New bubble guidelines will provide economic incentives, EPA reports. [Guidelines for air pollution control]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a major revision of the 1982 emissions trading policy which provided interim guidance for the use of bubbles. The revised plan, says EPA, is more flexible and more stringent than the earlier effort. Essentially, the bubble allows industries with high pollution control costs to trade credits with others having low control costs, as long as the final result is that there is no change to, or a betterment of, air quality. Nonattainment areas must meet tougher standards than attainment areas. If the bubbles fulfill EPA expectations, they should provide economic incentives to reduce pollution. EPA is also hopeful that use of the bubbles will be attractive enough to industry to foster the development of innovative approaches. The bubble may be a way to clamp controls on some small sources which EPA believes are the most critical - and most difficult to get at - sources of current pollution.