Show AIR IS TO BREATHE THE EPA act would halt development in west For generations American travelers have taken great comfort in inthe the vast open spaces of the United States Whether viewed from an airliner or from the family station wagon on a modern interstate freeway our land mass strikes the casual eye as s ample for our most ambitious needs for growth as a people and as a nation While we recognize the importance importance importance im im- im- im of preserving and making the best possible use of our resources the Chamber of Commerce of the United States said recently The latest wrinkle in environmentalism would deny people the use of large sections of the United States for future development and set them aside as huge clean air preserves All in the name of f the war against air pollution Environmentalists and their supporters in Congress are promoting amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1970 which not only woUld o ld b bars ban rf hew manufacturing plants put but ut even new housing farming operations and recreation from specific geographical areas IT IS not a matter of cleaning dirty air it t is a matter of arbitrarily arbitrarily arbitrarily ar ar- ar- ar deciding that air already relatively clean should be left undisturbed regardless of the cost in future jobs or the fact that many poverty areas would be 1 forever be forever doomed to stay poor Unfortunately little public attention has been focused on the drastic implications of the proposed changes in the law The Act itself is a commendable commendable commendable com com- attack on polluted air and was supported by business as well as environmental groups It was designed t to control air pollution by regulating emissions primarily in urban areas where the major sources of pollution automobiles and industrial plants plants plants are are concentrated But environmental groups were not satisfied They insisted insisted insisted in in- on controls for future use of clean air As a result federal courts have ruled that under the Act air quality in undeveloped areas may not be significantly lowered by new development even though development poses no threat to health or welfare TO CARRY out such a clean air policy the Environmental Protection Agency EPA drew up regulations dividing the nation into three categories Class I consisting of aesthetic and md scenic areas such as national parks and national forests where new development development develop develop- ment would be banned Class ClassI II I where limited development could be permitted and Class II ill where states could permit necessary to Jobs and economic security so long as air quality standards health and welfare are met EP EPA A is awaiting further Congressional judicial clarification before aggressively i implementing these new rules Meanwhile Congressional advocates of even even more drastic controls ar are at at work The Senate Subcommittee on Environmental Environmental En En- Pollution has proposed amendments to the Act that would eliminate Class III m and tighten restrictions on development in Class II In addition the subcommittee removed all doubt ab about ut Class I areas where no development is permitted It specified by name national parks national wilderness areas and natural wildlife areas over 1000 acres in size which automatically become restricted areas It specified that states at their discretion could add to the list national forests monuments and lake shores and military reserva reservations The National nal Cham Chamber r in an analysis of the proposed propos d regulations and the propos proposed d amendments has prepared state-by-state state maps showing at least 80 percent of many states would be off-limits off to new development under the Class I restriction covering pristine areas BECAUSE AIR masses are mobile EPA takes the position that a major source of pollution affects a pristine area 60 to miles away Thus it would establish mile 60 buffer zones where clean air could not be disturbed In the accompanying accompanying accompanying ac ac- ac- ac companying map the Chamber has used mile 50 circles to be on the conservative side in indicating indicating indicating in in- the size of the bl buffer fer zones These zones will be determined by meteorological and topographical techniques and cannot be predicted exactly In Class II 11 the Chamber said it found allowable development to be meaningless explaining The increments of allowable degradation of air are often found by EPA's studies to be violated by natural emissions which occur in rural and scenic I areas such as national parks Therefore the allowable change for further development farming recreation and tourism as well as manufacturing manufacturing manufacturing turing already is taken up by stature nature in many areas A NOTABLE example of such pollution occurred outside the Nations Nation's Capital in the summer of 1973 when natural oxidation of Appalachian vegetation was tracked down as the main cause of alert a six day pollution The effects of such extreme federal policies on our future economy could be devastating d From the standpoint of many communities the issue means jobs and economic progress versus economic stagnation The orderly development and growth of our nation clearly is a matter of many concerns Air quality is simply one of them As matters now stand environmentalists environmentalists en en- seem determined determined determined deter deter- mined to inflict a no-growth no economic policy on the nation simply using air quality as a pretext |