STRICTER CLEAN-AIR STANDARDS PROPOSED; CHAMBER BRIEFED ON EPA's PLAN

Opponents of stricter Environmental Protection Agency air standards pleaded their case before members of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Friday.

"We're here to instill fear because these standards have a significant impact on Missouri," said Roger Walker, general counsel for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. "The cost is enormous and the health benefits have not demonstrated that these tighter standards are necessary."

Walker was part of a four-member panel at the chamber's First Friday Coffee at the Show Me Center. The panel discussed an EPA proposal to tighten air standards for ozone and fine-particulate matter.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, who introduced the panelists, said he has sponsored a resolution to get the Missouri General Assembly on record opposing the stricter standards. The resolution was voted out of committee Thursday. He said he expects it to pass soon.

Panelists said the new standards were unsupported by health studies or documentation showing how air pollutants were causing significant health risks to Americans. Current standards are not being met consistently, they said. The proposed standards would require a complete lifestyle change by virtually everyone in the nation, they said.

"The stiffer these standards, the more difficult it is to meet attainment," said panelist Melissa Hart, regulatory affairs manager of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association of America. "The EPA is on record that this requires a major change in lifestyle. Significant levels of control will affect small businesses and consumers, and everyone will be impacted."

St. Louis currently is not in compliance with air pollutant levels, and that could affect Cape Girardeau, Hart said.

"St. Louis is the only area in Missouri currently in nonattainment," Hart said. "Cape Girardeau is too close to St. Louis according to the new standards. Any town 100 kilometers within a nonattainment area may be considered and regulated in order to help with the other areas."

John Barsanti Jr., a panel member who practices environmental law in St. Louis, said the EPA should be sure the new standards are warranted before implementing them. There have been too many instances of millions of dollars being spent because the EPA has imposed standards too quickly, he said. The EPA needs to be sure its has accurate information before implementing costly standards, said Barsanti.

The EPA will accept open comments from concerned citizens until Feb. 18.

The panelists encouraged people to send letters to the EPA, congressional members and state lawmakers before Feb. 18, encouraging them not to implement the standards until detailed health studies are done. If the regulations are adopted as scheduled by June, they would go into effect in 1998.

"What we're asking is for the EPA to wait until they find out if it is necessary to lower standards and perform real health studies before we spend huge amounts of money on something that may not be needed," Barsanti said.