CLEAN AIR ACT SEMINAR CANCELED

The clean air seminar that was scheduled for Cape Girardeau Tuesday has been canceled due to low registration numbers.

The panel discussion, sponsored by the Missouri Center for Business Services, was planned to help small businesses learn how the 1990 federal Clean Air Act Amendments affects them.

Beth Fitch of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce said that fewer than a dozen people registered for the seminar.

"I don't think people realize how this is going to affect each company," she said.

The federal mandates increased the list of regulated air pollutants from 7 to 189. The Clean Air Act provides for minimum civil and criminal penalties of $10,000 per violation per day. Emissions fees will be enforced beginning in April 1993.

According to Fitch many small businesses will be affected.

"Dry cleaners' chemical emissions and auto bodies' paint emissions, which have not been regulated up to now, will be under the new provisions," she said.

The Missouri Center for Business Services estimated the total cost to Missouri of compliance with the new law could exceed $600 million per year.

The seminar was to address compliance standards and how to measure them, reporting requirements, penalties, and operational flexibility. They also hoped to discuss the Missouri Small Business Technical Assistance Program which advises small businesses who may have questions or problems concerning the new law.

Fitch said that small businesses were targeted because they often don't have the engineering or legal expertise to handle the changes which the legislation will induce.

The Cape seminar was one of seven scheduled across the state. Those who registered for the Cape meeting can attend the St. Louis seminar scheduled Wednesday.