Among the myths taken as
fact by the environmental managers
of most corporations is the
Line belief that environmental regula-
(5) tions affect all competitors in
a given industry uniformly. In
reality, regulatory costs—and
therefore compliance—fall
unevenly, economically disad-
(10) vantaging some companies and
benefiting others. For example,
a plant situated near a number
of larger noncompliant competitors
is less likely to attract the
(15) attention of local regulators than
is an isolated plant, and less
attention means lower costs.
Additionally, large plants can
11
spread compliance costs such
(20) as waste treatment across a
larger revenue base; on the other
hand, some smaller plants may
not even be subject to certain
provisions such as permit or
(25) reporting requirements by virtue
of their size. Finally, older production
technologies often
continue to generate toxic wastes
that were not regulated when the
(30) technology was first adopted.
New regulations have imposed
extensive compliance costs on
companies still using older
industrial coal-fired burners that
(35) generate high sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxide outputs, for
example, whereas new facilities
generally avoid processes that
would create such waste pro-
(40) ducts. By realizing that they
have discretion and that not all
industries are affected equally
by environmental regulation,
environmental managers can
(45) help their companies to achieve
a competitive edge by anticipating
regulatory pressure and
exploring all possibilities for
addressing how changing regula-
(50) tions will affect their companies
specifically.
-------------------------------------

According to the passage, which of the following statements about sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide outputs is true?

A. Older production technologies cannot be adapted so as to reduce production of these outputs as waste products.

B. Under the most recent environmental regulations, industrial plants are no longer permitted to produce these outputs.

C. Although these outputs are environmentally hazardous, some plants still
generate them as waste products despite the high compliance costs they impose.

D. Many older plants have developed innovative technological processes that reduce the amounts of these outputs generated as waste products.

E. Since the production processes that generate these outputs are less costly than alternative processes, these less expensive processes are sometimes adopted despite their acknowledged environmental hazards.

same here ... i went for A ... I know even C is right ... but why is A wrong??