New rules aim to cut antipollution red tape

The administration has proposed revision of Environmental Protection Agency regulations that were designed to stem the increase of air pollution in smog-threatened areas. In a statement, Vice-President George Bush said the changes, to be formally announced March 9 by the EPA, "will sharply reduce red tape binding new industrial development while continuing to protect public health against air pollution."

Rather than defining individual parts of an industrial plant as separate pollution sources, the proposed regulations would define the plant as a whole as a source of pollution. Thus, if pollution were abated in one area of the plant, pollution in another area could increase as long as the total amount of plantwide emissions did not increase.