material damages, and more been obviously reflected in increased per­ recreational opportunities. These must not sonal incomes. Far more common are cases be ignored when considering whether where the benefits are measured in fewer pollution or pollution control is more cancer patients or fewer schooldays or inflationary. workdays lost by asthmatics. Another way of looking at this problem We would like to measure those benefits is to note that for many years polluters im­ that have economic value more accurately posed additional costs of living on con­ than we're now able to. We're working on sumers, in many cases without their knowl­ that. edge. Now, it seems irrational to me to In the meantime, the Agency must and automatically call inflationary the programs will rely on judgment. In making those judg­ that are eliminating these costs by requiring ments, we will make a fair assessment of that the pollution be abated. both costs and benefits to the maximum Our concerns about the inadequacy of extent feasible. lution controls, it might increase by 6.3 measures such as the Price Index para I lel In sum, I believe that pollution cleanup percent with them. those of economists such as Paul Samuel­ benefits, whether we can compute them or The results of the Data Resources analy­ son and James Tobin, who have criticized not, exceed the costs, and, most important, sis are in step with earlier studies done the Gross National Product as a measure of that the public wants those benefits and is for EPA and the Council on Environmental economic performance because it does not willing to pay for them. Quality. All indicate that while the impact adequately consider the economic value of Nevertheless, we have to recognize that of pollution control on the Consumer Price changes in the quality of life. our programs are costly. There are no quick Index is noticeable, any conceivable change Unfortunately. the state of the art for fixes or magic solutions. and we have to in current regulations wouldn't substan- putting a value on the benefits of pollution make sure that we are accomplishing our tia I ly alter the Nation's underlying inflation control is not nearly as advanced as our goals in the most efficient manner possible. rate. ability to measure the costs. We cannot put If we do not, then we can truly be accused The major causes of inflation are else­ a do I tar-and-cents figure on many benefits, of causing inflation. where. About 22 percent of the increase in and economists don't know how to The Agency's developing Regulatory consumer prices in 1977 was due to food "model" the quality of life. Reform Program is designed to achieve this price increases, with 39 percent due to However, most Americans have a good efficiency. We will attempt to find the most housing, 7 .8 percent to energy, and 8.8 sense of how important a clean and healthy cost-effective, legally permissible way of percent to medical care. Only a small frac­ meeting environmental goals, and to regu­ tion of these increases is related to pol­ late only when we are confident that the lution control requirements. benefits exceed the costs. Our national Clearly the major attack on inflation economic problems make this approach must concentrate on the special causes of .more important than ever. D

JANUARY 1979 3 • v ti 1 k 1 wiron- The steel industry among have taken place in this self­ An r • ulat ons are others has argued that confessed dirty industry should s1gr ficantly to environmental regulations take place in some other site Economist's c rr t U.S. nflation. put U.S. industry at a where they will do less harm. iployment etc.7 disadvantage with respect So if it were the case that the View The current combination of in­ to foreign competitors steel industry simply could not Do you think t i ·e is any compete in the United States on An Interview With flation and unemployment in this country is what we econo­ t-ruth to this charge? If so a decent, non-pollutll1$l basis, should the U.S. attempt Dr. Paul Samuelson mists call stagflation. It's re­ that would be a very powerful to protect its business lated on one hand to fiscal pol­ argument for letting that indus­ and how? icy and Federal Reserve money try move abroad. supply creation and on the other At every international confer­ Now this has nothing to do hand to the way wages and ence on environmental Improve­ with national defense. Obvi­ other costs respond in the sys­ ment, we observe that repre­ ously some crucial amount of tem to different degrees of un­ sentatives from the developing steel capacity for national de­ employed labor supplies and countries where life is nasty, fense purposes, which is much plant capacity. Environmental short, and brutish, and where much less than the U.S. ordi­ regulations are really one small the GNP per capita is very low narily produces, you would and minor factor in that general and living standards are mini­ want to keep here. That can be picture. So the answer is envi­ mal. those regions are anxious done on an electric furnace ronmental regulations contrib­ to acquire some pollution and basis without the old Pittsburgh ute at most insignificantly to some deterioration of the envi­ and Gary, Ind., approach. (I was current U. S. inflation and un­ ronment if that is the price for born in Gary and I know the na­ employment problems. getting jobs. ture of the old-fashioned, pol­ In the more affluent countries, luting steel plant. Those plants What do you see as ma­ such as Sweden, Switzerland, should go abroad.) or steps we could take Western Europe generally, the A century from now, even in make environmental U.S., and Japan, it's realized the poorer parts of the world r ufation mor efficient? that the whole purpose of pro­ they will not be allowed to con­ tinue the old 1919 methods of It is easy for legislators to put in duction, the whole purpose of jobs and real income, is the polluting the environment. fiats, to introduce regulations, On the other hand, having to set quantitative restrictions good life, in all of its dimen­ sions. said all that, let's just really on effluents and emissions. look at the competitive situation Then it's a matter for the police One very important aspect of the good life is that it last, that in steel. The U.S. industry has and courts to enforce them. not been losing out to imports Economists believe that a we do not die prematurely from environmental blight, that while primarily because of environ­ better approach often is to make mental concerns. The Japanese, the process of environmental we're living we're living under who have been some of the control self-regulating by means skies that are reasonably clear and with water that's reason­ most successful in capturing of some system of automatic American business on a cost money penalties and rewards. ably pure. So the affluent coun­ tries like the U.S. naturally want basis, are themselves beginning This means that a major needed ing to put in environmental con­ step is to use more measures to put stiffer regulations on in­ dustry than do the developing straints. Some are not much that motivate industry to clean different than now apply in East up the environment, such as tax countries. · Chicago, Gary, Pittsburgh, and penalties, subsidies, and pecu­ Now there are certain indus­ elsewhere. niary enticements. tries, which by their nature are more frequently polluting than So the steel industry, which Dr. Samuelson is Professor of others. It follows from eco­ will be made to pay its way on Economics at the Massachu­ nomic analysis that just where a non-polluting basis to the de­ setts Institute of Technology. things should be done in the gree that it's able to stay here, He is also an Institute Professor world, what the geographical will continue to be able to com­ at the school, a rank reserved division of labor should be, pete here, that is if its other for distinguished scholars. ought to be affected by this dif­ problems, which are its rate of In 1970, Dr. Samuelson won ference in tastes between the technological advance in com­ the Nobel Prize for Economics. advanced and the undeveloped parison with what's been hap­ world. And so an extremely pening abroad, are put in order. filthy ihdustry, which cannot by The only case for the U.S. any incentive scheme, or any Government to come in to pro­ zoning and fiat regulation be tect an industry like this, which made clean, simply ought not is rosing ground because it wilf be in the middle of a prosperous not or cannot shape up to envi­ suburb or in the middle of a ronmental needs, is that work­ prosperous country. ers in that industry who have If the steel industry turns out staked their occupations and to be one which is irretrievably fortunes on it should, as with polluting, and I don't believe that to be the case, then it ought to follow that the jobs which

4 EPA JOURNAL other industries hurt by com­ the way the Victorian 19th Cen­ equipment is non-productive regulations. then I would not petition, receive a transitional tury city was run? When you and is a subtraction from what list as important the fact that subsidy to help them locate in apply these new yardsticks, it could otherwise have been the conventional GNP is meas­ another industry. Beyond that I will be found, and economic produced. ured wrong. Most voters, most don't think a strong case can be historians will corroborate the On the contrary, it may be lobbyists, most people in the made for the steel industry to statement I am making, that far that in any one year's spending street go whole hours without have walls built around it so from our now spending too on these items in a society not thinking of the conventional that on a clean basis it can com­ much on the environment, in at the bare margin of existence. real GNP. pete with industry abroad. the remaining decades of the these may be among the most What a lobbyist does do re­ century we will be spending important welfare-creating garding a particular regulation '"'ren our ecunom an increasing fraction of our expenditures. that he thinks is hard on his in­ an, lyse in her ntly hor total resources upon this im­ dustry is when he comes into range nd how c • tli y portant area. o you t n dvocate a Congressional committee !'Tieet­ ad quat I include the different kind of yard- ings or into court. he quotes val u c cancer It 0 t r ,, st from the GNP to buttress his r t or cl a r m n I p u1 I Yes. l would, for example, not case. It's important that the wh 'a n e to ec 'lOnpro dispense with our old GNP, but measures of environmental n OCI y dr iv I would always supplement it benefits be available in order conomrs view with these auxiliary measures. to answer such debating tactics. It isn't the case that modern r 1 h investment But I think that some of the economic analysis is or must be u I han. Has nviro .mental opposition to environmental im­ only short-range. We realize •1en pen ding become a t rg provement is rationally based . that costs accrue even if they do conai r u ien for om b c u A lot of people feel pinched in not show in the form of a If you use the old-fashioned GNP doesn t pre ~ buying their ordinary mouse­ monthly bill to some corpora­ methods of measuring outputs true p1ctur of cl traps. in paying for their ordi­ tions or to some households. then you may find that in a year nary schooling. and they're So the correct formulation looking for something to econ­ when more of our society's re­ If I were a political scientist would be that our economic omize on and they may have sources go into keeping mer­ and I tried to analyze the mo­ analysis must be short-run. blithely voted too high a stand­ cury out of our lakes. keeping bilized forces of opposition to must be intermediate-run, must ard for environmental purifica­ sludge out of the ocean. the environmental spending and be long-run, and we must at­ Federal Reserve index of pro­ tion. tempt to quantify as best we duction has not grown as rap­ looking at this problem, the can the costs in terms of envi­ idly in terms of mousetraps and economist doesn't say, "The ronmentally-increased cancer conventional goods and serv­ more the merrier." If pure air is rates and costs in terms of ices as would otherwise have good, why isn't the purest air democratically-legislated been the case. possible also good? Why standards for clean air and However, economists have shouldn't you be able to swim clean water. always known that what's meas­ in the Hudson River off mid­ ured by the Federal Reserve town Manhattan, someone may ask. An economist says J th nk economr Board index of production or you should really sacrifice that ave veloped adaqu~ what's measured by the real way f measur lg the Gross National Product is only last little purity of the Hudson benefits polll tior con an approximation of something because that is the part which is the most expensive to achieve. t 01 r JI ttions 0 more fundamental. And we are 1any o these be 1ef1 gradually changing our notions To get all the air out of the jar 11here1 ti nn of what ought to be the meas­ by vacuum pump ls literally Im­ ured Gross National Product. possible. To get the first half of I think we are only at the be­ the air out. creating half the ginning of making such meas­ I introduced into my elemen­ tary textbook in economics pressure of the ordinary atmos­ urements. But we are at the be­ phere, is pretty cheap, and if It's ginning, and there are many some few years ago along with the GNP, which is a conven­ worth doing most people would improvements which will come say it's a bargain. But they in the future in our ability to tiona I measure of ordinary . environ goods and services, an auxiliary wouldn't say it would be worth­ meaningfully calculate costs la ·o while to get 99.9 percent out. and benefits. measure of Net Economic Wel­ fare (NEW) which tries to take at So an economist's viewpoint The fact that a thing is hard is always cost-benefit analysfs. to measure does not mean that into account the improved mo signifi- amenities that are just as im­ Cleanliness is good. but what it is zero. And in the past we cantly to curr en do you want to pay for that last have been treating costs that portant to each living genera­ tion as the mousetraps and the little bit? I think the auxiliary were difficult to quantify as if .S. infl ion a 1i measures of economic progress they were zero costs. That is a other ordinary items. p ment logical error and we simply have When you have calculated •• to do the best we can in terms these auxiliary measures of b em of new yardsticks. physical production and of cor­ How many hospital beds. rected Gross National Product how many doctor days, how then it's not the case that in­ many nurse years are going to vestment in pollution control be involved in running our cities

JANUARY 1979 5 - -..

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6 EPA JOURNAL A Lawmaker's View or G

In the battle to protect the natural environ- the $4,500 to the car buyer for transporta­ ment, a new counter-attack has surfaced. tion. CI early it is not in society's best inter­ It asserts that inflation and complex Federal est to continue to produce that car, since regulations are reasons for postponing or the costs exceed the benefits. abandoning pollution abatement. This Through its elected representatives. so­ counter-attack can be repulsed with two ciety protects itself from this adverse situa­ lines of arguments. tion by declaring such polluting cars illegal. First, benefit-cost analysis, not inflation, Abatement devices are required so that cars is the appropriate economic standard for do not pose health costs to society at large. judging the merits of environmental con­ Industry responds correctly by adding ex­ cerns. Second, regulatory complexity haust control devices to eliminate or reduce should be replaced with regulatory simplic­ the health costs of pollution. ity, not lower standards. Continuing the example, let's assume the pollution abatement equipment is effective Fallacious Inflation Argument in eliminating $800 of the $1,000 in pollu­ Industry groups argue pollution control is tion damages. Then, the $400 cost of the inflationary because it costs money and exhaust control equipment results in an therefore raises prices. Inflation is a bad $800 reduction in the cost of pollution thing-by anyone's measure. If inflation is damage. Clearly, society as a whole is now bad. and, if one agrees that pollution con­ better off. trol causes inflation, then pollution control But what about the automobile buyer? must be bad, too. This flaw in logic results By reducing the pollution from his car, the from a glaring omission. car buyer benefits society $800. The benefit Inflation occurs when the price of a par­ to him individually, however, is very small. ticular good increases with no change in the c H D c I I n say $1 . The car buyer must pay $400 more size or quality of that good. As a hypotheti­ en ate 1V ·nt d Pub/ ~ s for the car with a given quality of personal cal example, assume a standard-sized 1978 1f nd transportation, and he personally receives car with a given set of options cost $4,000 SS JT1 I nv11 n St y ·r only $1 worth of benefits. last year. If the identical car were $400 WC t. '/( Wt /, y more this year, we call that inflation and , 7 tn Aw• Private vs. Public View label it bad. WO k n 1ty i The problem of pollution control thus boils Consider a different situation, however. v c mA down to a conflict between a private assess­ Suppose cars manufactured this year were ){ alu u. . Pl ti ' ment of the benefits and costs of abatement required to have a more sophisticated pollu­ _ and a public assessment. In this example tion control system than cars manufac­ the public benefits to society are $800. and transportation to the owner, minus the "dis­ tured last year. Say the cost of the new the costs to society $400. but the private benefits," or cost of pollution. to others. exhaust control was $400. In this case. the benefits are $1, and the costs $400. The terms total benefits or total costs to price increase of that same car from $4,000 The argument that pollution control is society mean the sum of all benefits and all to $4,400 would not be inflation. The higher inflationary has obvious superficial appeal costs to all individuals in the society. price is for a higher quality car. To claim the to the individual car buyer. The buyer sees Let's further assume the owner of the $400 price increase is inflationary is wrong. practically no benefit from the exhaust con­ $4,000 car gets $4,500 worth of transporta­ therefore, because something of value trols on his own car, giving the private tion benefits from the car. And, to continue (cleaner air) also accompanies the payment the example, assume that the cost to society buyer the impression he is simply contribut­ for the auto. ing to inflation. of pollution damage such as respiratory The $4.400 car with pollution control However. from the perspective of society disease is $1,000. equipment is actually a new commodity as a whole. the pollution control is actually This analysis is extremely important. which produces more net benefits society counter-inflationary in effect. The $400 to We have a car which costs $4,000 to pro­ than the lower-priced $4,000 car. The spent on exhaust equipment saves $800 in duce (steel, rubber, wages, paint, market­ lower-priced car gave transportation to its health costs. This has the equivalent effect ing, profits. etc.), but which costs society of increasing consumers' purchasing power owner and poisonous exhaust to everyone at large another $1,000 due to air pollution. else in town. The total benefits to society of for goods and services that they want. The total cost (including the cost to so­ the car's operation equals the benefits of ciety) of the car is thus $5,000. But the gross benefits of the car to society are only

JANUARY 1979 7 The car manufacturer also has a private Measuring Cleanup Benefits Costs of Regulations incentive not to Install pollution control Of course, it is much easier to define the We must admit that environmental regula­ equipment. The manufacturer wants to sell optimal level of pollution control than it is tion is costly by its very nature. Left to it­ as many cars as possible, each returning a to calculate it in practice. Estimating the self, any firm purposefully minimizes its fair profit, and has no economic interest in costs of pollution cleanup equipment is costs of operation by neglecting certain preventing pollution. However. the manu­ not much different than estimating the costs environmental aspects of its production. facturer cannot maintain a margin of profit of any other investment. But it is difficult to One reason that governmental regulations, on car sales unless the price is increased by put a dollar figure on the' benefits from such as air and water quality permits, do the cost of adding abatement equipment. nollution abatement. cost money to comply with i!:? that studies And at a higher price the manufacturer will In the case of air pollution, it is generally of environ men ta I consequences have a sell fewer cars. known that specific chemicals in the air significant price tag. This is the dilemma. Goods which pre­ cause or aggravate many diseases. How­ It is probably not possible to reduce the viously caused pollution obviously become ever, it is sometimes hard to measure the basic cost of obtaining information. How­ more expensive as pollution is abated. exact relation between the quantity of ever, it should be possible to cut the ex­ Given that non-polluting goods and services chemicals in the air and the quantity and penses of dealing with the many levels of suffer no such price increase, they become severity of particular diseases. Even when government. Often, governments at local. relatively inexpensive. The practicai pro­ this can be quantified, it is difficult to deter­ State, and Federal levels, as well as over­ ducer will produce more and the practical mine the costs of the adverse health effects. lapping special districts, require similar consumer will buy more of the original non­ Calculations on spending for medical serv­ information-but want to receive it in dif­ polluting goods-and less of the goods ices underestimate the costs of pollution­ ferent ways. The regulatory agencies which now cost more due to new abatement related disease, and the costs of pain and should work together-to combine hear­ equipment. For example, people may see suffering are not quantifiable in any dollar ings, share information, and so forth-so more movies and drive less. terms. that full information is received by regula­ It is clear that when pollution results Furthermore, the medical costs asso­ tors at minimum cost to those regulated. from economic activity, private decisions ciated with a disease are often related to by producers and consumers do not result the wealth of the ill person. Hence, just Effluent Charges Cut Costs in the best decision for society at large. focusing on the actual costs underestimates The goal of pollution regulations is to Because individual consumers and individ­ the value of pollution control. achieve a given quality of air or water. Cur­ ual producers each have private economic Lester Lave and Eugene Seskin have col­ rently, most pollution regulations require incentives to avoid pollution control, the lected much information quantifying the each firm to meet the same discharge qual­ Federal Government must consider pollu­ benefits and costs of air pollution control. ity, regardless of the costs to each firm. We tion abatement from the perspective of all In their most recent book, "Air Pollution could reduce the cost of pollution control of society. That requires a new and different and Human Health," they conclude, for ex­ by shifting from regulation to a system of approach. ample, that presently mandated controls of pollution discharge fees which would. in Focusing only on the cost-by calling it sulfur oxide and particulate emissions from effect, recognize that some firms can abate inflation, for example-yields the wrong stationary sources are warranted on benefit­ more cheaply than others. The costs of answer. Using the simplified example of cost terms. The costs of abatement in 1979 abatement may vary because of the type of automotive exhaust, society is better off if are $9.5 billion (in 1973 dollars). and the equipment and the process used. it can reduce the costs of damage from pol­ benefits, in terms of improved health alone, From society's perspective it is best to lution by $800 if that action costs only are estimated at $16.1 billion. achieve any given level of air or stream $400 for abatement equipment. Because it can't measure everything. quality at the minimum total cost to all the The economically rational way to decide benefit-cost analysis must be a supplement firms involved. Total costs can be reduced how much to spend on pollution control is to subjective judgment by policymakers, by having those firms that can abate cheap­ to consider the net benefits of the expendi­ not a genera I substitute for it. Pollution con­ est do the most pollution control. tures on abatement. As long as the addi­ trol benefits cannot be measured easily, as Under the regulatory approach, some tional benefits to society as a whole will be shown. They will usually be underestimated firms must spend large sums due to very larger than the additional costs to society in any quantified analysis. high costs of abatement peculiar to those as a whole, greater and greater amounts of When the measure of benefits exceeds companies, while other firms spend less. abatement can be induced through the estimate of pollution control costs, the Under the pollution charge approach. the legislation. environment will presumably be improved. firms with higher clean-up costs will spend A 1976 study of the cost of pollution However, when the measure of the costs less on abatement, but pay a per-unit levy control by Chase Econometrics Assoc., Inc., appears greater than the benefits, the deci­ for the pollution they continue to discharge. exemplified the extreme short-sightedness sion is unclear. Policymakers and adminis­ The total amounts spent on abatement will of analysis based only on the costs. This trators must be careful to weigh benefits be less under the pollution charge system study concluded that the Consumer Price subjectively against the costs when there for the same amount of pollution control. Index increases about .4 percent faster due are substantial benefits which can't be The pollution charges will substitute for to pollution control expenditures. Nowhere quantified. government income which would otherwise in this report was there a discussion of the Difficulty in quantifying benefits should have to be raised by taxes. corresponding consumer savings derived not be used as a reason tq discount them. The potential economic effectiveness of from pollution control. The report was pre­ An incomplete benefit-cost analysis should this pollution charge approach is demon­ pared for the Council on Environmental not be used to justify weak environmental strated with a study using the Delaware Quality and EPA. standards. River Estuary as a model. The regulatory It is possible-indeed I believe it prob­ method would set effluent standards for all able-that consumers gain economic and firms to meet. To reach a given stream non-quantifiable benefits from pollution quality, that approach would cost all firms control substantially greater than .4 percent a combined $20 million per year. of their annua I income. It is irresponsible to Continued to page 37 discuss costs of pollution control without comparing them to the benefits.

8 EPA JOURNAL And let me speak to those of you who business internally, changes that should An Environmental see us as equally narrow-minded from the make it easier to deal with us. other side, pursuing the environment at Another major emphasis in our work will Balance the expense of everything else, especially be a much heavier investment in research to By Barbara Blum the interests of business and industry. You determine as precisely as possible the are equally wrong. You have to go back public health impact of various pollutants EPA Deputy Administrator several generations to find a President with and levels of pollution. For some elements the real business experience of Jimmy of our basic legal charters, such as auto­ Carter, and the consequent understanding mobile emissions, Congress set a specific of which complaints are real, and which standard. For many others. it left the job of are crocodile tears. And incidentally, I deciding what was an "ambient" and know what it is to meet a payroll from my "hazardous" standard up to us. We are own business career. going to be putting more money and more We think that it's possible to clean up effort into health effects research on those the environment and do it in a way that issues. avoids unnecessary costs, and in a way The basic motivation of anti-pollution that takes account of the difficulties that legislation has not, after all, been esthetic. the sudden changes or adjustments com­ EPA has been concerned with how pollu­ omehow, somewhere, there has de­ pelled by environmental laws impose. tion was effectively killing us, and we think S veloped the myth that it is inappro­ We don't want to put companies out of that we will be in a better position to judge priate for us regulators to be interested in business, and we don't want people to lose which general standards have proved too­ things like free enterprise, inflation and their jobs. But we don't want to be used severe and which too-lenient. economic growth. That myth has been as an excuse for second-rate management, Any time we can deal with an issue or a supported by another: That economic either. We don't want to be blamed for problem before us in a way that will save growth and environmental protection are some company's distress because we seem 'time, money, and jobs for the American fundamentally at odds. These myths de­ like an easier target than the Japanese. the economy, but will not threaten the environ­ serve to be debunked. unions, changing consumer tastes, or just ment, we intend to do so. That is our posi­ It is pretty obvious, I think, that a healthy a plain old-fashion failure to keep up with tion, because we do not want pollution con­ envirO'nment and a healthy economy are the industry. trol to be a burden that is resisted. both necessities. You can't have sick We do not make the laws, the statutes Money saved by reducing unnecessary people or a sick environment, and you that say how much polluting material can be regulation means more money available for can't have a weak economy, constantly tolerated in the air or the water. But we do more pollution control, for modernization racked by inflation or unemployment. What make the regulations that implement those of plant and equipment, for holding prices you can have, indeed what you must have, laws and we don't think those regulations down, for dividends for stockholders. Each is an environment which is sound enough have always been well-made. one of those uses is more desirable than to support a productive economy and an Regulatory reform is one of our major spending on unnecessary regulation. economy that makes good use of, but interests at EPA. It ranges from shortening Our motivation is to be part of an Admin­ doesn't use up the environment. the time for various actions to making Eng­ istration committed to balanced economic Frankly, I do find it tiresome to have our lish the official language of the Agency. growth, reducing unemployment, and curb­ work constantly judged in terms of "selfing For instance, there may be no alternative ing inflation. We do think of ourselves as out the environment to make life easy for for the cost of a scrubber that removes part of the Federal government in this industry" or of "ignoring economic reali­ emissions from a power plant smokestack, respect, not as a pristine little regulatory ties in pursuit of some super-idealistic but there is plenty of alternative for seven island off on the horizon. concept of the environment." Sometimes forms when one will do. And perhaps if we It is that same self-perception that led us we're attacked in both sets of terms for the make the forms and the way we read them to work on developing an urban policy for very same decision. clear enough, there will even be alterna­ the Environmental Protection Agency, and We are here to protect the environment, tives for the cost of lawsuits about them. to join enthusiastically in developing the under the terms of laws signed by both Beyond those changes in how we deaf Carter Administration's overall urban Republican and Democratic Presidents. with those we regulate we're at work on a policy. And we are here to uphold our duties under major effort to learn what we have gained Some people think that is kind of quaint those laws at a minimum level of inter­ from several years of pollution control for us to shift any part of our attention from ference with business, industry, local effort. Specialists within the agency are at the Grand Canyon to the Urban Canyons. government, State government, and every­ work on a series of environmental indices But if you think that way, try breathing in one else the law tells us to regulate. which should, when fully developed, tell Harlem in August. Or contemplate the snow Let me speak to those of you who fear the American people what they are getting caps of the Rockies, if you can see them that we are forgetting our duty to the in exchange for the time, trouble and money through Denver's February smog. environment in order to make fife easier that have been expended on behalf of a We are not the economic development for business and industry-perhaps on clean environment. Publication of these administration. Our primary concerns are orders from some faceless "they" in this reports has already begun in our northwest environmental. not economic. If there is no Administration. You are wrong. That is not regional office; and we are pushing ahead alternative between closing down a pollut­ the kind of Administration that Jimmy with national measurements. ing factory and continuing an illegal level of Carter, the most dedicated environmen­ We also think that we can make some polluticm-a level prohibited by act of talist to ever occupy that office, wants. important changes in the way EPA does Congress-we will have that factory closed Nor is it the kind of Administration I would down. serve. But we do not believe that extreme case is typical or even frequent. We think that Excerpts from a recent speech by we can work with industry, and with en­ Barbara Blum to the Environmental Law vironmental organizations, for a healthy Institute. Blum is Deputy Administrator of environment, and a healthy economy. O the EPA.

JANUARY 1979 9 ant abatement costs push the price of TV's up, the market basket of goods used to define Taking people's time to fill out this index increases and there­ long forms is a familiar exam­ fore the index goes up. But the ple, whether or not they're consumer is very probably get­ necessary. ting a more valuable deal from We are trying to get people our economy than before. His or around the country to ration air her market basket has some­ and water as limited resources. thing new in it-better health. Society uses property rights and the ability to swim or fish in a zoning, a pretty complex mech­ nearby river, less property de­ anism. to manage our scarce terioration. The consumer's land resources. The zoning dollar is buying more, not less. process takes a lot of people's However, the Consumer Price time. But it's not new. People Index doesn't include these are used to it. sorts of "purchases" in its mar­ In the environmental area, ket basket, chiefly because they we're putting in the same sort are so hard to measure. The of rationing devices and trying index is, as a result, danger­ to get local governments and ously misleading. It overstates their citizens to use them. We're the rate of inflation (which cre­ also still trying to define and ates real inflation because so design these processes. That's many people base their de­ one of the reasons we're so very mands on what the index says). visible now. And it lends apparent substance Recently I toured a part of to the ironic mistake of thinking the Ohio River Valley with of environmental regulation as which I am familiar. Ten years inflationary. ago the mayors and many of the Let me illustrate with an citizens of these towns would analogy: Statisticians discov­ not have been able to talk about ered a decade or so ago that the the relationship between the housing component of the infla­ lining of fly ash pits and the pro­ tion index was going up too fast. tection of underground aquifers, Indeed, people were spending let alone rationing clean air. more for housing; but the aver­ They had not focused on these age house had more rooms, issues before. more square feet, more brass In the course of the last dec­ doorknobs, and more air condi­ ade, such matters have become Do you g tory tioners. So they had to redesign The Economy 9form part of even a small-town may­ that portion of the index to hold or's job and part of the life of t I Jt 1 i quality constant so they could and 10 1 ry a the business people of that truly measure if the same goods community. They have a Isa be­ Regulatory were costing more. come a concern of a number of Watch out for that inflation ar­ We have exactly the same citizen groups. Reform gument I Environmental regula­ problem in the environmental This learning process takes a tion was created to correct a area where, in effect, people lot of people's time and energy. major market failure, a failure An Interview with are insisting on buying the bene­ Then. it's going to take addi­ that made our economy ineffi­ fits that EPA's programs pro­ tional time after people adjust William Drayton, cient, that denied our citizens vide, but the national accounts and carry on. It's like the intro­ Assistant Administrator the true mix of safetv, goods, aren't measuring it. Almost ell, duction of zerobased budgeting for Planning and services they want. To the perhaps all the inflation attrib­ in the Agency. It's a big hassle. extent that we succeed in get­ uted to environmental regula­ You're putting people through a and Management ting them a mix closer to what tion by this index, then, is an learning period. People resent they want, we are making the accounting delusion. this. It requires a change in how economy more efficient. I think Further, even within the fal­ they think, which is probab~y environmental regulation is on lacious framework of the tradi­ more painful than the amount balance highly anti-inflationary. tiona I index, cleanup's infla­ of time they have to spend on it. What is inflation after all? It's tionary effect is very small­ And it's extra work. when you have to pay more real roughly three to four tenths of But one of the things that resources to get the same thing. one percent of \tJe inflation rate regulatory reform is all about is It's not inflationary to pay more according to the Chase Man­ trying to get us through this to get something new. hattan Bank's economists. transition, and into a steady Unfortunately, the Consumer However, because we're very state situation that imposes the Price Index measures only the visible, we seem to be an invit­ least amount of hassle possible. cost increases of the products ing target. Perhaps this has as The less hassle, the greater the our regulations affect. If pollut- much or more to do with the acceptance. "hassle factor," to use one of Douglas Castle's phrases. as it does with real economic costs.

10 EPA JOURNAL ii W u egulatory both business and State and he Admin1 tr t1on con- poten 1 r n fo 1, hat do you local governments is one such stdenng ltd or I opportunity we are pursuing t1onal cost tt a 0 l Yes. If we can increase the rate Finding better ways to do our vigorously. For example, a II could ir p of technology development by job. There are many different reporting requirements con­ ld ry in a 1 v , r providing positive incentives kinds of regulatory reform. Let tained in new regulations will be s of e r e 11 for finding new methods of con­ me identify the most important subject to a "sunset" provision, trol, we wi II reduce the cost of and give an example of each i.e .. we will review them rou­ You're referring to the currently pollution cleanup. We can also from among the projects on tinely after five years to see if fashionable regulatory budget get more pollution out with which EPA is now working. EPA can show a continuing idea. It clearly has developed an cheaper existing methods. If we First, we're trying to find need for the information and to intellectual following. The argu­ reduce the cost of cleanup, we practical complements and al­ combine overlapping requests. ment runs roughly as follows: probably are going to get so­ ternatives to traditional "com­ Fourth is simpler, faster pro­ One of the most important im­ ciety buying more of a clean mand and control" regulation. ceedings. We are trying to sim­ pacts the government has on the environment. That's basic eco­ Most regulation now follows a plify and speed our hearings, private sector is through regula­ nomics: if the price goes down, common pattern: The regulatory grant reviews, permitting proce­ tion. What should count is not people buy more. agency writes a series of rules dures and other actions. For ex­ only direct expenditures and In a five-year perspective, by that define what the public must ample, we have changed our costs; it's also hidden costs and far the most important impact do, and then it seeks to enforce grant regulations so applicants hidden benefits. This leads to is the development of new con­ these rules through the courts. need to file only one application the apparently logical conclu­ trol technology and the reduced We are trying to complement when seeking funds under sev­ sion that there should be a regu­ costs that will make it possible. this traditional legalistic ap­ eral different EPA programs. latory budget through which the There's also another type of proach with more flexible, more Fifth is increased public par­ government as a whole con­ lowered cost: We'll have less economically-oriented alterna­ ticipation in EPA decision-mak­ sciously controls the effect it's delay and less litigation, be­ tives where possible. ing. We are trying to remove having. cause we'll have everyone's One example is economically­ obstacles to public participa­ That logic is very hard to dis­ attention on how to get the job determined penalties for firms tion. For instance, we have a agree with. However, could the done. how to find cheaper, that ignore their cleanup respon­ pilot project to reimburse the government implement such an more efficient ways of getting sibilities. We are implementing expenses of participants in d6' approach 7 I'm afraid that many pollution out, rather than on this reform now. We will seek veloping proposed regulations agencies are far from even political fights over local civi I pena !ties equa I to what to control polychlorinated knowing what the impacts of growth versus environmental violators save by not complying, biphenyls (PCB's). their particular actions are. protection. including the rate of return they Even EPA can only measure a If we were in the situation of can earn while their money is part of the costs and benefits of saying that local communities not invested in abatement ex­ its regulations. simply could not have any penditures. Under this new Moreover, because no one growth, rather than saying that approach, it pays to comply. can reasonably estimate costs they have to ration and reduce Second, we're trying to im­ or benefits before they know pollution to offset new sources, prove the internal process we what will be asked of whom, we everyone would be snarled in use to develop regulations. This can't expect useful impact esti­ an enormous political battle, process was the model for the mates until late in the regulation and everyone would lose. The President's recent Executive development process. That costs of such a snarl in terms of Order on Improving Govern­ means that regulations In proc­ continued pollution as well as ment Regulations. It ensures an ess are going to be a bit tricky to EPA management time, busi­ open discussion and a review of budget. I find it hard to believe ness' management time, and issues such as environmental that we're going to have a reg­ local political leadership's time impact, economics, and public ulatory budget in the immediate is not easily quantified but it participation, as well as full future. is certainly very significant. peer collaboration across Even if it were technically Agency organizational lines. possible to construct one, For instance, we will subject I doubt we would know how to the most significant new regula­ use it. For example, it hardly tions to a Regulatory Analysis, would make good public policy studying the environmental, to bar a regulation with benefits economic, and energy effects of far exceeding all costs simply each proposal and of alternative because the government's options. Also, we have made "budget" had been used up. English our official language: Further, at least In the health We will not approve regulations and safety area, we can't real­ unless we have written them istically compare dollar costs clearly and the public can with human lives and suffering understand them. with anything resembling Third, we're trying to reduce budget-like rfgor. It's hard to regulatory burdens. Where we budget judgments. can reduce the burden of regula­ tion without environmental loss, we must do so. Reducing the paperwork tasks we impose on

JANUARY 1979 11 The Team Leaders

r find new ways of cleaning up. Two Deputy Assistant Adminis­ Especially as society gets trators and three Associate As­ cononu c im denser, as growth continues, sistant Administrators help William Drayton, Jr., run EPA ' s Giving those we regulate the we're either going to have to Office of Planning and Manage­ We do an economic analysis of flexibility and incentive to find squeeze smaller and smaller sources or we're going to have ment. They are respon$ible for all our new regulations. So yes. new, more economic and effec­ managing the Office's 163 We can't always do it as pre­ tive ways of complying. Espe­ to find more efficient ways of t, people and its $115 million cisely as we'd like but, by and cially now that we've regulated controlling existing ones. Now. large, we have a good feel for most easy targets, increasing the only way we can stimulate annual budget. the economic costs of every the rate of control technology new control technology is through the blunt, limited nega­ major regulation. Especially innovation becomes extremely tive approach of putting a stand­ when compared with most other important to our hopes. I think Paul J. Elston agencies, we can be proud of we can do this through In­ ard on which we think will really Deputy Assistant Administrator squeeze industry. (We're gen­ our record In this regard. Our creased use of offsets and the for Resources Management. reputation for good economics bubble policy, reinforced by erally not allowed to impose and regulatory balance has both the banking of reductions standards that are so tight they can't be achieved.) brought us a lot of credibility and the use of deal-making Once one company has used and independence. brokers. We're gradually build­ ing a process that will allow us a positive, innovative tradeoff approach to clean up pollution, Som and our regulatees to trade one cleanup commitment for more we can require it in other com­ efficient, equal cost alternatives panies. Of course. some of our worst-polluting, most scofflaw­ --and that will remain fully en­ 1 ' I prone firms are typically the I re y forceable and administrable. Those last two criteria are least innovative in terms of technology. But even when we That's a rather bald statement. obviously critica I. Let's take a very simple ex­ are faced with that type of in­ A lot of the methodology we've dustry, this approach will work ample to explain the bubble, developed over the last years is, because many of its processes which is like placing a theoreti­ in fact, very effective. We're are the same as those used in generally trying to improve and cal canopy over a pollution source. Within any plant we other industries. If we find a refine, not replace. better way of controlling hydro­ For example, we've devel­ may regulate anywhere from a handful to a hundred different, carbons in an automobile plant oped a quite innovative set of spray booth, we can require the separate processes. The mar­ relationships with state and Elston leads the Agency's effort ginal cost of removing a pound same sort of procedure for local governments, so much so in zero-based budgeting. He is of pollutant from one process. spray booths in other manufac­ that we haven't quite finished turing plants. also responsible for financial fuel storage, ma'J' be 50 cents figuring out how we're going to management, program review whereas it may cost $20.00 to If we can create incentives operate it. We've dared to trust for people to develop new tech­ and analysis, grants administra­ people, on the front lines-with remove a pound of the same pollutant from a pa int spray nologies more rapidly than is tion, the Agency's comptroller's the result that we've engaged now the case from pollution function, and its accountability the energies of thousands of booth. There can be very wide ranges. control standards. our job is reporting. good people and can respond It clearly makes sense from going to be a lot easier. ·Before joining EPA, Elston knowledgeably, quickly, and served in the New York State flexibly to individual and local the company's point of view, and assuming that the change is government as Deputy Director problems. Against that gain our for the Division of the Budget residual management problems as enforceable as the existing arrangement, it makes sense This interview was conducted and First Deputy Commissioner are minor. from ours, to get more pounds by Charles Pierce, Editor; of the Department of Environ­ of pollution out of the fuel area Truman Temple, Associate mental Conservation. He was and less out of the paint spray Editor; and John Heritage, also Assistant Commissioner of booth area. If we can remove a Assistant Editor; all of EPA Environmental Health Services pound of pollution for 50 cents Journal. (his rat control program is now instead of a dollar, we should a familiar textbook success) do it. and for Emptoyment in New That's one advantage and York City. He began his career that's the easiest to see in a as Mayor Lindsay's environ­ way. But I think the most impor­ mental budget specialist. tant objective from our point of Elston received his under­ view is different. This approach graduate degree in civil engi­ for the first time provides a posi­ neering from Merrimack Col­ tive incentive for Industry to lege and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

12 EPA JOURNAL ------

Roy N. Gamse Bill Carter John Robinson Saul R. Rosoff Deputy Assistant Administrator Associate Assistant Associate Assistant Administra­ Associate Assistant Administra­ for Planning and Evaluation. Administrator for Planning and tor for Program Management tor for Management Reform. Management. and Policy.

Gamse is responsible for the Carter shares Bill Drayton's Robinson is assuming respon­ Rosoff is responsible both for Agency's standards and regula­ responsibility for the Agency's sibility for the internal manage­ leading Agency-wide manage­ tion development process, its planning and management, in­ ment of the Office of Planning ment reform and for managing statistics. its regulatory reform cluding policy development, and Management, as well as a a number of major reforms in program. its analysis of eco­ priority-setting, provision of variety of special projects both the Agency's central services. nomic impact, its energy pollcy common services, and overall within and outside the Agency. He will soon be joined by a new analysis, its program evalua­ management design. In his year with EPA. Robin­ Deputy Assistant Administrator tions and guidance, and its For the last year, Carter, as a son has managed several inter­ for Management and Agency long-run planning. Senior Project Manager for the agency projects, among them Services. Previously, Gamse was Di­ Agency's Management Task EPA's role in the Administra­ He joined EPA after more rector of the Economic Analysis Force, helped develop and im­ tion's Urban and Regional than 20 years 'of service with Division. Before coming to EPA plement its ambitious agenda Policy Group and the Resource the Federal Government, pri­ he was a systems analyst with of management reforms-from Conservation Committee. marily with the Department of the MITRE Corporation. He re­ revising how regulations are Before coming to EPA Robin­ Health, Education, and Welfare. ceived his undergraduate train­ developed to strengthening son was a program analyst at Most recently, Rosoff was Dep­ ing at the Massachusetts Insti­ EPA's executive corps, from the Department of the Interior, uty Commissioner and Acting tute of Technology and his MBA strengthening headquarters/ a certified mountaineering in­ Director tor the Administration at Harvard Business School. regions/State ties to reviewing structor, the general manager of for Children, Youth and Faml­ the Agency's computer a small corporation, and then lies, where, among other things, services. the successful founder and he made Head Start and the Before joining EPA, Carter president of his own company. Children's Bureau succeed. was a management consultant, He is a graduate of Washington Previously, Rosoff was Dep­ working on projects in the University and Harvard uty Assistant Administrator United States, Jordan and Business School. for Management at the Health Indonesia. He holds his Services and Mental Health Master's and Ph.D. in interna­ Administration at HEW and tional economics from the Executive Officer of the Bureau Fletcher School of Law and of Health Services. Diplomacy at Tufts University Rosoff did his undergraduate and his B .A. in history from work in government at the Uni­ Wesleyan University. versity of Connecticut and grad­ uate work at Syracuse Univer­ sity and at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton.

JANUARY 1979 13 The Economy and In fact, I think one of the most William Regulatory Reform attractive aspects of working Drayton, Jr. Continued from page 72 with EPA is that it has an enor­ mous number of people who are Assistant Administrator willing to be innovative. They're for Planning and problem solvers. And it doesn't Management come from just one part of the Before coming to EPA, Agency. It comes from the re­ A lot of that depends on how Drayton worked for six What is the difference gions. the States, and the labs as skillful we are at designing the years as a management between the emission well as from headquarters. For rules and incentives. The great­ consultant with McKinsey offset approach and .he instance, Region 9was one of est risk associated with these & Company serving both bubble technique? the earlier innovators in this new techniques ts that of our public and private clients, Logically, it's the same concept whole area of developing offsets carelessly allowing loopholes. including state and local and ultimately I think the two and marketable rights.• We have to design our innova­ environmental agencies. will merge. But at the moment Regulatory reform is 'essen­ tions against the worst case. He also taught regulatory they are two different regulatory tially a problem-solving proc­ We have to do that with any and management reform schemes. The emission offset ess. The Agency's very good at regulatory system. The greatest at the Kennedy School of involves tradeoffs with other that. We're pushing the frontiers risk of shifting to a new system Government at Harvard plants and with other sources in of regulatory technique because is our not working it through and law as a Visiting the same area. A Volkswagen the problems we're dealing with carefully enough to find in ad­ Professor at Stanford. plant moved into Pennsylvania are very new and rather com­ vance where all the possible Immediately before join­ and we had the State changing plex. We're also at a stage in the loopholes are. ing EPA, he served on the its type of road asphalt to offset Agency's history where we have Such dangers are the reason enough experience with the first Carter-Mondale transition 1 the new plant's emissions. As we need the intensive internal team, where he was pri­ we're now thinking of the bub­ approach we took in a lot of pro­ discussions we've been having. marily responsible for ble, the tradeoffs are just within grams. Now it's logical to step and why we have to work care­ regulatory and manage­ the particular plant. back and ask some questions fully with a number of test cases ment reform. Drayton about whether the first way we so we make sure the reform managed the staff of the You're talking abou some tried to solve a particular reg­ does not allow new rounds of Connecticut Enforcement departures toward more ulatory problem is the best way litigation to hold up the process. Project, developed and effective regulation. and whether there may be a I think we've found ways to put in place the first Would you say that it's better way. avoid such pitfalls. But that is economic civil penalties just the beginning or is We've also had experience clearly our biggest single design and prepared "Economic it a new direction that s with a range of different ap­ problem. Once we are confident Law Enforcement.'' a six­ well underway? roaches in different parts of our we have solved all our potential volume report published program. We can step back to administrative and enforcement It's very much underway. We by EPA in 1975. He consider how the permit ap­ weaknesses, I believe the incen­ have some 40 significant regula­ authored articles in the proach for the water program tive approach is likely to lead to tory reform projects underway Yale Law Journal includ­ worked and whether it could quicker cleanup. in one or another part of the ing "The Public Trust in have application in the air. Under the framework we're Agency. That in turn builds on Tidal Areas" and "The thinking of. we would have to the very innovative history of Tar and Nicotine Tax: •Editor's Note: Marketable rights is approve any alternative scheme the Agency. For instance, the Pursuing Health Through being studied as an alternative way that regulatees might propose. offsets were developed in 1976. of regulating fluorocarbon emis­ Tax Incentives." He re­ They would not realize any cost That was really a major innova­ sions from non-aerosol sources. ceived his A.B. with Under this proposal. EPA would savings until we have approved tion. It got us out of the situation highest honors, Phi Beta allocate (possibly by auction) the their approach. That reverses of demanding that local growth Kappa, from Harvard; his permits for production or use of the usual arrangement in which stop. It got us out of the false fluorocarbons. Manufacturers or M.A. with First Class every delay works in the reg­ conflict between local growth users with permits could then in Honors from Oxford turn trade or sell them. Thu~ the ulated person's favor, not the and environmental cleanup. University; and his J.D. market would decide which fluoro­ Agency's. They would have to We now have the emission from Yale Law School, carbon uses should continue and continue under the old arrange­ offset as part of the Clean Air which should end. where he was on the ments until we approve the new. Act and EPA is implementing it Board of Editors of the more efficient method. So they as the first of the control trading Yale Law Journal and would have an incentive to co­ devices. This experience is founded Yale Legislative operate to gain the savings ben­ making it easier to move to the Services. He was active efits the new approach makes bubble concept for single plants in the early civil rights possible. and to develop marketable movement, has a deep The risks are there. Any time rights. interest in India and the you change a complex system lesser developed coun­ there will be some mistakes and tries, and is an ardent you have to make a judgment of backpacker. whether it's worthwhile.

14 EPA JOURNAL Environment and Economics: Fact Sheet This information was supplied by EPA's Office of Planning and Management

From 1970 to 1977, total smoke and dust Total U.S. annual expenditures The environmental cleanup program were reduced by 12 percent. for pollution control were estimated at has significant economic benefits. $34.3 billion in 1976. Nationally from 1970 to 1977 sulfur Air Pollution Control $12.1 billion EPA's progr!lm to construct wastewater dioxide was reduced by 30 percent. Water Pollution Control treatment facilities totals $24.5 billion (Municipal) $10.3 billion authorized by Congress for the next five From coast to coast, some rivers that were Water Pollution Control years. Each billion dollars spent for con­ contaminated, even flammable, are now (Industrial) $ 4.8 billion struction produces 15,000 workyears on open to fishing and swimming. Solid Waste, Radiation, the construction site and 19 ,500 offsite. Noise and Toxic (A workyear is the equivalent of one person More than BO percent of 31,000 major Substances $ 7 .1 billion working one year.) air and water pollution sources now $34.3 billion comply with the Clean Air and Clean Firms making equipment used to clean up Water Acts. Pollution control expenditures as a result air and water pollution had sales of $1.B of Federal legislation were $15.0 billion in billion in 1977 and are growing about twice At the same time that pollution cleanup 1976. as fast as the rest of U.S. industry.•• has been progressing, the economy has Air Pollution Control $ 9 .4 billion continued to grow. The GNP increased 1 B Water Pollution Control If an industry is having trouble meeting percent from 1970 to 1976. (Municipal) $ 1.5 billion environmental requirements, aid is avail­ Water Pollution Control able. Nine Federal agencies have assist­ There is a price for pollution reduction. But (Industrial) $ 3.3 billion ance ranging from loans to tax breaks. in terms of the entire economy it is small. Solid Waste, Radiation. Many States also have similar programs.••• Noise and Toxic EPA regulations add about 0.3 to 0.4 per­ Substances $ 0.8 billion Public support for the environmental pro­ cent annually to the inflation rate. $15.0 billion gram is strong. A 1978 survey for Re­ sources for the Future showed that 62 Pollution control investments amounted t~ In comparison, the Nation spent $16.2 bil­ percent of the public was willing to accept $6.9 billion in 1977 and accounted for lion in 1976 for tobacco.• higher prices to protect the environment 5.1 percent of industrial plant and equip­ while 1 B percent was opposed. ment investment.

Gross National Product is approximately the same now as it would have been with­ out pollution control.

The net effect on employment is close to zero. The environmental program causes some plant closings and reductions in demand. But it also creates employment in •The figure on tobacco is from personal consump­ ••These figures are from a newstudy done for EPA the construction, manufacture, and opera­ tion spending estimates by the U.S. Department of by Arthur D. little. Inc. tion of pollution control facilities. Commerce. •••See "Cleanup Impact Aid" on page 22.

JANUARY 1 979 15 16 EPA JOURNAL The Love Canal Tragedy

uite simply, Love Canal is one of the By Eckardt C. Beck from play with burns on their hands and Q most appalling environmental trag­ faces. edies in American history. If you get there before I do And then there were the birth defects. But that's not the most disturbing fact. Tell em I ma com in too The New York State Health Department is What is worse is that it cannot be re­ To see the things so wondrous true continuing an investigation into a disturb­ garded as an isolated event. It could hap­ At Love s new Model Chy ingly high rate of miscarriages, along with pen again--anywhere in this country­ From a turn-of-the-century advertising jingle five birth-defect cases detected thus far unless we move expeditiously to prevent it. promoting the development of Love Canal. in the area. It is a cruel irony that Love Canal was I recall talking with the father of one of originally meant to be a dream community. the children with birth defects. "I heard Give Me Liberty. I've Already Got Death. That vision belonged to the man for whom someone from the press saying that there the three-block tract of land on the eastern From a sign displayed by a were.only five cases of birth defects dis­ edge of Niagara Falls, New York, was Love Canal resident, 1978. covered here," he told me. "When you go named-William T. Love. back to your people at EPA, please don't Love felt that by digging a short canal use the phrase 'only five cases.' People between the upper and lower Niagara must realize that this is a tiny community. Rivers, power could be generated cheaply On the first day of August, 1978, the Five birth defect cases here Is terrifying." to fuel the industry and homes of his would­ lead paragraph of a front-page story in the A large percentage of people in Love be model city. New York Times read: Canal are also being closely observed be­ But despite considerable backing, Love's cause of detected high white-blood-cell project was unable to endure the one-two NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y.-Twenty-five counts, a possible precursor of leukemia. punch of fluctuations in the economy and years after the Hooker Chemical Company When the citizens of Love Canal were Louis Tesla's discovery of how to econom­ stopped using the Love Canal here as an finally evacuated from their homes and ically transmit electricity over great dis­ industrial dump, 82 different compounds, their neighborhood, pregnant women and tances by means of an alternating current. 11 of them suspected carcinogens, have infants were deliberately among the first to been percolating upward through the soil, be taken out. By 1910, the dream was shattered. All their drum containers rotting and leaching that was left to commemorate Love's hope their contents into the backyards and base­ "We knew they put chemicals into the was a partial ditch where construction of ments of 100 homes and a public school canal and filled it over," said one woman, the canal had begun. built on the banks of the canal. a long-time resident of the Canal area, "but In the 1920's the seeds of a genuine we had no idea the chemicals would invade nightmare were planted. The canal was In an article prepared for the February, our homes. We're worried sick about the turned into a municipal and industrial 1978, EPA Journal. I wrote, regarding grandchildren and their children." chemical dumpsite. chemical dumpsites in general, that "even Two of this woman's four grandchildren Landfills can of course be an environ­ though some of these landfills have been have birth defects. The children were born mentally acceptable method of hazardous closed down, they may stand like ticking and raised in the Love Canal community. A waste disposal, assuming they are properly time bombs." Just months later, Love granddaughter was born deaf with a cleft sited, managed, and regulated. Love Canal Canal exploded. palate, an extra row of teeth, and slight re­ will always remain a perfect historical ex­ The explosion was triggered by a record tardation. A grandson was born with an eye ample of how not to run such an operation. amount of rainfall. Shortly thereafter, the defect. In 1953, the Hooker Chemical Company, leaching began. Of the chemicals which comprise the then the owners and operators of the prop­ I visited the canal area at that time. Cor­ brew seeping through the ground and into erty, covered the canal with earth and sold roding waste-disposal drums could be seen homes at Love Canal, one of the most prev­ it to the city for one dollar. breaking up through the grounds of back­ alent is benzene-a known human car­ It was a bad buy. yards. Trees and gardens were turning cinogen, and one detected in high concen­ In the late 50's, about 100 homes and a black and dying. One entire swimming pool trations. But the residents characterize school were built at the site. Perhaps it had been popped up from its foundation, things inore simply. wasn't William T. Love's model city, but it afloat now on a small sea of chemicals. "I've got this slop everywhere," said an­ was a solid, working-class community. For Puddles of noxious substances were other man who lives at Love Canal. His a while. pointed out to me by the residents. Some daughter also suffers from a congenital of these puddles were in their yards, some defect. Beck is Administrator of EPA Region 2. were in their basements, others yet were on the school grounds. Everywhere the air had a faint, choking smell. Children returned

JANUARY 1979 17 On August 7, New York Governor Hugh Carey announced to the residents of the Canal that the State Government would purchase the homes affected by chemicals. On that same day, President Carter ap­ proved emergency financial aid for the Love Canal area (the first emergency funds ever to be approved for something other than a "natural" disaster), and the U.S. Senate approved a "sense of Congress" amendment saying that Federal aid should be forthcoming to relieve the serious envi­ ronmental disaster which had occurred. By the month's end, 98 families had already been evacuated. Another 46 had found temporary housing. Soon after, all families would be gone from the most con­ taminated areas-a total of 221 families have moved or agreed to be moved. State figures show more than 200 pur­ chase offers for homes have been made, totalling nearly $7 million. A plan is being set in motion now to im­ plement technical procedures designed to meet the seemingly impossible job of de­ toxifying the Canal area. The plan calls for a trench system to drain chemicals from the L d Canal. It is a difficult procedure, and we are J keeping our fingers crossed that it will yield some degree of success. I have been very pleased with the high degree of cooperation in this case among local, State, and Federal governments, and with the swiftness by which the Congress and the President have acted to make funds available. But this is not really where the story ends. Quite the contrary. We suspect that there are hundreds of such chemical dumpsites across this Nation. Unlike Love Canal, few are situated so The Clean Air and Water Acts, the Safe strides to make sure that hazardous waste close to human settlements. But without a Drinking Water Act, the Pesticide Act. the is safely managed, there remains the ques­ doubt, many of these old dumpsites are Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, tion of liability regarding accidents occurring time bombs with burning fuses-their con­ the Toxic Substances Control Act-each is from wastes disposed of previously. This is tents slowly leaching out. And the next an essential link. a missing link. But no doubt this question victim could be a water supply, or a sen­ Under the Resource Conservation and will be addressed effectively in the future. sitive wetland. Recovery Act, EPA is making grants avail· Regarding the missing link of liability, if The presence of various types of toxic able to States to help them establish pro­ health-related dangers are detected, what substances in our environment has become grams to assure the safe handling and dis­ are we as a people willing to spend to cor­ increasingly widespread-a fact that Presi­ posal of hazardous wastes. As guidance for rect the situation? How much risk are we dent Carter has called "one of the grimmest such programs, we are working to make willing to accept? Who's going to pick up discoveries of the modern era." sure that State inventories of industrial the tab? Chemical sales in the United States now waste disposal sites include full assess­ One of the chief problems we are up exceed a mind-boggling $112 billion per ments of any potential dangers created by against is that ownership of these sites year, with as many as 70,000 chemical these sites. frequently shifts over the years, making substances in commerce. Also, EPA recently proposed a system to liability difficult to determine in case of an accident. And no secure mechanisms are Love Canal can now be added to a grow­ ensure that the more than 35 million tons of now in effect for determining such liability. ing list of environmental disasters Involv­ hazardous wastes produced in the U.S. each It is within our power to exercise intelli­ ing toxics, ranging from industrial workers year, including most chemical wastes, are gent and effective controls designed to sig­ stricken by nervous disorders and cancers disposed of safely. Hazardous wastes will be nificantly cut such environmental risks. A to the discovery of toxic materials in the controlled from point of generation to their tragedy, unfortunately, has now called milk of nursing mothers. ultimate disposal, and dangerous practices upon us to decide on the overall level of Through the national environmental pro­ now resulting in serious threats to health . commitment we desire for defusing future gram it administers, the Environmental and environment will not be allowed. Love Canals. And it is not forgotten that no Protection Agency is attempting to draw a Although we are taking these aggressive one has paid more dearly already than the chain of Congressional acts around the residents of Love Canal. O toxics problem.

18 EPA JOURNAL (Clockw1se from left.) Children who live near Love Canal are no fess concerned than their parents about the situation.

Sign posted by residents of the Love Canal neighborhood.

A Love Canal resident looks at contammated water dipped from a sump system m the base­ ment of her home.

This aerial wew shows the land· fill area surrounded by homes.

J;. r

--: 0 d

JANUARY 1979 19 20 EPA JOURNAL Cleanliness Pays y R har< L. oard

ollution cleanup-once seen by most Profit From Recovered Waste is the increased efficiency and productivity Pof industry as a financial albatross-is Recovery of materia Is formerly lost in the that often results when a company has to looking more and more like a good invest­ waste stream is one of the most promising adjust its production methods to meet man­ ment for the dollar. and potentially most profitable side effects dated emission restrictions. Until recently, it might have seemed im­ of pollution control. Such valuable indus­ ALCOA, for example, developed possible to persuade businessmen that trial chemicals as sulfur, mercury, ammonia several variations of a fluidized bed tech­ pollution cleanup can actually be a cost and aromatics extracted from waste nology to reduce fluoride and tar emissions reduction tool. But new developments in streams in large amounts and sold as raw from refining and smelting operations and pollution control technology make the job materials to companies in the petrochem­ ended up cutting energy requirements in easier each day. ical and fertilizer business could work two processes by 30 percent. The new tech­ For example: major changes in the economics and geog­ nology also reduced water consumption by • An $8 million water treatment system raphy of those industries. millions of gallons dai ly and decreased the installed by Great Lakes Paper Company Milton Godfrey, president of the Econo­ amount of fluoride used by 50 percent. reduced overall plant operating costs by scope Group, an economic modelling firm, $4 million a year. emphasized this point at a recent meeting Increasing Evidence • A refuse plant on Boston's North Shore of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manu­ Other instances could be cited to illustrate burns 438,000 tons of garbage a year to facturers. He said, "new processes, better the growing trend of turning what once provide steam equal in energy value to 27 economics, and broad geographic distribu­ were cost ly waste disposal burdens into million gallons of fuel oil to local industry. tion, all resulting directly from pollution profit, but there are at present few statistics • Low excess air burners installed at a abatement, should support the next major available on the extent of the overall com­ Florida Power Corporation generating plant phase in the development of the chemical mercial and technological benefits of to reduce particulate emissions not only industry." pollution controls. comply with clean air standards but save Such processes are already on line in the The report of a recent literature search the company 4,000 barrels of oil a year. gfass industry. In an effort to cut back par­ conducted by the National Science Founda­ • Solid waste incinerators at the ticulate emissions by the 52 percent re­ tion concluded that " almost no work has Dubuque, Iowa, works of Deere & Co. burn quired by the EPA, for instance, Glass Con­ appeared . .. which has attempted to meas­ waste material to generate steam heat for tainers Corporation, a Connecticut bottle ure or even to model in a rigorous way the the factory, saving about $1, 175 per day in manufacturer, discovered that the use of re­ impacts of environmental regu lation on waste disposal and fuel costs. cycled glass in the bottle-making process technological innovation." But a related • The 3M Company in Minneapolis has significantly reduced air emissions. The National Science Foundation study in five developed a wide range of im- glass, the company found, loses most of foreign countries found that environmental provements that eliminate the production its pollution-causing impurities when orig­ regu lations in each nation had stimulated of pollutants during the manufacturing inally refined from the raw materials. innovation among certain large industries process. In the first year and a half, 3M cut Ignoring standard glass-making rules, previously slow to act. out the equivalent of 73,000 tons of air the company increased the recycled glass, Despite the lack of detailed statistics in pollutants and 500 million gallons of or cullet, content in its product from the the United States however, evidence is polluted wastewater annually and saved supposed possible maximum of 15-20 per­ showing that anti-pol lutlon regulations approximately $11 million in actual or cent to a daring 50 percent. Emissions fell bring substantial positive effects here as deferred costs. to within EPA requirements with no loss In well. In addition to the examples already Pollution control is growing into a big glass quality. The company also found cul­ listed, many companies who enter the Na­ and profitable business. And as the above let easier to melt than raw material, reduc­ tional Environmental Award competition examples show, the profits go not only to ing energy use 10-15 percent and putting have demonstrated that their environmental the companies that manufacture and sell production and employment at an all-time protection efforts have led to more efficient control technologies but also, in a growing high. Said plant manager Ed Sleasman, "If processes, less waste, and ultimately lower number of cases, to those who use them. EPA hadn't put the squeeze on us, none of operating costs. The competition is co­ this would have happened." sponsored each winter by the Environmen­ Richard Hoard is chairman of the Envi­ ta I Industry Council and the Council on ronmental Industry Councif, an organiza­ Environmental Quality. tion of companies making poffution clean­ Greater Efficiency While commercially salable products, Furthermore, the overall productivity of up equipment. He is also vice president of whether chemicals, minerals, or energy, are whole industries "should actually improve Ecodyne, one of these companies. the most obvious money-makers resulting as high-cost marginal producers modernize continued on inside back. cover Refuse pit at Boston North Shore steam from pollution control measures, a less acility. noticeable but equally valuable commodity

JANUARY 1 979 21 22 EPA JOURNAL Cleanup Impact Aid By Edwin H. Clark, II

As EPA analyses show, the total eco­ ' group is continu1ng its efforts to identify The Farmers Home Administration in /-\ nomic impact of pollution cleanup is possible additional improvements. the U.S. Department of Agriculture has not severe. But in a particular location, Here is a status report on the Federal similar programs directed at farm indus­ plant shutdowns can seriously affect the assistance programs. tries and rural industries in general. The company, workers, and the community. Economic Development Administration in Most threatened plants are the older, Where the Help Is the Commerce Department also has a loan marginal facilities in an industry. If these The various assistance programs are in program which is available to firms in eco­ plants are clustered in certain communities. several different agencies. Some of the nomically depressed areas that are too the local impact of closings can be particu­ programs focus on impacts resulting from large to benefit from small business aid larly severe. pollution control efforts; some were estab­ programs. EPA tries to keep track of plant closings lished to deal with impacts related to a EPA's grant program for publicly owned through its "Early Warning System." These much broader range of government pro­ wastewater treatment works also helps surveys, as well as those done yearly by the grams; and some have been created to bu$inesses in that. although private firms Bureau of Economic Analysis in the U.S. provide general assistance to needy firms, have to repay their portion of facility <:on­ Department of Commerce, indicate that communities, or workers. The most im­ struction costs, the repayment terms are there haven't been large numbers of shut­ portant of these programs are described in equivalent to the firm's receiving a 30-year, downs. a new manual entitled "Federal Financial interest-free loan. But pollution control agencies at both Assistance for Pollution Prevention and Finally, the U.S. Tax Code and many the Federal and State level have consist­ Control" (see box). State tax codes provide tax breaks to firms ently been concerned about the impacts of investing in pollution control equipment. plant closings. A series of assistance pro­ Help for Private Businesses These tax breaks take the form of acceler­ grams has been implemented to help Several programs provide financial help for ated depreciation, tax credits, and exemp­ avoid these impacts. Also, State and Fed­ private businesses that could not otherwise tion from property taxes. These tax breaks eral agencies have often spent substantial afford to pay for pollution abatement equip­ can be claimed by any firm, but are only effort in trying to reach an appropriate bal­ ment. In dollar terms the biggest program helpful. of course, to those making enough ance between pollution abatement and is the industrial revenue bond program profit to be able to benefit. economic costs. which allows firms to sell tax-free bonds to The assistance programs at the Federal finance pollution control investments Help for Farmers level have been under review by an inter­ through a municipality or other public The Agriculture Department also has sev­ agency task force established by the Coun­ body. Because there is no income tax on eral programs to help farmers control pollu­ cil on Environmental Quality. The aim of the interest paid on these bonds, they can tion. The most widely used are the pro­ the task force is to determine whether the be sold at lower interest rates than normal grams administered by the Agricultural effort could be made more effective and to commercial bonds. Stabilization and Conservation Service. identify any gaps in aid. However, most of the over $3 billion in These provide cost-sharing to help support In an interim report, the task force con­ tax-exempt pollution control financing goes the construction of erosion control invest­ cluded that the existing programs appear to the Nation's largest and most credit­ ments, settlement ponds, waste disposal reasonably adequate regarding the type of worthy companies. Smaller firms have diffi­ pits, and structures to prevent pollution assistance they offer. It found that rela­ culty selling bonds in the municipal bond runoff from animal feed lots. tively minor changes could substantially market. In an attempt to correct this prob­ These programs have assisted in the con­ improve the delivery of this aid. lem. Congress gave the Small Business struction of tens of thousands of such proj­ Many of the recommendations of the Administration (SBA) authority to guaran­ ects. Meanwhile, in their pollution clean-up task force are being implemented, and the tee industrial revenue bonds issued by aid programs, the Farmers Home Adminis­ small businesses. The SBA expects to have tration, and more recently the Small Busi­ Dr. Clark is a special assistant to the EPA established such guarantee programs in ness Administration, are also authorized to Administrator and in his previous position half the States soon. provide loans to farmers. at the Council on Environmental Duality Several other efforts have been set up was Chairman of the lnteragency Task specifically to help small businesses. The Help for Communities Force on Improving Assistance Programs Small Business Administration has special Communities can receive planning assist­ to Mitigate Economic Impacts of Environ­ programs which will provide loans or loan ance from a number of different agencies. mental Programs. guarantees for meeting pollution control For instance, there are several programs equipment requirements. EPA has to verify available to support general community that the equipment is necessary in order to comply with Federal !Aw •

JANUARY 1979 23 development planning. Also, EPA, the De­ the correct information on what sort of I environmental requirements. Their purpose partment of Transportation, the Depart­ equipment they need can be very useful. is to assist those firms that cannot finance ment of Housing and Urban Development, EPA provides technital assistance through the required expenditures by normal means, and the Economic Development Adminis­ the Technology Transfer Office in the Office but that have a good prospect for making it tration have signed interagency agreements of Research and Development. if they are given a little help. to support coordinated environmental Another major source of such assistance • The second is that the funds available planning. for business can be trade assoe

24 EPA JOURNAL nvironmental A ma '1c· Janu y 79 A G 1mpse of the Natural World We Help Protect

his assets the quality of his The value of rivers alone is The Nature environment. incalculable. Most cities have a An EPA-funded study found river or lake free for the looking, Outlook that smog hurt real estate but how many people eat lunch values in some areas of Los beside these waters? Angeles. And in relatively un­ Even though a river is within developed areas of the Ameri­ walking distance of many can West. a recent study dis­ downtown workers, most even '...... covered, residents were willing on a sunny day will eat inside to pay substantial sums to avoid their building or take a taxi to a ven though Nature is an pollution interference with stuffy and crowded restaurant E aging producer it is ex­ mountain views. with no view. your river. No one has a right pected to provide an impressive But many of Nature's gifts go Although the Potomac is still to foul it any more than they and essential array of goods unappreciated. polluted, it offers spectacular would to throw their garbage in again for the world in 1979. What's the value of seeing a vistas as it sweeps through the your backyard. It is a puzzling fact that the flaming red cardinal perched on Capital. Even in winter on many What can you do about generally good quality of the air a snow-dusted spruce tree 7 days in Washington it is possi­ abuses? Begin by asking your and water most of us will re­ What would you pay to see a ble to sit on a park bench and local officials. The one axiom ceive during the new year will flight of ducks flying low under enjoy a river which still retains that will always be true is that be perhaps the most precious a glowering purple sky on their some of the splendor of its "This too shall change." Run­ assets we have but rarely do we way south? stretches above the city limits. ning a close second in the consciously appreciate them. What would it cost to get a Sea gulls provide free enter­ eternal truth sweepstakes is the Yet obviously all cash, fragrance as sweet as that tainment almost daily. They saying that "the squeaking stocks, bonds and other prop­ proffered by the blossoms of a perform aerial acrobatics as wheel gets the oil." It will be erty would be worthless without milkweed plant? they skim over the water. When even more true if you have the the free gifts of Nature. What's the worth of a tulip one catches a fish a noisy quar­ wisdom to lodge your initial It was because Nature's poplar bud with its leaves for rel begins over which bird complaints in a reasonable and t!easures were held cheaply far the new year folded inside with should really have the right to courteous manner. too long that we allowed them the precision of jeweled clock­ devour it. After all It's your river and to become so soiled with pollu­ work? As breezes roil the water, your air. lsn'tthis the year to tion. Fortunately, there is a Would you bid on a spar­ boats dip up and down at their make sure your share of this growing appreciation that every kling puddle reflecting a rain­ slips like aquatic rocking public property is properly pro­ individual should count among drenched forest around it? horses. You can hear the SC'ft tected? How long are you going How much for the tremulous slap of waves hitting a bulk­ to put up with the pollution by sound of an owl calling on a head. people who know the price of winter night? For the deep What does the waterfront in everything and the value of silence after a snowfall? your city have to offer? Is it nothing?-C. D. P. being properly protected? It's

JANUARY 1979 25 The Public's View By Robert Mitchell and Kathryn Utrup

he dragons of taxes, inflation and un­ As shown in Table 1, this level of support Another sign of the public's long-held Tnecessary government spending must is virtually unchanged from the answers to economic commitment to achieving envi­ be slain, but not at the expense of environ­ the same question when it was asked by ronmental goals is the environment's firm mental quality. This is a major finding of a the Opinion Research Corporation in 1975 position as one of the top five domestic pro­ comprehensive national telephone poll on and 1977. In all three years, 60 percent or grams that the public is willing to increase environmental protection conducted for more of a national sample chose the spending on. Each year since 1973, the Resources for the Future, a non-profit "higher prices" option. University of Chicago's National Opinion Washington research institution. The depth of the public's commitment to Research Center has asked a large national The survey interviewed more than one continued environmental protection is fur­ sample whether they think "we're spending thousand randomly-selected persons by ther illustrated by their responses to a too much money, too little money, or about telephone during July, 1978, while inflation lengthy tradeoff question. Those being the right amount" on a set of eleven na­ rates scored double-digit figures and short­ polled for Resources for the Future were tional programs, including programs for ly after the overwhelming passage of Cali­ asked which of the fol lowing three options "improving and protecting the fornia's tax initiative, Proposition 13. came closest to their opinion: environment." Several of the survey questions ad­ The trend traced by the answers from 1) Protecting the environment is so dressed environmental protection versus im­ 1973 to 1977 shows a gradual decline in portant that requirements cannot be too cost tradeoffs. Others tapped the individ­ high and continuing improvements must the percent who feel we're spending "too uals' concern about inflation, taxes, un­ be made regardless of cost. little" money on environmental protection employment, and the quality of life. Many -from a high of 61 percent in 1973 to the questions were repeated from previous 2) We have made enough progress on lower but still substantial level of 47 per­ national polls in order to analyze trends in cleaning up the environment that we cent in 1977. Concurrently, there has been should now concentrate on holding down environmental support. a gradual increase in the number who con­ costs rather than requiring stricter The results of the survey refute the wide­ controls. sider the spending level to be "about right" spread assumption that public support for -26 percent rising to 34 percent. At no environmental programs will automatically 3) Pollution control requirements and point during this five year period did the weaken in the face of competing pocket­ standards have gone too far: it already percent who said that we are spending "too book issues. True, some 64 percent of those costs more than it is worth. much" rise above 11 percent. polled feel that inflation is a "very serious" The majority (53 percent) chose the very The most recent National Opinion Re­ problem, and an additional 30 percent pro­ strongly worded pro-environmental option search Center poll. taken in the spring of claim it to be "serious." Furthermore, 7 out favoring environmental progress "regard­ 1978, actually shows a 5 percent increase of 10 declare that taxes in this country are less of cost." Roughly a third (31 percent) in support of more environmental spending, "unreasonable"-a result which concurs felt that we should concentrate on "holding the largest increase of any of the eleven with the findings of a contemporary Harris down costs." Only a small minority (10 programs reviewed. In this latest survey, poll. percent) agreed that "it already costs more fifty-two percent said we are spending "too Nevertheless, responses to a variety of than it is worth." little," 33 percent said "about right," and tradeoff questions as well as a look at the When the same question was used by the 10 percent said "too much" to improve and trends reveal that allegiance to environmen­ Opinion Research Corporation in January, protect the environment. ta I quality holds firm in 1978 despite these 1977, it yielded the very similar results of Not only has the public's support for en­ pressing economic concerns. 55-20-19 percent in the three categories vironmental protection held firm, it is far Asked whether they think that "now it is respectively. Rather than revealing any more broad based than many people realize. more important to pay higher prices to pro­ environmental backlash, the direction of The recent Resources for the Future study tect the environment. or to pay lower prices change from 1977 to 1978 is from the confirms the findings of other studies which but have more air and water pollution," the "costs more than it is worth" category to­ show that environmental concern is not public chose to pay higher prices by a 3 to 1 wards the more moderate position of "hold­ unique to the white middle class. The ana­ margin in the Resources for the Future poll. ing down costs." lysis of the answers to the tradeoff ques­ Further analysis of the 1978 Plesources tions shows that blacks and members of Mitchell is a Senior Research Associate and for the Future poll found that 52 percent of union families are as high or higher in their Utrup is a Research Associate at Resources those who felt that taxes are "very unrea­ support of the environment than are whites for the Future, a group studying resources sonable" still believed that environmental and members of non-union families. and environmental quality. improvements must be made regardless of Also, in almost every case, support for cost. This public view suggests that the tax the environmental side of the tradeoff did revolt has not undermined support for environmental quality.

26 EPA JOURNAL - .I ' , r-/'_ ,, j I - 1 ) • • .__ ~ f I \r / - t=I - ~ faj '-'- ~ """"'-. ~ L----1 ~ ( 1 • \. " '- ' ~ "/ - • I ,.- - "' ~ '"-- / .-- ,_-<-:' :---1 y ~- ~,.. .. ~,, - ~ - ~ -i ~ '> ~ ' r• ~ ;{!""~ c/ J I I • '-""'- I ·~ I ~ •' _.• / ~ I ( - - - - ' ) ~ • \ •• .. _.I- ~~

~ - I ~~ I _t.: Z:;)~ • 1..-- ) '' • 7 \ ' ' -...... I • • -

\' l .. / -.... ~ ., j ' l I I . / < I ( ,;_ - l - I - - ~ • ~ r - ~ / I• j • • I \ // • ~ I ~-~ \ ( ' "" - t -F ~ . JANUARY 1979 27 Another cost 1t pollutio11 t ff que lion om a national Cambnd91 1 ts Im , sun•ey conducted, 1 y ?. , he ume tht y f r, found the public ·/early fi ymg tht pr f pollution Ir , J by margrn of 5 l r mt

not vary to any significant degree when the person's sex, level of family income. con­ cern about inflation, or feelings about taxes were taken into account. Only age shows large differences, with those over 65 years of age indicating far less support for in­ creasing environmental spending from its present levels than those who are younger than 35. The finding that Americans strongly favor environmental protection despite its costs is not unique to the Resources for the Future poll. According to Lou Harris, the re­ sults of his polling on environmental-energy tradeoffs can be summarized by this mes­ sage from the public to policy makers: "Don't you dare relax your all-out efforts to make certain that environmental hazards are kept to an absolute minimum." Like­ wise, the Opinion Research Corporation wrote in its Report to Management ( Febru­ ary, 1977), "It would be foolish for anyone to conclude that the public is less than adamant about environmental quality." Why does the public feel so strongly Furthermore, two out of three persons about this issue? Analysis of the Resources interviewed disagreed with the statement Attitudes rowards Higher for the Future pol I shows that it is not be­ that "environmental problems are not as cause the public is unaware of the advances serious as some people would have us Prices vs · ollution that have been made in pollution control in believe." Looking ahead, only 30 percent 1975 1977 1978 recent years. When asked about the prog­ believe that there will be an improvement {June) {Jan) (July) ress that "we as a Nation have made in in the quality of the environment 10 years Pay higher prices to protect the environment 60% 68% 62% reducing air and water pollution throughout from now as compared with today while the the country," 72 percent of the sample said remainder think things will be the same Pay lower prices and "some" or "a great deal." (39 percent) or will get worse (31 percent). accept more pollution 21 16 18 The cause of the concern lies in the fact Certainly, when asked by the pollsters to Other 4 9 12 that despite clean-up progress, most people name "the most important problem" facing Don't know 15 7 9 still regard environmental problems as America today, environmental problems no serious. Moreover, only a small percentage longer leap to people's lips as they did r. ble of the public believes that environmental around Earth Day in 1970. Today, inflation, quality is likely to improve in the future. unemployment and taxes dominate this list. Perceived e OlJSll of Jme In the Resources for the Future poll, ap­ As the data show, however, the public con­ Social Problems proximately one person out of three rated tinues to be very concerne~about environ­ Very Not Don't air and water pollution as "very serious" mental problems. Serious Serious Serious Know problems, placing pollution at the same Instead of support fading away, as many Inflation 64% 30% ~~ level as the energy shortage, and slightly had predicted, interest in environmental Air pollution 32 46 18 4 above unemployment in the perceived quality has matured to become an enduring seriousness of five major social problems public concern, much like education and Energy Shortage 29 48 19 5 evaluated (see Table 2) . health. Despite the citizenry's concern Water pollution 29 46 20 6 about the various economic problems fac­ Unemployment 26 41 27 6 ing the Nation, the poll data suggest that they will continue to resist tradeoffs which ls y n 100 dL shortchange the environment, just as they It r 1-iave in the past.

28 EPA JOURNAL Regulatory Savings

nevitably, the Regulatory Thirteen independent regulatory "In the field of social regula­ "The President's Regulatory I Council is going to find sub­ agencies also sent represent­ tion," he continued, "the last Council is committed to reduc­ stantial cost savings in Federal atives. ten years have produced a ing these costs-whether they regulations that could amount The Council idea began to sometimes inconsistent array of be in dollars, time, effort, or the to billions of dollars over time, firm up when White House staff regulatory laws, agencies and strangling of opportunity," the Douglas Castle has predicted. members asked regulatory de­ rules. But I believe they were Council Chairman said. The President appointed partment and agency heads to created in good faith, with In a recent speech to the Castle as Chairman of the new a meeting in October and in­ sound judgment, and with pop­ National Association of Manu­ Council that will monitor the vited them to develop a mecha­ ular support .... " facturers, Costle saw prevention economic effects of government nism for improving Presidentia I "The difference is that today as another key to cost-effective regulation. Cost le will continue relations to the regulation the margin for error is smaller regulation. as EPA Administrator. development process. in conducting regulatory pro­ "Most government regulation At tne first meeting of the The department and agency grams, and the explosion of has its roots in private failure Council, Costle said regulatory heads recommended formation scientific and cultural knowl­ to act in the public interest," he issues "are long term and re­ of the Regulatory Council. The edge has often outpaced our told the manufacturers. "With quire for their solution the best President announced his crea­ ability to find solutions," Castle a greater mutuality of effort to­ brain trust in this Administra­ tion of the Council in an October said. wards prevention. we can not tion. The Council represents 24 speech and Administrator "We now realize that the air only be more cost effective in that brain trust." Costle was appointed Chairman and water we used for free in environmental protection, but Costle said a draft of a calen­ on October 31. · past decades actually had a we can avoid the necessity of dar of governmental regulations Costle explained the Coun­ cost, and quite a high one," he proliferating regulation." should be available for review cil's approach in recent remarks said. "We are now trying to pay In previous remarks, Castle at a Council meeting in January to an executive briefing spon­ in a few short years for dam­ has pointed out that EPA is this year. The first calendar is sored by the Opinion Research ages incurred over centuries." more and more trying to prevent scheduled to be published in Corporation. "Regulators are also trying to environmental and health dam­ February. The calendar was re­ "We are not in this just for catch up with a medical science ages rather than deal with them quested by the President as a the quicky changes, although that may be only months or after the fact. D key information tool in measur­ there undoubtedly will be years old-especially in the ing regulation's impact. some," Castle said. "We are area of cancer," Castle ex­ Costle proposed five subject organizing to make improve­ plained." Just our ability to areas for concentration by ments that will rationalize and measure chemicals in the parts Council work groups. They are streamline the entire body of per million or billion range has hea Ith and safety, finance and Federa I regulation for years to produced a flurry of new regu­ banking, economics, social come." latory concerns." justice, and resource develop­ In explaining such action, "My point is that whether we ment. The Chairman will form Castle first pointed out that "the are trying to catch up with dec­ teams from various agencies to need for regulation may have ades or days of social abuse, it review staff work by subject dwindled in some areas, but not is the right thing to do and we· area. in most. The social injustices of must continue," Costle said. Council priorities for the near the workplace, the environment, "But we must also realize," future, Costle said, would be the consumer market, and other he emphasized, "that in the race finding a staff, holding a meet­ areas still cry out for rectifica­ to catch up there have been ing with the President, and de­ tion .... " quick fixes, duplication, over­ veloping an agenda of cross­ lap, and unnecessary public cutting issues. costs that now must be At the first council meeting, eliminated ... .'' all of the Cabinet agencies except State and Defense­ which don't have regulatory programs-were represented.

JANUARY 1979 29 How EPA Gets Its Money By Charles s Warr 11

or the current fisca I year, which started For Congress the low point came when and the allocation of resources among F October 1, EPA 's budget will be more the practice of executive impoundment of major programs. than $5.4 billion. The process by which the funds appropriated by Congress reached Agency received this sum is extraordinarily epidemic proportions under the Nixon y April 15, the Budget Committees complex, involving interaction between Administration. Out of this atmosphere the B must report on what action the Con­ Congress and the Executive Branch over a Congressional Budget and lmpoundment gress expects to take on the President's long period of time. Control Act of 1974 was born and had its budget for that fiscal year. This is the First The Constitution gives Congress the first dry run in 1975. Concurrent Resolution on the budget, en­ power to approve money for the running of The Budget Reform Act, as it is com­ tirely for the purpose of setting spending the government . All Agency funds must monly called, was designed to set Con­ goals, expected revenue, and any related come from Congress in one way or another. gressional spending levels for a fiscal year surplus or deficit. Both Houses of Congress However, prior to Congressional action, a against which Congress could then measure must pass the Resolution by May 15. long process of Agency and Executive its progress in meeting realistic budgetary The same process for a Second Concur­ Branch budgeting has taken place to deter­ goals. If the Executive Branch decides that rent Resolution ends in mid-September, mine how much the Agency will receive in funds the Congress appropriates should be after a review of what the Congressional the Presidentia I budget sentto Congress withheld for one reason or another, the appropriations and authorizing committees each January. In actual fact, over the years Budget Reform Act forces the President to are doing. This is a tool to encourage the Congress did not change the President's return to the Congress for approval. In addi­ committees to adhere to the spending budget to any significant extent. tion, the Act changed the fiscal year from levels in the First Resolution . If the totals But in the early 1970's Congress woke a July·June to an October-September time contained in the First and Second Resolu­ up to the fact that it had very little practical frame and established a Congressional tions do not match, Congress must take control over the national budget. Not only Budget Office, as a counterpart to the Presi­ other action to cut back specific spending were its own Members undermining what dent's Office of Management and Budget. bills or vote explicitly to raise the general should ordinarily have been an orderly The Act sets a specific and tight time­ spen.ding tota I and the projected deficit. budgtttary process, but the Office of the table for moving through the budget proc­ Such actions to reconcile money differ­ President through the powerful Bureau of ess. March 15 is the first deadline. By then ences are to be taken by September 25. the Budget (now called the Office of Man­ all the standing or legislative committees With the fiscal year starting October 1, it agement and Budget) was dominating the of the Congress must report to the House or is also expected that all bills appropriating process. the Senate Budget Committees their ex­ money will be passed by then. This was One heard bitter complaints from Mem­ pected spending levels for the various often not the case under the old system, bers of Congress of both parties that appro­ activities within their jurisdiction. By April and there are still delays that occur as a priations were being considered in a piece­ 1, the Congressional Budget Office must result of controversies associated with par­ meal fashion. They decried the failure to submit its report to the Budget Committees. ticular appropriations bills. consider future consequences or the It includes alternative levels of budget How well has this process worked? To a broader national picture. Most of all they authority and spending, total income, a great extent, it has brought order out of resented what they saw as the President discussion of national budget priorities, chaos. Some Congressional critics claim, usurping traditional Congressional pre­ however, that it has raised an army of rogatives. bureaucrats on Capitol Hill and created much more work for the Members of Con­ Warren is Director of EPA 's Office of gress, many of whom are already heavily Legislation overworked. But for the Members of the

30 EPA JOURNAL House and Senate Budget Committees, it Generally the full committee goes along process to send letters of appeal. to ac­ has been a labor of love and has created with the subcommittee's decisions. quaint the lawmakers with the Administra­ many unusual and unexpected political tion's thinking on items contained in the bedfellows. nder the rules of the House, an appro­ bill. Letters of appeal are drafted with the At the same time that the Congressional U priations bill and report must wait on aid of the Office of Management and budget targets are being set by the law the House Calendar for a period of three Budget and generally reflect the position makers. a complementary process for ac­ days in order to give the membership full contained in the President's budget. tual appropriations is being set up. Mem­ opportunity to study them. It would prob­ bers of the Senate and House Appropria­ ably be helpful to point out that, historically, n addition to the regular appropriations, tions Committees' hierarchy meet to make appropriations bills have originated in the I there are other special appropriations decisions on levies and timetables for each House. Some years ago, the Senate Appro­ bills which work their way through the appropriations bill with an eye toward what priations Committee took umbrage at this Congress. For example, there are often sup­ the Budget Committees are doing. so-called prerogative of the House and plemental appropriations measures, and Within a few weeks after the President decided to initiate the process on its own. continuing appropriations resolutions. Sup­ submits his budget request to the Congress The resu It was utter chaos for executive plementals are bills passed during the fiscal in late January, appropriations hearings get agencies which were caught in the middle. year to take account of new circumstances underway. Each Congressional appropria­ This "High Noon" scenario has not been not provided for in the regular bills that tions committee has a number of subcom­ repeated since and, hopefully, will not be. were enacted. The continuing appropria­ mittees, which are divided into relatively During action by the full House of Repre­ tions, which provide money at the same rate logical categories. Top officials of each sentatives, an appropriations bill is often as in the prior fiscal year, become neces­ agency appear with their deputies to justify amended to reflect interests other than sary when some unfortunate agencies do their requests. These requests have already those of the originating committee. Tradi­ not receive their regular funding by the due­ been cleared by the President through ex­ tionally most of the amendments have been date of October 1 for the current fisca I year. tensive internal review. In addition. Mem­ made in the Senate, however, which has a While the budget and appropriations bers of Congress and the public also appear longer time to consider the bill. processes are going on, the authorizing before the subcommittees, usually to ask When the House completes action on process proceeds on a parallel track. The for more money for an agency than is con­ the bill, it is sent to the Senate, where it is standing or legislative committees of the tained in the President's budget. referred to the counterpart Senate Appro­ Congress, which are charged with over­ Theappropriations subcommittee hear­ priations Subcommittee, and the process is sight and legislative responsibility for ings are generally open. except where such repeated. Usually the Senate has held hear­ various governmental programs, act to matters as national security are involved. ings and gathered information at the same extend authorizations or provide for new In most cases, sessions are held in cramped time as the House proceedings were going programs. Generally money will not be quarters. and the debates are sometimes on. appropriated if not first authorized. The intense. The questioning is almost always After the Senate has worked its will upon authorization usually sets the upper limit energetic, as both national and regional the measure, there are inevitably differ­ on the appropriation. concerns vie for attention. Agencies supply ences between the versions approved by Often there is a creative tension between volumes of materia I "for the record," so the House and by the Senate. A conference authorization committees and appropriation that the staff and members of the subcom­ committee is named by both Houses to committees. Many times. legislative com­ mittees will have all of the information at resolve the differences. mittees authorize programs or sums for hand needed to make their decisions. An appropriations conference committee particular agency programs which the The subcommittees which handle EPA generally consists of members of both the Appropriations Committees may deem appropriations also have jurisdiction over House and Senate Appropriations subcom­ either undesirable or too costly. If so, it is funds for the Department of Housing and mittees which originally considered the the appropriations process which wins out. Urban Development. National Aeronautics agency's budget requests, along with four Agencies can only spend what is appropri­ and Space Administration, National Sci­ additional members: the chairmen and ated, rather than what is authorized. ence Foundation, Veterans Administration, highest ranking Republicans of the full In some instances. an authorization bill Council on Environmental Quality, and a House and Senate Appropriations Commit­ will direct an agency down a path contrary number of other independent boards and tees. After several hours of give and take. to that ordered by the appropriations bill. commissions. sometimes light-hearted and often trying, When this situation arises. the hapless Thus it is not for some time after the sub­ the conferees finally decide on one version agency is caught in crossfire between its committee hearing that the membership to take to their respective Houses. parent authorizing committees. its appro­ and staff feel comfortable enough to sched­ The House of Representatives acts first priations committees. and the Office of ule a "mark-up." The mark-up consists of on the conference bill. with the Senate fol­ Management and Budget. Generally such taking an agency's budget justification lowing and clearing the bill for the Presi­ disagreements can be defused through book, going over it page-by-page, and dent's signature. As with all bills, the mediation, but if not. the problem continues item-by-item. and making comparisons with President must sign the measure within ten into the next fisca I year. Often, specific the interests of the various members of days (exclusive of holidays and Sundays) direction to the agency will be contained the subcommittee. Sometimes these in­ after he receives it or the bill becomes law in the authorizing legislation and in the terests are parochial in nature. as well as without his signature. If the Congress reports of the appropriations committees. deriving from a careful scanning of the adjourns during the signature period, how­ EPA's task. like that of other agencies. is agency's needs. ever, the President may "pocket veto" the to work. its way through the maze of the The subcommittee then reports a "com­ bill. That is, he simply lets the bill die by budget and appropriations process with its mittee print" of its mark-up to the full not signing it at all. (In an actual veto. the basic needs provided for and with enough Appropriations Committee, which then President sends the bill back to the Con­ flexibility in the use of its money to effec­ meets, makes its decisions, and reports a gress with a message containing his rea­ tively carry out its mandate. This is usually bill to the full House for consideration. sons for refusing to approve the measure.) much more difficult than it appears. 0 If an agency is unhappy with the way its appropriations are shaping up, it has sev­ eral chances during the Congressional

JANUARY 1 979 31 _ J >Un the r at1on The recipients are Branch of the Board by Region 2. forcement Division, ex­ Chief and Acting Manage­ Part of the settlement, pressed satisfaction with ment Division Director which the Environmental the improvement, as did z Lou Gitto, and Al lka­ Quality Board has already the U.S. Attorneys for the 0 lalnen, Marv Rosenstein, collected, includes a stip­ Western and Eastern Dis­ (3 w Mike MacOougall, Bill ulation that the facility's tricts of Wisconsin. Mc­ er Serovy, Doug little. and existing sulfur Donald said that appropri­ Lynne Bleakney. recovery plant be either ate action will be taken Environmental operating properly by the Advisory Council against the few remaining Quality Assessed end of the year or be re­ Formed violators. The District EPA's Boston office re­ placed with a new plant Region 4 has initiated a Attorneys promised fol­ cently released the An­ by July, 1979. special public participa­ low-up inspections in the nual Report on Environ­ tion project for air and future. menta I Quality for New hazardous materials. Two England. According to the outstanding environmen­ Hazardous Wastes report, smog continues to ta 1ists from each State in Discussed be one of the most seri­ the Region have been Staff members from the ous pollution problems chosen to serve as lead­ Region 5 Waste Manage­ in New England. Rhode Oil Company Fined ers. They will organize ment Branch met recently Island and Connecticut Caribbean Gulf recently public participation activ­ with the Michigan De­ have passed automotive paid some of the largest ities relating to clean air. partment of Natural Re­ inspection and mainte­ penalties ever assessed hazardous waste disposal sources and representa­ nance programs to help in Region 2 for violations Polluters Convicted siting. and toxic sub­ tives of Hooker Chemicals control hydrocarbons that of air and water laws at A Federal jury in Phila­ stances. In addition, the and Plastics Corporation. contribute to smog, and its refinery in Bayamon. delphia has convicted sixteen environmentalists They met to discuss the Massachusetts is working Puerto Rico. The facility James and Guido Frezzo are members of the Re­ Hooker waste disposal on a program for the was fouling the waters of on six counts of discharg­ gional Advisory Council, site in Montague. Mich. next legislative session. the Malaria Control Canal ing wastes without a per­ which will meet regularly The company presented The report projects that in violation of the dis­ mit under the Federal with Regional Adminis­ plans to the State for use 85 percent of the Region's charge permit issued by Clean Water Act. The two trator John C. White and of soil and synthetic liners major river mileage will EPA. In addition, the com­ are corporate officers of key staff members to be to cover the wastes. The meet the fishable/ swlm­ pany failed to take pollu­ Frezzo Brothers, Inc., a briefed on EPA issues. State rejected that pro­ mable standard by 1983; tion abatement measures mushroom growing and The Council members will posal and said that wastes 53 percent of the waters in a time period agreed to compost manufacturer. also bring concerns and shall be placed in vaults are safe now. Lead con­ in its compliance sched­ The case is one of four problems from their that are insulated on all tamination of drinking ule. The Region 2 En­ involving Chester County, States to the attention sides by 10 feet of clay. water is dropping in re­ forcement Division asked Pa., mushroom growers of EPA officials. The first The Department of Nat­ sponse to treatment with Judge Juan R. Torruella charged with discharging meeting of the Council ura I Resources agreed to caustic soda in Cambridge for $206,250 in civil pen­ wastes without a Federal was held last month in review the company's and Boston, Mass., and in alties against the com­ permit. The growers have Atlanta at the Regions I draft report, and EPA Bennington, Vt. The re­ pany for not meeting the been under investigation Office. pledged its continuing port notes significant requirements of the Clean by Region 3's Surveillance support for an environ­ progress in implementing Water Act. The judge and Analysis Division and mentally sound corrective programs to control solid granted EPA's request, Enforcement Division, the action for the site. waste. New England has the money was collected, U.S. Attorney's Office in some 300 community re­ and turned over to the Philadelphia, and the cycllng programs, with Treasury Department. Chester County Health 43 programs having sepa­ In a separate action, Department. The Penn­ rate curbside collection Puerto Rico's Environ­ sylvania Department of of recyclable materials. mental Quality Board re­ Natura I Resources pro­ Maine, Vermont. and cently filed for an admin­ vided witnesses for the Connecticut now have istrative order asking trial. In other cases, Groc­ Most Dischargers container legislation to that Caribbean Gulf pay ery Store Products Co. Comply deal with the litter and $150,000 for violations was fined $15,000 and A recent series of unan­ throw-away bottle prob­ of the Commonwealth's Penn Green Farms, Inc .. nounced inspections in Tribal Concerns lem. According to the air quality standards by $7 ,500 for discharging Wisconsin by the Region Heard report, one of the most particulate emissions. without a permit, in cases 5 Enforcement Division Regiona I Administrator serious environmental This violation and another resolved through plea revealed that all but a few Adlene Harrison and ten issues facing EPA in the involving the venting of bargaining. Hudson industrial dischargers are program staffers met with future Is the management untreated hydrogen sul­ Farms, Inc., pleaded in compliance with the the Indian tribes of New of hazardous wastes. fide, a very poisonous guilty to four counts of water pollution self-moni­ Mexico recently. The Re­ gas. at the rate of 520 discharging without a toring procedures that are gional Office presentation Bronze Medals pounds per hour was permit and agreed to pay required by their Federal outlined EPA activities Awarded brought to the attention $50,000 in fines. Clinton water discharge permits. and programs, particu- Region 1 has conferred Ruble, Vice President of A similar survey one year Its highest award, the Hudson Farms, Inc. ago found many viola­ Bronze Medal for work pleaded guilty to one tions. James 0. McDon­ excellence, on the Sys­ count and has agreed to ald, Director of the En- tems Analysis Branch. pay a $5,000 fine.

32 EPA JOURNAL larly in areas where assist­ A $100,000 grant for next ance might be given to the year's program will allow tribes. The meeting was the older workers, who coordinated by La Donna are located in numerous Harris, president of State agencies, to survey Americans for Indian the health of migrant Opportunity, and was well workers, report pesticide­ attended by tribal mem­ related illnesses, and bers including several Discharge Fuel Switching work with county agricul- Noise Agreement tribal governors. The re­ Investigated The use of leaded gaso- tural commissioners in- Set gional staff is following Region 7 Administrator line in vehicles requiring vestigating pesticide mis- Region 10 late last fall up on problems outlined Dr. Kathleen Q. Camin unleaded fuel is a problem uses. President Carter reached agreement with by the Indians at the has requested a water of increasing concern to recently commended the Bonneville Power Ad- meeting. quality survey of the EPA. This practice. com- representatives of the ministration and the Ore- Cedar River watershed at monly known as fuel Senior Environmental gon Department of Envi- Public Seminar Set Charles City, Iowa, by switchlng, is a violation Employee development ronmental Quality to have The Dallas Regional Office EPA's National Enforce­ of EPA's unleaded gaso- pilot program for making Bonneville Power replace has arranged a public par­ ment Investigation Cen­ line regulations. It is of it a nationwide success. by 1982 a noisy trans- ticipation seminar on con­ ter. Salsbury Labora­ special concern in Region former at one of its sub- struction grants under tories, a manufacturer of 8 where the major metro- Chemical Survey Set stations near Portland. Section 201 of the Clean veterinary pharmaceuti­ politan areas do not meet Region 9 is working in co- The transformer had been Water Act. It will be held cals, was discharging EPA air quality standards operation with research- emitting a steady "buzz" March 21-24. A citizen waste products containing for pollutants associated ers who will survey 1,000 20 decibels higher than advisory group is helping organic chemicals and with automotive em is- students who attended State noise codes allow, with the seminar, which heavy metals into the sions. The increasing Saugus Elementary and has been the object will include a cross­ Cedar River through the emphasis that Region 8 School, north of Los of complaints from nearby section of citizens who Charles City municipal has placed on its Mobile Angeles, Calif. The sur- residents. The consent are directly affected by waste treatment plant and Source Enforcement Pro- vey will investigate how agreement is in keeping environmental regulations the solid waste dump that gram resulted in the as- their health has been with President Carter's and activities. They will the company has used for sessment of a $7,800 civil affected by vinyl chloride recently signed Executive learn active involvement over 20 years. Dr. Cam in penalty against the Board emissions from the nearby Order that requires Fed­ in environmental deci­ describes this as one of of County Commissioners Keysor-Century Corpora- era I facilities like Bonne- sion-making through role­ the most severe environ­ of El Paso County for the tion facility. The pilot ville Power to comply playing and community menta I problems in Re­ introduction of leaded group was exposed to with all applicable pollu- problem solving. gion 7. Orthonitroaniline gasoline into vehicles high concentrations of the tion control requirements. (ONA). a chemical prod­ operated by the El Paso chemical, a known car- Standards Clarified uct associated with the County Sheriff's Depart- cinogen, fifteen to twenty Grazing and Clean Earl N. Kari, Dallas Dep­ Salsbury process, was ment. In addition, the years ago. Most of the Water uty Regional Administra­ found in water supply Sheriff's Department has students attended the Region 10 personnel are tor, met recently with offi­ wells in Waterloo, Iowa, agreed to check the com- school for up to six years. finishing a report that will cials from the Louisiana 65 miles downstream. In pliance of their vehicles Researchers will also de­ show how grazing prac­ Stream Control Commis­ the six wells sampled with applicable emission termine average and peak tices used by western sion in Baton Rouge. The there, ONA occurred in standards. concentrations to which woolgrowers and cattle purpose of the meeting concentrations ranging the group was exposed, ranchers influence water was to help the State from 0.012 parts per and establish an individ­ quality. The report, being agency clarify the lan­ billion to .26 parts per ual tracking system to prepared by EPA and the guage in Louisiana's wa­ billion. Eight other water continue evaluations of Bureau of Land Manage­ ter quality standards, supplies were sampled for long-term health effects. ment. demonstrates that providing consistency in traces of the chemical. livestock managers al- determining waste treat­ Wells in Plainfield con­ Likes Regulations ready have available to ment requirements for in­ tained .20 to .73 parts per George Caraker, a San them techniques that not termittent streams and billion; those in Janesville Franciscan, wrote the only minimize water pol- man-made ditches with­ contained .05 parts per following to the Region 9 lution but can also pro­ out jeopardizing or dam­ billion. With EPA's assist­ Older Workers Office in support of EPA's duce less soil erosion. aging downstream uses. ance, the Iowa Depart­ Successful New Source Performance The result is more forage Water quality criteria are ment of Environmental Fifteen Mexican-Ameri­ Standards: "The stronger for the herds. The report not being affected by Quality will issue dis­ cans who are former mi­ the regulations, the better. "Livestock Grazing and these changes. charge permits to limit grant workers have been I believe a one or two Water Quality" will be the nature and quantity of working in the Senior En­ dollar increase in electric available in early 1979. materials discharged into vironmental Employee bills is a small price to To get on the mailing list the Cedar River under the development program to pay for cleaner air." to receive a copy, contact authority of the National train farmworkers in the Publications Clerk, EPA, Pollutant Discharge Elim­ safe use of pesticides. 1200 6th Avenue, Seattle, ination System. EPA and They work from the Fed­ Washington 98101. O the Iowa State Hygienic eral Rural de Salud, Jnc., Laboratory will continue a non-profit health clinic. to monitor water sources along the Cedar River.

JANUARY 1979 33 Russell W. Fitch Dr. Lester D. Grant Thomas W. Davine .Joseph T. Piotrowski He has been named Acting Di­ He has been appointed Director He is the new Director of the He has been appointed New rector of the Office of Public of the recently established Envi­ Air and Hazardous Materials Source Coordinator in Region Awareness and Intergovern­ ronmental Criteria and Assess­ Division in Region 4, following 3. responsible for integrating mental Relations in Region 8. ment Office in EPA's Research four years as Chief of the Air and expediting EF'A environ­ Fitch spent the last three years and Development Program at Program Branch in the Agency's mental reviews required for the at the Federal Energy Adminis­ Research Triangle Park, N.C. Boston office. His Federal serv­ issuance of permits needed by tration, where he was FEA rep­ To accept the position he has ice began with the Federal proposed new industrial sources resentative to the Federal Re­ taken a two-year leave of ab­ Water Pollution Control Admin­ of pollution. The position was gional Council, and headed sence from the University of istration, an EPA predecessor created in response to a pledge several interagency committees North Carolina. where he has agency, in 1966 as a sanitary by Deputy Administrator Bar­ on energy affairs. From 1972-75 been associated with the De­ engineer at the Northeast Water bara Blum to save time and he directed EPA's Research and partments of Psychiatry and Quality Management Center in money for industries under­ Development grants program in Anatomy since 1970. He Is as­ Region 1. After becoming part going environmental reviews. Region 8. His previous Federal sociated with the Biological of EPA he sarved as Chief of the Piotrowski has worked for EPA services includes directing the Sciences Center of the Child Industrial Waste Section and since 1973. most recently as Office of Retailing In the Cus­ Development Institute at the Chief of the Technical Opera­ Special Assistant to the Region tomer Services Group, U.S. University and Co-Director of tion Section of the Enforcement 3 Deputy Administrator. Before Postal Service and acting as a the Neurobiology of Environ­ Branch. Prior to his Federal that for two years he prepared consultant to the Office of Sci­ mental Pollutants Program service Devine worked in the Environmental Impact State­ ence and Technology at the there. The Environmental Cri­ air and water programs of the ments for new industrial sources White House. Prior to joining teria and Assessment Office Commonwealth of Massachu­ and municipal sewage treat­ the government Fitch worked provides the Agency with scien­ sets and for a private consult­ ment plants. He has also held for General Electric Company, tific documents that are the ing firm. Devine received a B.S. positions in the Air and Water the American Chemical Society, basis for a wide variety of envi­ in civil engineering from North­ Divisions in Region 3. Before Atlantic Research Corporation, ronmental regulations. The eastern University in 1964 and joining the Federal Government and Melpar. Inc. He received a Office also prepares special re­ did a combination of work at he worked for the Common­ bachelor's degree in chemistry ports, some of which are man­ Harvard, Tufts, and Northeast­ wea Ith of Pennsylvania as an air from Asbury College and a dated by Congress. Dr. Grant ern Universities to earn a Mas­ pollution engineer. Piotrowski master's degree In chemistry received a bachelor's degree in ter's Degree in civil engineering holds degrees in physics and from American University. psychology from the University with environmental specialization environmental science. of Pittsburgh, and a master's in 1972. degree and doctorate in that subject from Carnegie-Mellon University. In 1969-70 he worked in an interdisciplinary research and training program in biomedical science at the University of Chicago, where he held a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health.

34 EPA JOURNAL Eighth Annual Awards Andrew D. Mank and Judith Ten individuals and three Norman E. Dyer. Irving Grunt­ Ceremony A . Nelson, the Pretreatment groups received silver medals fest, Steven Leifer, Susan G. Four individuals and four group Task Force, received a gold for superior service. The silver Lepow, Carl Mazza, James C. efforts were awarded gold med­ medal for their work in the de­ medals went to Terry L. Ander­ Nelson, Sammy K. Ng, Patricia als for exceptional service last velopment and promulgation of son, Region 8; Anne L. Asbell, Ott. George M. Semeniuk. and month at the EPA annual awards regulations to control the dis­ Region 4; Michael P. Bonchon­ Steven R. Weil. ceremony. The individuals hon­ charge of industrial wastes into sky, Region 2; Lisa K. Friedman, The Administrator's Award ored were: publicly-owned sewage plants. Headquarters; Jack Griffith, for Excellence was conferred Valdas V. Adamkus, for his The Federal Insecticide, Fun­ Headquarters; Myron 0 . Knud­ upon Evelyn Lewis-Alston, distinguished leadership in Re­ gicide, and Rodenticide Amend­ son, Region 6; Dr. James P. Headquarters; Olivia H. Ed­ gion 5 and outstanding contri­ ments Task Force was honored Law, Jr., Ada, Okla.; Delores J. wards, Headquarters; Kenneth butions to international environ­ for their work toward the enact­ Platt, Cincinnati, Ohio; Cheryl L. Kropp, Cincinnati. Ohio; mental control; Dr. Elizabeth L. ment of the 1978 Amendments. Wasserman, Headquarters, and Paula R. McElroy, Las Vegas, Anderson, for her outstanding Members of the Task Force are: Dr. William E. Wilson, Jr., Re­ Nev.; Vivian A. Skinner, Re­ leadership and personal contri­ Arnold L. Aspelin, Edward C. search Triangle Park, N.C. gion 6; and Donna Sowinski, bution to the development and Gray, John J. Neylan Ill, Susan Medals also went to the Foot­ Region 5. application of EPA policy on Sherman, John C. Ulfelder, and hills Project Review Team in Winners of the Public Health carcinogens; Martha Prothro, Robert H. Wayland Ill. The Flue Region 8 : Gary R. Johnson, Service Meritorious Service for her commendable contribu­ Gas Desulfurization Program W. Steven Jones, and Dale J. Medal were, David R. Dunbar, tion to enactment and imple­ was honored for their achieve­ Vodehnal; the Small and Minor­ Research Triangle Park, N.C.; mentation of enforcement au­ ments fostering the national ity Business Programs Group at Stephen K. Goranson. Region 5; thorities for stationary sources acceptance of that concept. The Research Triangle Park, Cin­ Jack W. Hoffbuhr, Region 8, of air pollution, and Gordon G. program members are Robert cinnati, and Headquarters: Paul and Charles D. Larson. Region Robeck, for his outstanding Borgwardt, Michael Maxwell, Quitter. Frank J. Rzasa , Glen­ 1. Distinguished Career Awards service and leadership in the Everett Plyler, Frank Princiotta, wood D. Sites, Alfred R. Smith, went to Douglas C. Hansen, establishment of national drink­ and Richard Stern. A gold Jr., Byron S. Vranes, and Margie Region 10, and Margaret R. ing water standards, and major medal went to the Title II Con­ A. Wilson; and the Toxic Sub­ Well, Headquarters. contril>ution to the Nation's struction Grants Regulations stances Control Act Inventory health and welfare. Team for their commitment to Work Group at Headquarte.rs: developing responsive regula­ Stephen M . Caldwell, Edward tions for the municipal con­ H. Cohen. Pau I E. DesRossiers, struction grants program. The team consists of Michael B. Cook, Belle N. Davis, Ronald Decesare, Joseph H. Easley and Larry D. McBennett.

Valdas V. Adamkus

Grace Prothro

Dr. Elizabeth Anderson

JANUARY 1 979 35 An Economist's View the private pocketbook inter­ problems are not going to go the ultimate electorate whose Contmued from page 5 ests of the steel company are away. On the contrary, they are dollar votes are swinging the made to coincide with the in­ going to get bigger even as we patterns within which our eco­ terests of the community. are more effectively solving nomic resources are devoted. Make no mistake about it. them. There is only so much under a competitive process no land, and only so much atmos­ a It one firm out of the goodness of phere and rivers and lakes and v I e I run , we its heart, out of altruism. can underground water. Because of cl 1viro 1 take on the job of a higher level past demography we're putting nd n econon y of environmental protection a very, very heavy load in our 1nE ti1 will not only serve as refutation than its competitors. And no in­ modern industrial society on Yes. The productivity of the in debates but will also enable dustry can ever spontaneously these limited resources of American system-the tech­ us to sharpen up our rational and through its trade associa­ nature. nological and managerial know­ opposition to too much environ­ tions be counted upon to do the how, the skill of our labor force, mental spending. Everything up job. We've talked abou inter the education and human capi­ to a margin is justified and any­ This doesn't mean that the nalizing costs, making tal-is such that although we thing carried to excess econ­ people in an industry are any environmental protec ion are not growing as fast as in omists would have to say, as worse than the people in any part of our da ly affairs earlier post-WWII decades, we any wise person would, Is an other industry. including my Are we beginning to do still have a considerable margin aberration of judgment. own, college teaching. It just this in our economy? In of growth. Part of that margin means that it's against their wastes and pollutio ,7 can prudently go into an expan­ Considering some of the money interests to impose a We have made a beginning. I sion of the ordinary conven­ intangibles in pollution higher standard than we the know plants here in New Eng­ tional private goods and serv­ cleanup, what is the best community insist upon there land which have been in busi­ ices. But part of it can and, if the way to decide environ being imposed. ness for 250 years. and the electorate wanted, should go l ental policy? By eco Therefore, there is no escape, owners tell me they just didn't into the improved good life with nomic analysis or Con­ in the last analysis, for demo­ know until ten years ago what respect to a more healthful and gressional vote? cratic control involving the fair­ it was their own plants were more pleasant environment. There is no substitute for demo­ handed coercion through the doing. They were simply doing When we look at the sources of cratic control of the policies of due process of law. what their uncles and grand­ American growth and consider the society. So in the last ana 1- fathers had done before them. our best future projections, it ysis it is the electorate deciding. Polls show that the public It was unthinking. becomes apparent that there Is Now under representative is willing to pay for en­ It reminds me that not until room for both environmental government that means that vironmental cleanup. we had a corporate income tax cleanup and ordinary goods and most of the decisions will have What kind of factor is and personal income tax did services. to be deliberated on by leigsla­ that in economic policy accounting get developed in tive representatives. Any legis­ toward the environment? this country. Businessmen so Is there ny special n !Ssa1 lature must acquire Informed, Is it being taken into ac­ often didn't know their own or­ you would like to give? expert knowledge and use it in count adequately? dinary money costs and revenue. Sometimes the enthusiasms of making judgments. Yes, although if you're a per­ Similarly, the force of law is certain proponents of environ­ But as every representative fectionist you might despair at bringing home the need to in­ mental control may appear to legislature in the world knows the slowness of the process. I've ternalize more of these environ­ ordinary, more conventional and has always known. the Con­ just come back from southern mental costs. The costs were citizens as hysteria. But one gress, the State House of Repre­ California and I was a little bit there. They just weren't per­ man's complacency is another sentatives, and the committee appalled by the smog. On the ceived until it was too late and man's hysteria, and in order to of aldermen cannot make the other hand, I recall earlier times they weren't brought home to self, sometimes you have to day-to-day decisions. What when it was worse. It would those people who were causing oversell. you have to do is set down good have been much worse if we damages. So on the whole, it seems guidelines in the form of tax had not already imposed what Now I'm not pointing my to me that we have been well rates on effluents. in the form of many people in that part of the finger at businesses and corpo­ served by the more altruistic zoning regulations. But these world regarded as a painful rations only. In the last analysis among us, often the more youth­ must be in forms that are en­ constraint-the need for a the consumers who want steel, ful members of the population, forceable, understandable, and higher and more expensive level who want products which re­ who have raised the conscious­ are optimally designed in terms of pollution control on auto­ quire certain chemicals for pro­ ness of the rest of us. I think of the degree of environmental mobiles. duction, must be prepared to most of us, as we look to what control the democracy ulti­ The job is never finished, but pay the bill for making these would otherwise bethe case, mately desires. I think the American people are acceptably safe. And certain the hell that you could have here So voting is Important, but getting on with the job. These products, certain asbestos prod­ in North America in the wake of we economists believe it's very ucts for example, will not be the post WWII baby boom and crucial for the voters and their able to meet those stringent industrial affluence boom, real­ representatives to set things up requirements in the future and ize that things are much better in such a way that many policies they will have to be replaced by than they otherwise would be, are self-enforcing. This way, substitutes that can. and I for one am grateful. 0 So it is not just a matter of internalizing costs into some in­ This interview was conducted dustry or business. It means by John Heritage, Assistant internalizing them to us, the Editor of EPA Journal. public, the ultimate consumer,

36 EPA JOURNAL News Briefs Cleanup The Tennessee Valley Authority, in a "landmark" Agreement step for public health, has agreed to a major pollution cleanup involving 10 of its power plants in the southeastern U.S. The settlement was described by EPA as "the largest ever made. with a major source of air pollution." The agreement heralds "a new era of concern for public health by the Nation's largest public utility," according to Marvin Durning, EPA's Assistant Administrator for Enforcement. He said the pollution controls under the agreement would remove more than 970,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 85,000 tons of dust material a year from the Tennessee Valley air.

Gasohol EPA recently announced that the marketing of Allowed Gasohol may continue. It would be premature to stop the use of Gasohol now before a national policy regarding alcohol fuels is recommended by the National Alcohol Fuels Commission, EPA officials said. EPA retains the authority to regulate or ban Gasohol if it is ultimately determined that the fuel poses unsolvable problems. Gasohol has 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent unleaded gasoline.

States Served by EPA Regions Region 1 (Boston) Region 3 Region 5 (Chicago) Region 7 (Kansas Region 9 (San C:onnec:ticut. Maine. (Philadelphia) lll1no1s. lnd1ctn~1 Ohio City) Francisco) M.issachl1Setts. New Dr~lawarc. Maryland M1<:h1~1crn W1sconsu1. lowil K,1nsas. Missot:ri Ari100.1 C,1Hnrn1,1 Hampshire. Rhode lslr1ncl. Pennsylvilnia. Virgin1i1. M1nrwsota Nehrask~ Nt'Vclda_ Hawau V(!rmont West V1rq1nra. District of 3\2 3S3-2000 816 374-511~)] 111 ~ ~~,5 23:?0 617 223 7210 Columbia 215-597-9814 Region 6 (Dallas) Region 8 fDonvor) Region 10 (Seatllol Region 2 (New York ArkiHlSilS. Louisianil Color,Hlo Ut.1h A1;isk.1_ ld,1ho Or,•qon. City) Region 4 (Atlanta) Oklahoma. TVic.lS. Nr.w Wvomrnq Mon1.i",1 W,1sh1nqto11 NPw J"rs0y. N"w York Al,1bam.1. G"o"I'" MP.x1c:o North O~kof,l S1h1th :?Ofi 44:? 1 220 Pll(~rto Rico. V1rq1n Flor1cja. M ·.;s1ss1ppi 2\47672600 Dako1,1 lslnnds Nonh Carc·lmfl. South 303 837 189!> 212 2fi4 252S Carol1n;i_ T1 nrH!SSt~f?. Kentucky 404881-4127 A Lawmaker's View achieve the same level of stream quality. cause the consumer pays for the pollution Continued from page 8 Not only would a pollution charge sys­ control but receives very little apparent tem reduce the costs of abatement, but it benefit as a result. Actually, from the per­ would also speed cleanup. Today a pollut­ spective of society, pollution control is not ing firm has strong incentives to postpone inflationary because the abatement costs installation of abatement equipment. By produce benefits that are worth more. claiming that pollution cleanup is difficult It is proper to challenge environmental In contrast, an alternative mechanism or uncertain, a firm can often obtain re­ legislation to be sure that Congress, which wou Id charge each firm a fee in proportion peated "temporary" exemptions from represents the people, believes that the to the pollution it discharges. A firm which standards. Thus, delay is now rewarded benefits of abatement exceed its costs. could control pollution cheaply would do with lower costs to the firm. However, it is improper to quantify the more abatement to avoid the pollution An effluent charge system would replace costs of pollution cleanup, and label these charge. Using this effluent charge system, the incentive to delay with a new incentive expenditures as bad. without first consider­ the same stream quality could be achieved to abate quickly. A firm would seek ways to ing the benefits of abatement. if all the firms spent a combined $12 million abate to avoid the pollution charge as soon Second, the costs of pollution cleanup per year on pollution control. This would be as possible. can be reduced if a system of pollution $8 million a year cheaper than under the charges is used, instead of the current reg­ regulatory system. Under a third, more Summary ulatory standards approach. By focusing complex system, which based effluent In sum. the economic problem of pollution clean up efforts on firms where abatement charges on the damage pollution would do control is twofold. First. from the perspec­ is less costly, a cleaner environment can be to a particular part of the river. the cost tive of the individual consumer. pollution achieved at lower costs to all consumers would be only $9 million per year to control costs appear to be inflationary be- combined. 0

JANUARY 1979 37 U date doing it, such as an out­ GEN i: RAL EPA's review is likely NF >R .. MENT right ban on the use of to last about 18 months. OLIO WAS E EDS," Jackson said. The COUNSE L and in the meantime the Chrysler Recall Agency is expected to de- pesticides in question Hazardous Waste EPA Administrator cide in January whether Court Upholds EPA may continue to be sold Survey Douglas M. Costle has the chemical's use in No direct showing that a and used. The technical EPA recently released a upheld the decision of agriculture should be chemical may cause name for the review is preliminary survey listing the Agency's administra- banned. cancer in humans needs to "rebuttable presumption 103 sites nationwide tive law judge that certain be established before the against registration." where hazardous wastes 1975 Chrysler cars are Voluntary Recall EPA can prohibit dis- have been put. exceeding the Federal British Leyland Motors, charge of the chemical EPA Proposal The sites "are the'ones emission standard for Inc., Is voluntarily re- into the Nation's water- on Pesticides on which we have the carbon monoxide. He calling about 50,000 of ways, the U.S. Court of EPA has proposed that most information," said ordered Chrysler Corp. to its MGB vehicles to Appeals ruled recently. uses of the pesticide Administrator Douglas recall 208,000 automo- correct defective em is- In two cases involving endrin be allowed to con- M . Costle. "They aren't biles. slon control parts, EPA manufacturers' protests tinue on wheat and apple necessarily the most Costle affirmed the announced. The recall against EPA rules. the orchards, and on cotton dangerous sites. Indeed, February 10, 1978, de- involves 1975 model year Court upheld the Agency's in some areas. The some have been cleaned clsion by Judge Edward M GB's built for sale In power to bar the dls- Agency would require up and others are under B. Finch that a substantial California, all 1976 and charge of toxic chemicals precautions to reduce litigation. We are con- number of cars with 360 1977 MG B's built for into waterways even if potential risks from tinuing to work with and 400 cubic Inch dis- nationwide sale, and there is no conclusive endrin's use to human States and localities in placement engines and some 1978 model year evidence that the chemi- health, fish, and wildlife. monitoring these sites." two-barrel carburetors do vehicles. cars may be harmful to However, most uses of In the survey, EPA's not meet the carbon Due to a resonant vi- humans. endrin on cotton would be Regional Offices also pro­ monoxide standard of bration in the exhaust One case involved stopped because of vided a rough estimate 15 grams per mile. The system during normal electrical manufacturers potentially serious health of the landfill, storage, Administrator told Chrys- engine operation. one or protesting a ban on PCB's and environmental risks. and other sites which may ler to submit a plan to more of the following {polychlorinated bi- "In general. EPA has contain some hazardous correct the problem within could happen: a cracked phenyls) which are used concluded that for some waste which now or 30 days. exhaust manifold or in liquid electrical uses the risks of endrin potentially could cause Models affected by the catalytic converter, de- installation. outweigh most of its adverse impact on public recall order are Chrysler struction of the interior The other opinion re- social and economic health or the environment. Cordoba and Newport. matrix of the catalyst, suited from two similar benefits." said EPA Ad- The number was 32,254. Plymouth Fury and Grand breakage of the main fuel cases consolidated by the ministrator Douglas M. The Regional Offices Fury, and Dodge Monaco, metering needle in the Court in which two manu­ Costle. Endrin has caused also provided a rough Charger SE and Coronet. carburetor, or loosening facturers protested rule- birth defects in laboratory estimate of the sites that of the carburetor fuel making procedures at animals and may pose may contain significant Agencies Weigh bowl retaining screws. EPA and the Agency's the same danger to quantities of hazardous New Rules These could result in methods in setting toxic humans. he pointed out. wastes which could cause For Chemical the affected vehicle standards for the pesti- Endrin also is a threat to significant imminent haz­ Spokesmen for the EPA emitting poflutants above cides endrin and toxa­ wildlife, and is acutely ards to public health. The and the Occupational exhaust standards. They phene. toxic to fish. Cost le added. number was 638. Safety and Health Admin­ may also cause a loss of Under the new istration said recentty engine power, and in PESTICIDES Resource Conservation the agencies have been extreme cases there is a and Recovery Act, EPA concerned about ethylene potential risk of fire Risk, Benefit Review is developing a hazardous dibromide (EDB) and are caused by fuel leaking EPA is reviewing both waste disposa I system looking at possible new from the carburetor. the possible health risks that will track these rules for the chemical. EPA is accepting a and the economic bene­ wastes throughout their But exposure to the voluntary recall of these fits of several major life and insure they are chemical. widely used as cars because of British pesticides used mostly to finally disposed of in a pesticide and as an Leyland's expeditious preserve wood products approved facilities pro­ additive in leading gaso­ identification, investiga­ such as railroad ties, viding long-term public line, is declining rapidly tion, and solving of the marine pilings. and fence safety, Costle said. because of Federal pro­ problem. posts. But EPA's authority to grams to reduce use of Those being reviewed clean up inactive sites is leaded fuels, said are creosote-the largest quite limited, Costle said. Benjamin Jackson. EPA's volume U.S. pesticide--t " .. . Many States have Acting Deputy Assistant and coal tar, neutral oil, more authority than the Administrator for Mobile inorganic arsenic, and Federal government to Source and Noise pen ta ch loropheno I. deal with these problems. Enforcement. Wood preservatives are We will work closely " It remains to be seen considered pesticides with all States to provide whether we could do any­ under the 1972 Federal technical assistance or thing quicker than these pesticides law because any other help that we programs already are they control insects. can." fungi, and bacteria that damage wood.

38 EPA JOURNAL Resource Recovery Occupational Safety and cooperative effort re­ much as a year's time in RA Funds Health Administration, affirms our determination the processing of appli­ EPA announced recently the Food and Drug Ad­ to restore and enhance cations for loans and a program of si 5 million ministration, and the the quality of Great Lakes grants. EPA Proposes in grants to local govern­ Consumer Product Safety water," Blum said. The five main agencies Criteria For ments to develop w:iys to Commission. involved in the new Radioactive Waste convert their trash and Remaining Problems system are EPA, the Administrator Douglas M. garbage into energy and Citizen Role In Water Pollution Economic Development Costle recently proposed to recover valuable In Toxics Despite significant prog­ Administration, Farmers environmental protection materials, such as metals, EPA is funding a pilot ress in cleaning up the Home Administration, criteria to be used by all glass, and paper. program in New Jersey Nation's waters, many Housing and Urban De­ Federal agencies with "It's time we recog­ and New York to test and pollution problems re­ velopment Department, responsibilities for man­ nized the full potential of develop ways to involve main due to discharges and Community Services aging or regulating all waste-putting as :nuch citizens in controlling from industry and from Administration. forms of radioactive of it as possible back in toxic substances. Thirty­ municipal sewage treat­ wastes. the marketplace," said six public interest organi­ ment plants, the EPA AGENCYWIDE The proposed criteria EPA Deputy Administra­ zations and nearly 500 recently reported to are designed to guide the tor Barbara Blum. people will participate. Congress. agencies in making radio­ The grant funds are The purpose of the The problems include Cooperative Steps active waste management some of the first to be­ program is to determine "traditional" ones such On Spills, Health decisions. In the criteria, come available under If a model for citizen as bacteria, excessive Acting under a year-old EPA outlines the pro­ President Carter's urban Involvement in toxic sub­ levels of suspended agreement to pool effort posed principles to be policy, which offers finan­ stance control can be solids, organic materials and information in con­ applied for protection of cial aid to cities to help created and then used causing depletion of trolling toxic substances, public health from the relieve social, economic, elsewhere. oxygen in the water, and four major Federal regu- various forms of radio­ and environmental prob­ "We are all affected by excess discharge of latory agencies have active materials. lems. chemicals in the environ­ nutrients such as phos- achieved successes rang- After public comment, ment," said Administra­ phorus and nitrogen lead- ing from unified re- the proposed criteria w ill fOXI S tor Douglas M. Costle. ing to nuisance growths sponses to chemical be forwarded to the "So citizens have a major of algae and other aquatic emergencies to setting up President for approval. 0 Cooperation role to play in determining plants. a joint EPA-FDA labora- On Toxics safe, cost-effective However, the States tory in Research Triangle Four Federal agencies, methods for the manufac­ are also voicing increas- Park, N .C. including EPA, have out­ ture and use of these ing concern over the The four agencies are lined cooperative steps compounds." effects of toxic pollutants the Consumer Product nviron 1ent to curb the health and such as heavy metals, and Safety Commission, the Ethics environmental threats WATER pesticides and other Food and Drug Adminis- posed by a group of toxic ----- chemical compounds. tration, the EPA, and the A new book ootpr nts substances. New Agreement Among them are phenols. Occupational Safety and on the Planet • >n In a new report, titled For Great Lakes cyanide, and PCBs (poly- Health Administration. attituc )\ the n "Hazardous Substances," A new agreement was chlorinated bipheny1s). Their cooperative effort vi onmi t , us1 the agencies describe signed recently between While generally em- stems from creation of an ndustr'f ar v their actions to protect Canada and the United phasizing these remaining lnteragency Regulatory The author :>bt 1hn workers and the public States calling for pro­ problems, the report also Liaison Group. talked with from disease and illness grams and measures to points out that overall Successes include joint some of the Nation caused by the unsafe further abate pollution in trends are good for most action to clean up a spill largest or por manufacture and handling the Great Lakes. pollutants monitored over of toxic chemicals at a we I thei on of 24 compounds, from Secretary of State the past several years. Philadelphia trucking mental 1 t h coke oven emissions to Cyrus Vance and Can­ firm. EPA's Region 3 was Pulitn Prizt w nn ng asbestos. ada's Secretary of State Procedure Reforms involved in the effort. 1ournalis found that Under a cooperative for External Affairs Don For Sewer, Water Cooperation also in- compa1 1 XI agreement, which created Jamieson signed the pact President Carter recently eluded checking the mun rotur 1 on inv the lnteragency Regula­ in Ottawa. The agreement announced streamlined health of workers and ment by any n n tory Liaison Group, the reaffirms and updates the Federal procedures de- safety of food in the necessary s th r pr agencies are pooling two countries' commit­ signed to save rural areas vicinity of a pesticide mary soc ia " i 11 their knowledge and re­ ments to enhance water hundreds of millions of explosion at the Stauffer while others r build sources to gain the most quality in the Great Lakes dollars In construction of Chemical Co. in Chicago. invir onrr lta efficient health protection which contain 97 percent sewer and water facilities. EPA's Region 5 was into tt !lr ovE II pl 11 11n programs at least cost to of America's fresh water The refined procedures involved. An or1g1r Ir it the regulated industries. storage. for such projects also are Region 4 was involved the Council on Environ The agencies are EPA, EPA Deputy Adminis­ expected to save as in another joint effort. mental Quality, Cahn also trator Barbara Blum, a where the four agencies provides a survey of the co-signer, praised the provided technical assist­ environmental programs cooperative efforts of the ance to North Carolina of Presidents from Theo International Joint Com­ to clean up roadways dore Roosevelt to Jimmy mission in bringing about contaminated by PCB's Carter. The book is the new agreement. "This (polychlorinated $10 95, published by biphenyls). Universe Books, New York

JANUARY 1979 39 The Economy and If we make our hearing process t p per saved to put them in the same Regulatory Reform simpler and less legalistic, rely­ suai o latory position as people who have ing more on discussions be­ a r 1e do son complied and to take away the Contmued from page 14 tween our professional, tech­ f the same reforms th1 incentive to delay applies in nical, and engineering staffs Ag1 ncy 1s now making? virtually all regulatory settings. and the regulatees, as we've oo ati Our contribution is to take been trying to do, that helps us ftor ? such very simple ideas and as well as the regulatees. Absolutely. We are the largest work out a practical, adminis­ I believe that it is. Over a five­ If we decide that we're not regulatory agency, and also the trable, enforceable way of mak­ year time period we start will going to regulate a large number agency with the broadest reg­ ing them happen, and working it getting the benefits of the new of very small sources that con­ ulatory agenda. We rt:1gulate through with the states so they technologies, the new ap­ tribute only a few percent of everything in the country in ef­ can do it. Once that's been proaches to pollution cleanup overall pollution loadings. fect, from very small pollution done, other agencies and the that private engineers are going which we did recently in the sources to very big ones, involv­ states can pick up the device to come up with because for the PSD regulations, that's less of a ing all sorts of technology under easily. first time It's profitable for them burden on industry. It's also less different conditions. The President's regulatory to find new ways of control. of a burden on our own limited As a result, the White House reform executive order was We'll be well ahead of where resources. We may calculate is looking to us to provide prac­ modeled chiefly on our regula­ we are now. That's strictly in that it makes better sense to tical leadership for the entire tion development process. terms of reduced pollution. loosen up a little bit on one Administration in developing, Marketable rights and emission industry but tighten up on some testing, and implementing new, offsets have very broad appli­ f f others because the new mix is better ways of regulating. The cability beyond EPA. So do our A' r I I ef ()rms easier to enforce and a fairer fact that the President looked to new hearing procedures--and a ma l mak distribution of the burden. But us to take the lead in establish­ host of other innovations. l I fo ry Id that sort of tradeoff is hardly a ing his Regulatory Council is Doug Costle and I hope that .o bly I softening of our bottom line another reflection of the Agen­ one of the things this period of ~··r f I vdowr f ambient requirements. cy's leadership. EPA's history will be remem­ A :h nl We simply do not have the Let me cite a few examples of bered for is the large number of A number of the reforms we're people to regulate everyone in how our work serves as a practical innovations the looking at will reduce the com­ the world. One purpose of regu­ model. Agency has put in place. Many pliance burden on industry or latory reform is to find the ways Our new economic penalties of these changes will affect the the states. None would reduce of doing our work that impose ioolicy could easily apply wide­ development of regulation well our overall cleanup effort. If we the least avoidable costs while ly. When society decides to reg­ beyond EPA. O cut back a reporting require­ meeting our statutory require­ ulate, it's usually because it's ment that we're not using, that's ments and advancing towards trying to get someone to do a reduction in the amount of our cleanup objectives in as something that costs them effort we have to expend to col­ efficient and quick a manner as money that they would not lect, receive, process possible. otherwise spend. The logic of and store it. Doing so will not charging them what they have weaken actual pollution control.

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40 EPA JOURNAL Cleanliness Pays wide projection is based on a sampling of instinctive reaction is to resist additional Continued from page 21 the effect of particulates in the Philadel­ costs unless they can be shown to have a phia metropolitan area. The preliminary positive effect on profits. estimate is from a recent joint study by the For this reason, the Environmental Indus­ EPA and Resources for the Future. try Counci I, in cooperation with severa I Jn addition, air pollution causes major other private organizations and government or disappear and new plants incorporate damages to other materials including rub­ agencies, will devote its fourth annual con­ environmental needs in their initial de­ ber products, textile fabrics and dyes. and ference to examining more closely the costs signs," according to Professor James Brian electrical components. and benefits of pollution control. The con­ Quinn of Dartmouth University's Tuck Although complete and current data are ference will be in Washington. D .C., Febru­ School of Business Administration. not available, the EPA estimated that air ary 28-March 1, 1979. It plans to feature Quinn also stated that the costs of pollu­ pollution damage to crops and ornamental the researchers of the major cost/benefits tion controls will " undoubtedly be further vegetation such as commercial flowers and studies, key government and Congressional reduced by lower process costs from shrubs was about $200 million in 1970. decision makers, and industry leaders. innovation or by-products use .... " EPA's estimate was based largely on a Rather than expending a II of their effort study by the Stanford Research Institute. fighting industry's instinct to reduce costs, Economic Growth Any reduction in these damages by cut­ environmentalists might do better to har­ Investment in pollution controls also has a ting back on the amount of pollution in the ness it by selling business the idea that stimulating economic effect in developing air can translate into almost immediate fi­ emission controls can make money. By new areas in science, management, and in­ nancial benefits. Savings also result from combining the stick of statutory pollution dustry that will result in the creation of curbing water pollution or managing solid limits with the carrots of improved effici­ thousands of additional jobs. An estimated wastes. ency and new sources of energy and raw 300,000 persons now work directly for Also, while pollution's damage to the materials that modern control technologies companies in the pollution control business. natural and manmade environment is ser­ offer, industry may yet be convinced that a Twice that many jobs are found in other ious. it is far outweighed by the injury, ill­ clean environment can also be good enterprises such as construction. which ness, and death caused to humans. business. D directly support the industry. Environmentalists feel that such losses But beyond the direct economic benefits more than justify the cost of pollution Above. A paper plant located on the banks of the St. Croix River near Bangor. Me. to firms that either use or produce emission abatement for the Nation as a whole, but controls, society as a whole benefits even convincing a board of directors that emis­ Back cover: Old growth sitka spruce forest more from the reduction of pollution's sion controls make fiscal sense is another in the North Cascade Mountains near Lake harmful effects on almost every aspect of matter. Chelan, Wash. our national life. To date the only incentive employed has Air pollution alone, for example, may be been the negative one of Federal and State causing as much as $2.8 billion a year in emission limitations backed up by fines for soiling damage to walls, w indows. and fa ilure to comply. While this approach has venetian blinds in households. This nation- produced significant gains in cleaning up the environment, it has met with consider­ able foot dra9ging from businesses whose O~i;ial Bt>Siness • l>enaliv tor J>r\vate Use $300