Reagan to Request Funding to Combat Acid Rain

President Reagan will ask Congress to appropriate the federal share of a $5-billion program to help combat acid rain, the White House announced Saturday.

A statement by presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater also said that Reagan had accepted the recommendations of a task force that called for eliminating regulatory barriers to the development of “innovative emissions control technologies.”

These steps, Fitzwater said, would be in keeping with commitments Reagan made to the Canadian government, which is concerned about acid rain pollution from the United States.

Discussions to Continue

“The President has instructed his advisers to continue discussions with their Canadian counterparts toward completion of a bilateral air quality accord,” the statement said. “He reiterated his commitment to implement the recommendations” of a 1986 report by special U.S. and Canadian envoys.

Reagan had indicated earlier that he supported a five-year, $5-billion federal and industry effort to encourage the development and deployment of systems to reduce power plant emissions thought to cause acid rain.

The statement said the President will request the full federal share of the program, which would amount to $2.5 billion.

The recommendations of the President’s Task Force on Regulatory Relief are aimed at cutting red tape blocking development of new emission controls. Among the recommendations were:

--Give preferential regulatory treatment to states which, in setting utility rates, encourage innovative pollution control technologies.

--The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should give greater leeway to utilities to foster development of new methods to fight acid rain.