PERSPECTIVE ON POLLUTION : RECLAIM: Can the Regional Clean-Air Incentives Program Work? : It’s a compromise, but it will clean the air without driving out business. Here are 10 reasons to OK it.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District Board will decide on Friday whether to adopt the Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) program, which is designed to give industry the flexibility to use better and cheaper ways to reduce air emissions. By popular demand, here are the Top 10 reasons RECLAIM should be approved:

10) It’s got such a great acronym. It’s catchy and uplifting. And if any place needs reclaiming these days, it’s Southern California.

9) RECLAIM is a lot cheaper than buying 14 million gas masks. A lot has been done to clean up the air, but anybody who steps outside or has windows knows that there is still a long way to go. With the population still growing and the inversion layer still inverting, smog is still a dirty word.

8) Current paperwork demands promote deforestation. In the name of clean air, government agencies, private companies, attorneys and consultants are churning out millions of pages of rules, regulations, opinions, forms, charts and reports. RECLAIM will make things a lot easier by telling businesses how much to reduce emissions and then letting the companies figure out how to do it their way.

7) If the board doesn’t approve RECLAIM, it’s back to the drawing board. It’s taken three years, hundreds of meetings, countless studies and a huge amount of give-and-take to produce RECLAIM. Starting over would mean more of the same, with no real likelihood that something better will emerge.

6) If we don’t do something, the feds will. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is looking over everybody’s shoulder, ready to pounce should the AQMD fail to keep its air-quality promises. Our local geniusves may not have all the answers when it comes to cleaning up the air without cleaning out the economy, but those folks in Washington don’t have a clue. We’ll have to swallow a lot of bitter pills prescribed by the EPA, unless the South Coast Air Basin meets federal Clean Air Act requirements.

5) The “let them breathe cake” crowd doesn’t like RECLAIM. Hard-liners who say that no more money should be spent to improve the environment are among the loudest critics of RECLAIM. Since these folks aren’t happy with the program, it probably means that RECLAIM really does put the onus on industry to reduce emissions.

4) The “clean air at any cost” crowd isn’t thrilled either. The most militant environmental activist groups have not jumped on the RECLAIM bandwagon by any means. Apparently, there are some out there who believe the only sure way to clean up the environment is to get rid of industry, jobs and people. In reality, RECLAIM is the best hope for keeping the faith on air quality without driving business out.

3) Nobody likes everything about the RECLAIM proposal. In developing RECLAIM, the district worked hard to balance both environmental and economic concerns. As with any good compromise, there is something in RECLAIM for everybody to dislike. The good news is that the majority of responsible groups have come to the same conclusion--the benefits of RECLAIM far outweigh its shortcomings.

2) RECLAIM really will save money. Economic studies done by the district say that RECLAIM will cost less than half of what will be required under traditional command-and-control regulation. Individual companies and organizations like the Greater Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the L.A. Taxpayers Assn. have come to much the same conclusion--this market-based system will be a lot more cost-effective. The saving of hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs will make a big difference in getting Southern California’s economy moving again.

1) It really will clean up the air. RECLAIM mandates an 80% reduction in industrial emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides by the year 2003. That will make a real difference in the quality of air we all breathe.