An array of interest groups are now staking out and fortifying their positions in anticipation of a legislative struggle that promises to be even more arduous than the recent debate over the Alaska Lands Act—the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act.¹ Appropriations for implementing the Act extend only through October of this year and thus must be extended by that date.² However, in the upcoming debate authorization issues will be only a side-show. The real decision making will involve matters that go to the essence of the legislative scheme, such as the basis for setting health standards and the wisdom of preventing deterioration of clean air. The outcome may well have enormous impacts upon the environment as well as the economy.

Within the context of particular issues, the views espoused by the participants in the debate have been fairly predictable. Industry representatives are calling for a reduction in their compliance costs in general and the elimination of particular aspects of certain regulatory programs.³ Environmental groups are content withi the basic structure of the Act, though they will concede on occasion that some refinements might yield economic savings with only slight, if any, declines in environmental quality.⁴ They are also interested in strengthening the Act to address some chronic as well as some newly emergent air pollution problems. The other visible presence on the scene is that of state and local regulators who, aside from requests for greater autonomy, seem overall to strike a middle ground between the other camps.⁵