POLLUTION RULE CHANGES QUESTIONED.(CAPITAL REGION)

Byline: YANCEY ROY Staff writer

Environmentalists claim an agency's decision to rewrite air pollution rules three months before the regulations were to go into effect indicates the state is preparing to lower standards.

But a Department of Environmental Conservation official said the agency is merely changing the paperwork for the necessary permits, not changing air pollution standards. The official, Deputy Commissioner David Sterman, said the goal is to streamline the process by combining several permits into one.

Specifically, the critics are questioning whether industry complaints caused the agency to announce a rewrite last month, before the …