Wikipedia的解釋如下
A compliance cost is a cost incurred by legislation or regulation. For example, people or organisations registered for value added tax have the extra burden of having to keep detailed records of all input tax and output tax to facilitate the completion of VAT returns. This may necesitate them having to employ someone skilled in this field, which would be regarded a compliance cost.
所以他在本題中的意思應該是
當你要去遵守一個(新)法令時，所需付的成本/代價/費用。
當舊工廠要遵守新的環境法規而不排放有毒物，
他必需花費大把鈔票去更新或更改設備。
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.
所以這一大段應該是說
環境法規其實不太公平
舉例1, 2, 3, finally…
在早期沒有規定不能使用會造成有毒排放物的設備，
所以那些早期建造的工廠就繼續排放有毒物質。
舉個例子說明：
雖然現在的新設備都不會產生那些有毒物質
但是新的規定卻迫使那些早期的工廠付出高額的” 遵循成本”
也就是說新的規定迫使舊工廠花費大把鈔票
把原本會排有毒物質的設備，更改成不會排放有毒物質
A. Older production technologies cannot be adapted so as to reduce production of these outputs as waste products.
文章中並沒有說到那些舊設備 cannot be adapted, 搞不好加裝數十道過濾器也可以去除有毒物質啊
C. Although these outputs are environmentally hazardous, some plants still generate them as waste products despite the high compliance costs they impose.
雖然這些排放物有毒，但是仍有一些工廠排放它們，儘管有高額的遵循成本要付。
既然工廠願意付高額的遵循成本，就表示工廠再也不會排放有毒物。所以C的句意有問題
既然A, C都錯，那只好選B囉。
B. Under the most recent environmental regulations, industrial plants are no longer permitted to produce these outputs.
法令規定紅線不準停車，就表示 no longer permitted。
如果今天有人違規停紅線，這代表什麼呢？
代表以後任何人都可以停紅線嗎？
不是的，這只代表那個人應該受罰才是吧。
New regulations have imposed
extensive compliance costs on
companies still using older…generate high sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide outputs
所以這就表示generate these outputs是 no longer permitted.
但好像B都沒人選耶，那大家就參考參考吧
不好意思我還是部大懂
