REGULATIONS, BUREAUCRACY CAN BLEED THE AMERICAN CITIZENS

For Missouri citizens, there's trouble in the air. And most who contribute portions of their hard-won paychecks and business profits to public treasuries aren't even aware of the risk. Regulations relating to air-quality standards place a significant burden on the state, especially with the gun-to-the-head approach employed by federal authorities whose leverage against sluggish compliance is the withholding of funds. It is yet another example of how well-intended legislation acts in tandem with rigid bureaucracy to bleed Americans.

Presenting a blunt assessment of this subject to a Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce gathering recently was Johnny Ray Conklin, a local labor leader who serves on the Missouri Air Conservation Commission. Mr. Conklin pointed out to the business organization that he is frequently in a position of voting in favor of actions he disagrees with on the commission because the federal government has the authority to withhold certain funds from the state. Common sense, he insists, does not prevail where a bureaucracy is entrenched; in one case, a permit process was established that was so unwielding that contractors eventually decided it was cheaper and easier to evade the regulations and suffer the consequences if caught.

The fact is that NAFTA can dominate our attention and a school tax issue can drive us to distraction, but regulations like those contained in the Clear Air Act (passed in November 1990 with the inexplicable backing of President George Bush) can water-torture American businesses and eventually take money from the pockets of consumers.

Ask those repair people who deal with refrigerant gases. Ask the coal companies whose mines must meet specifications for sulfur-content. Ask truckers who must use environmentally correct diesel fuel. It's not a tax, but who eventually pays? In the cases mentioned here, anyone with an air-conditioner, a heater or who uses products transported over the road. In other words, everybody.

St. Louis and the air above it are specifically troublesome in the context of Clean Air Act compliance. A deadline passed yesterday for submission of a state plan to reduce emissions in Missouri's largest city by 15 percent. How is that achieved? You can chase industries away (which isn't as sarcastic as it sounds, since harsh regulations do that in a de facto sense). In addition, you can limit tailpipe emissions by providing a disincentive for drivers (taxes), reformulating gasoline (higher costs) or stiffening motor vehicle inspections (still more costs). Even with all that, St. Louis may still not make the grade and highway funding could be cut off from the federal government. It is feasible that Southeast Missouri road and bridge projects could be stalled because of hazy skies over St. Louis.

Most citizens do not comprehend the extent to which they are affected by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Mr. Conklin issued a needed warning with his recent speech here. A little at a time, regulations such as these bear down on citizens, who might believe taxes (pure and simple) are their only enemies where government is concerned.