EPA moves to cut firms' pollution control costs

EPA is offering U.S. industrial firms a chance to design their own over-all pollution cleanup program, rather than comply with a separate standard for each segment of their operations. EPA Administrator D. Costle noted that specific beneficiaries of the plan would be oil refiners, chemical manufacturers, electric utilities, and others; and cited the example of an oil facility in which it might cost $4300 to clean up a ton of pollution escaping from leaks in pipes, but would only cost $50/ton to tighten the roofs of storage tanks to achieve the same pollution reduction. EPA is also considering auctioning pollution permits in areas where the air is relatively clean but where industry must be limited, and in areas where the pollution is so heavy that new industrial growth is prohibited, EPA may allow existing plants to reduce their pollution and bank the reduction for future use or for sale to other firms. A National Petroleum Refiners Association spokesman termed the bubble plan a ''step in the right direction'' but noted the major problem remains for refiners who want to expand their facilities.