Government/Industry Cost Sharing for Air Pollution Control

Abstract

Several existing federal and state provisions act to reduce the cost to in dustry of controlling air pollution. Included are the federal corporate income tax, depreciation allowances, investment credits, small Business Administration loans, Economic Development Administration aid, and state tax laws. These provisions give government assistance to industry amounting to as much as 59 percent of the cost of air pollution control. Numerous bills have been introduced in Congress that would give additional government aid to industry in the form of special across-the-board tax allowances for air pollution control equipment. A typical bill of this type would result in the government bearing an additional 11 percent of these costs. There are several possible objectives for this kind of additional aid; however, none of these seem valid when the amount of present assistance is recognized. From this analysis, it would seem that additional across-the-board tax subsidies for air pollution control equipment are neither required nor advisable. Future studies and/or experience may show certain firms or industries for which air pollution control will be too great a burden and for which additional government assistance is advisable. When such cases are found, legislation should be enacted only after the pros and cons of the various assistance methods are considered.