
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 9, 1990                   TAG: 9003092406
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

AID TO COAL MINERS SNAGS CLEAN-AIR BILL

A Senate agreement with the White House on a clean air bill threatened to fall apart today over whether the government should provide $700 million in assistance to coal miners who lose their jobs because of pollution controls.

Senate leaders were prepared Thursday night to bring the coal miner assistance proposal, championed by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to a vote, but when debate dragged beyond midnight action was postponed.

The delay prompted speculation that Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, simply did not have the votes to turn back the amendment.

Byrd called the measure a "safety net" for as many as 5,000 miners who will lose their jobs because stringent controls on sulfur dioxide will force Midwest utilities to shift to other than high-sulfur coal to power their plants.

The amendment was one of several before the Senate that conflicts with the compromise agreement reached last month between Senate leaders and the White House on the scope of the air pollution control bill. The administration has been adamant in opposing provisions that would increase the expense of the legislation, which in its present form would cost the economy about $21 billion a year.

The Byrd coal miner "safety net" amendment prompted the strongest debate and behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

"If this amendment is passed, it's over," declared Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., referring to the Byrd proposal. "The administration doesn't like this amendment one bit and that would be an understatement."

Mitchell said discussions were continuing with the White House on a compromise that would satisfy both the administration and Byrd and clear the way for a vote on the proposal today.

The clean air measure represents the first tightening of federal air pollution control laws in 13 years. It calls for sweeping curbs on smog-causing pollution from automobiles and industrial plants and requires new cuts in acid rain pollutants from coal-fired electric power plants.

A similar bill remains in committee in the House.

Byrd, who for many years when he was majority leader blocked acid rain legislation to protect West Virginia miners, had been seeking $1.3 billion to provide miners who lose jobs because of the new pollution controls with full or partial salaries for six years. He later cut back the proposal to four years, with an estimated cost of $700 million.

by CNB