THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Carol Browner has announced what she calls a Common Sense Initiative that she says will link EPA more closely with industry to develop a ``realistic'' approach to environmental initiatives.
Even if she means what she says, such a move is not enough to fix what ails U.S. environmental policy, which is a lack of clear standards that are based on sound science and that weigh costs and benefits.
For instance, Union Camp Corp. in Franklin must cut dust emissions by 99.6 percent instead of the current 99 percent. The EPA believes the last six-tenths of 1 percent is worth going for, but the company also makes a convincing argument about the rising cost of diminishing returns. This kind of cleanup requirement is an example of what Richard L. Stroup of the Political Economy Research Center in Montana calls ``cleaner than clean.''
One reason for Browner's sudden concern with industry opinion is that Congress is slowly awakening to the fact that the country cannot afford an unlimited environmental agenda. Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La., chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, has introduced a bill requiring that EPA determine the costs and benefits of its proposed regulations. Environmental bills scheduled for reauthorization this year - the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and Superfund - are languishing as members of Congress and ordinary people demand more realistic standards.
Ranchers, farmers and others say their private property has been effectively seized, often for nebulous reasons such as protecting an endangered species that later has proved not to be endangered at all. The losers are rarely compensated for losses.
With its Common Sense Initiative, the administrator says she will meet with industry representatives and EPA specialists to work out their differences in an atmosphere of partnership rather than constant battle.
That sounds nice, but the problem is not something that can be solved by industry representatives sitting down to tea and cookies with Carol Browner. It is EPA's endlessly shifting standards and priorities. EPA has more often than not demonstrated an inability to distinguish a real threat from a remote possibility.
As Mr. Stroup says, ``All individuals have rights not to be significantly harmed or threatened by pollution from others,'' but EPA must continually keep in mind that ``all bills are paid by real people.'' That's real common sense. by CNB