Breathing easier

Though it probably says more about the federal government than would make regulators comfortable, Maine officials last week celebrated the fact that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acted logically in a recent decision. The new EPA plan properly concluded that Maine and other Northeastern states have only partial control over the pollution in their air.

That means that states to the west, which have a disproportionate number of dirty, coal-burning power plants, must cut the pollution they send this way before this region is expected to meet EPA standards. The decision takes the pressure off Maine to do what it could not: Stop smoggy air at its border. Gov. Angus King and Ned Sullivan, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, deserve credit for presenting a persuasive case to the EPA and for staying with the problem year after year.

Specifically, the ruling means that 22 states upwind of Maine must reduce nitrogen oxides. The states that contribute the most pollution, according to the ruling, must make the greatest cuts. They have until 2003 to make the reductions. The hardest-hit states include West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana, which must cut pollutants by one-third or more. In contrast, three downwind states — Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York — are required to make cuts of 6 percent or less, with Maine being required to make no cuts at all.

Given the cost of reducing air pollutants — $1,500 a ton for power plants — it wasn’t surprising that Midwestern states lobbied the EPA heavily on this issue and that they continue to protest. But it is incorrect to assume they are being asked to make investments that other states have escaped. Many of the old coal-fired plants in the Midwest were exempted under earlier Clean Air Act regulations while plants elsewhere were forced to add scrubbers and other devices to reduce pollution. Though the prevailing winds and the tall smokestacks in the Midwest have allowed residents in those states to miss breathing in pollutants, other people haven’t been so lucky.

The choice for the EPA was simple, although not easy. It could continue to force Northeastern states to take increasingly expensive measures to reduce pollution (auto and factory emission cuts cost $5,000 to $10,000 per ton) while allowing the Midwest to enjoy cheap power or it could go after a significant source of pollution in this region by adressing the problem at these aging plants. Like all federal agencies, EPA is a political entity, so the obvious conclusion is not always the inevitable conclusion. After lengthy debate, however, EPA sided with common sense.

And Maine is a prime beneficiary.