FDA SUBMITS TEEN TOBACCO RULE TO CLINTON.

Byline: Michael Wines The New York Times

The Food and Drug Administration has submitted to the White House its proposed rule to ban the marketing of cigarettes to young people - an important, if interim, step in the federal regulation of nicotine as a drug.

The still-confidential proposal, in the works for over a year, was delivered Tuesday to the White House, which has 90 days to consider it and negotiate changes. The agency could then issue a rule, which would be final and binding because public comment has already been received. Anti-smoking advocates said Wednesday that they doubted the Clinton administration would take that long, given the surprising potency of cigarettes as a campaign issue.

But much remains to be considered, including the impact of lawsuits by cigarette manufacturers that could delay the enforcement of a final rule for years or even kill it outright.

Five tobacco companies last year asked a federal district court to block implementation of the FDA proposal, arguing that the agency had no legal authority to regulate nicotine. The suit has been dormant since then as the industry waited to see the final scope of the administration's regulations.

Unless the administration produced a proposal that cigarette manufacturers could endorse, ``Final regulations would obviously activate another round of legal efforts,'' said Brennan Dawson, a spokeswoman for the industry's lobbying arm, the Tobacco Institute.

The White House review will be performed by a unit of the Office of Management and Budget, which will examine issues such as cost-effectiveness and consistency with other federal regulations.

The Tobacco Institute and anti-smoking groups said they had not seen the proposal, which is confidential. One administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday that the final draft was very close to the original plan made public by President Clinton at a White House news conference a year ago.