Reagan to Help Canada in Drive on Acid Rain

President Reagan will “fully endorse” a five-year, $5-billion research program sought by Canada to reduce acid rain, the airborne pollution that is considered a serious threat to the environments of Canada and parts of the United States, Administration officials said Tuesday.

The sources said that Reagan will formally announce his acceptance of the program--submitted Jan. 8 by former U.S. Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis and one-time Ontario Premier William Davis--during a meeting this morning with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who is in Washington for annual talks with the President.

Mulroney had made the acid-rain issue the standard for judging the success of his discussions with Reagan, telling everyone from reporters, to leading members of Congress, to the President himself, that the program “has to be fully endorsed.”

Switch by Reagan

In meeting the prime minister’s standards, Reagan has switched from his previous position that there is no proof that acid rain is a danger to the lakes, forests and waterways of Canada and the American Northeast. He also appeared to relent on his stand that there is no money available to finance any new anti-pollution efforts.

However, the Administration officials, who asked not to be more specifically identified, said that “the money is already there” for the U.S. government share for the first year of the program, which calls for the cost to be split evenly between involved private industries and Washington.

They were referring to $400 million already earmarked for anti-pollution research, meaning that another $100 million will need to be found to meet the spending schedule set out in the joint report.

However, the sources said that “the real question will come in Years 2, 3, 4 and 5--particularly next year,” when the U.S. government will come under the full weight of the Gramm-Rudman Act mandate to reduce federal spending and balance the budget.

Although Reagan supports the requirement of a balanced budget, the officials said he is now so convinced of the danger of acid rain and so “behind the Lewis-Davis report” that “the hope is Congress and the Administration will be able to exempt the necessary money from” Gramm-Rudman restrictions.

In spite of Reagan’s endorsement and the importance placed on the report by Mulroney, nothing that was agreed on between the two leaders will lead to any immediate, or even medium-range reduction in acid rain--most of which is caused by emissions from coal-burning industrial plants. The report calls for research into developing coal that burns cleaner.

And, while Mulroney may reap political gains in Canada for persuading Reagan to shift from skepticism to acceptance of the Lewis-Davis report, what was accomplished falls far short of the Canadian government’s previous demand that Washington set a timetable by which the level of emissions causing acid rain would be steadily and quickly lowered.

NORAD Pact Extension

Still, Canadian officials said, the President’s new stance will be seen as an important first step toward actually reducing acid rain and will be followed by a U.S. program to match a Canadian plan calling for a 50% reduction in the airborne pollution levels.

For his part, Mulroney agreed to extend for five years the North American Aerospace Defense pact without any conditions. A Canadian parliamentary committee had demanded that any NORAD renewal include language guaranteeing that the agreement not be involved in developing the Administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative, known as “Star Wars.”

In other developments from the first of the two days of Reagan-Mulroney meetings, the President also repeated his backing for free trade negotiations with Canada, something that Mulroney wants to offset growing political opposition at home.

But the two leaders did not clear away serious disagreements over the scope of the talks, which would be aimed at increasing the existing $120 billion trade that is already the world’s largest trading relationship.

Nothing Off-Limits

Mulroney, his aides said, repeated that Canada will not discuss anything that would affect his country’s arts-related businesses or force changes in Canada’s social or political system. Reagan, on the other hand, repeated that the United States will not exempt anything from the talks.

In the afternoon, Mulroney ran into a less than enthusiastic welcome when he met with several senators, some of whom sharply questioned him about Canadian trade practices that Americans consider unfair and discriminatory. The sharpest challenge came from senators representing lumber-producing states who challenged Mulroney about Canadian government subsidies that allow Canadian lumber firms to undercut American prices.

Mulroney explained that such pricing practices are provincial, not Canadian federal responsibilities. He also rejected complaints about subsidies given to Canadian Atlantic fishing interests, arguing that these were among the poorest elements of his nation and could not survive without some aid.