The Cost of Air Pollution Control to Cotton Ginners

Enforcement at all gins of the strictest air pollution controls now in effect at some gins would require an investment of over $100 million. To meet these regulations, individual ginners would have to spend from nearly $24,000 to over $53,000, depending on plant size. The annual cost to the industry would be about $28.5 million. This could increase the average cost of ginning by as much as $2.23 per bale. However, present regulations vary widely between States and even within some States. Although most compliance deadlines have passed, air pollution control boards, in view of the extreme seasonality of the ginning operation and continuing economic plight of most ginners, seem to have adopted a go-slow policy of enforcement