Senators Offer Measures to Cut Acid Rain Pollutants

Two bills were introduced in Congress on Friday as part of a renewed campaign to pass legislation to curb acid rain, which has been the subject of sensitive U.S. negotiations with Canada and Mexico.

Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, offered a measure calling for reducing sulfur dioxide air pollution in the United States by 12 million tons and nitrogen oxide pollution by 4 million tons by 1996. It would be accomplished by controls on emissions from power plants, other industries and motor vehicles.

Sens. William Proxmire (D-Wis.) and Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) introduced a bill with somewhat different reduction amounts--10 million tons for sulfur dioxide emissions and 2 to 3 million tons for nitrogen oxide.

Mitchell, whose bill paralleled one that failed in the last session of Congress, said the problem now is more urgent because “acid rain is associated with more, not less, damage to our health, aquatic life, forests and buildings than we previously believed.”

Change Chemically

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are key components of acid precipitation. The emissions change chemically in the atmosphere and fall to earth in rain, snow and dust, affecting vegetation and water supplies.

Opponents who have blocked acid rain legislation in several recent Congresses have gained backing from the Reagan Administration, which has insisted that more study is needed on the type and extent of environmental damage.

Mitchell’s bill is similar to one introduced earlier this month by Sen. Robert T. Stafford (R-Vt.). Mitchell’s bill affords states more flexibility in developing programs to curb the pollution and gives them 30 months to approve such programs.

The pollution reduction figures correspond to 1980 contaminant levels cited by the Environmental Protection Agency of 23.2 million tons of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere and 20.3 million tons of nitrogen oxide.

Reagan Action Urged

Mitchell’s and Stafford’s bills call upon President Reagan to seek air pollution control agreements with Canada and Mexico.

The United States and Mexico are completing work on an agreement to ban sulfur dioxide emissions from copper smelters within 60 miles of each side of the border, which should substantially reduce acid rain there.

However, Canadian officials have complained that the Reagan Administration is refusing to spend $5 billion on eliminating acid rain along the northern U.S. border.

Advocates of tighter controls say they expect added support from a study by the Environmental Protection Agency released earlier this week, which found acid rain to be a national threat.

The study concluded that no lakes in wilderness areas of the West are now polluted by acid rain but that a significant number are potentially susceptible because they lack the chemical capacity to neutralize any acid rain that might fall into them.