`our Best Days Ever' 
Local Merchants Say A Post-thanksgiving Blitz Should Yield A Green Christmas 
This Year

Albert Lipovsky 
Dec. 1, 1994 
Albert W. Lipovsky, 76, Of East Newport Street, Newtown Section Of Hanover 
Township Died Thursday At His Home.

By P. DOUGLAS FILAROSKI; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Saturday, December 03, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE -- Although Gov. Robert Casey excused 28 counties from having
to use cleaner, more expensive gasoline, local motorists still may wind up
buying the new fuel for a while. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, Casey's decision to tell the Environmental Protection Agency the
state won't fully implement the cleaner-gas program may not have the serious
consequences first imagined. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On Thursday, Casey approved the Legislature's initiative to opt all but
five Philadelphia-area counties out of a program to require "reformulated gas"
to be sold at pumps. Luzerne would be one of the counties removed from the
program. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The new gas, which burns cleaner and reduces pollution from cars by 15
percent, would have cost consumers at least 4 cents and up to 8 cents more per
gallon because of costs associated with additives and distribution. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gas companies and the American Automobile Association roundly criticized
the new fuel requirement as unnecessary, expensive and potentially harmful to
automobiles. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In reaction to Casey's decision, some observers had predicted the EPA would
attempt to enforce the Clean Air Act with sanctions such as withholding $1.1
billion in federal highway funds. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Earlier this week, EPA officials said Casey's decision could negatively
impact the state's negotiations on another controversial Clean Air Act
measure, the auto-emissions testing program. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But on Friday, EPA Regional Administrator Peter Kostmayer said the agency
was set to sit down with the incoming administration of Governor-elect Tom
Ridge to discuss a whole "new menu of options" for reducing air pollution. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kostmayer would not provide details of the new programs. He said only that
EPA is "trying to be more flexible, provide more prescriptions." He said he
would give the state about six months to consider the options. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ridge spokeswoman Ellen Yount was no more specific about the measures being
eyed by the governor-elect, other than to say, "We got a clear message from
voters on Nov. 8. They want less federal-government interference in their
lives," she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In response, Kostmayer said, "We heard that, too, and I'm not averse to
listening to voter mandates. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The bottom line is we think we can work with the state to get those
reductions one way or another," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kostmayer said Casey's decision to remove clean-gas requirements for 28
non-Philadelphia-area counties won't take effect for 30 to 120 days. Casey
added the counties to a federal list in 1991, and it will take that long for
the EPA to rescind the measure, Kostmayer said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Many gasoline distributors required to have the new gas in distribution
terminals by Dec. 1 and at the pumps by January said they already had stocked
it in both places. Casey's decision came on the first deadline day. For
logistical reasons, it may be difficult to immediately stop the flow of the
reformulated gas, also called RFG, distributors said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Because of the Dec. 1 requirement to have the gas in our terminals, that
is what we have now for sale. In terms of a logistical and a legal basis, RFG
is there," Gene Barr of Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania told
the Associated Press on Thursday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Gas-program Resistance May Not Be So Costly After All 
Promised Epa Flexibility On Air Pollution May Not 
Drain State Coffers, But Reformulated Gas Already 
In Stock May Cost Consumers More For A While

Gas-program Resistance May Not Be So Costly After All Promised Epa Flexibility On Air Pollution May Not Drain State Coffers, But Reformulated Gas Already In Stock May Cost Consumers More For A While