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INTERNATIONAL A cooperative agreement to coordinate acid rain research was signed by officials of the Canadian province of Quebec and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The purpose of the agreement is to avoid duplication in acid rain research in New York and Quebec and to ensure that standardized laboratory procedures are used. A joint committee established by the agreement will publish an annual report on acid rain. Bureaus of information will be set up in New York and Quebec to provide information to the public about acid rain. Quebec previously made similar arrangements with Vermont.
Carter appointee, voted against the project. Commissioner Victor Gilinsky was out of the country and did not vote. Assistant Energy Secretary Shelby T. Brewer said that the NRC decision was an important step in helping the U.S. once again gain a leadership position in the development of nuclear technology. Earlier this year the NRC refused to grant two similar DOE requests to bypass normal licensing requirements.
WASHINGTON By a vote of 352 to 56, the House of Representatives defeated a number of pro-industry amendments and approved a two-year extension of the basic federal pesticide control law, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. The most controversial amendment to be defeated was one that would have prevented the states from setting higher pesticide standards than the federal government. This amendment was favored by the Reagan Administration. An amendment allowing private citizens access to federal courts to seek relief from pesticide damage was approved by a voice vote. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted 3-1 to approve the start of site preparation work for the Clinch River breeder reactor, a Department of Energy project, in Oak Ridge, Tenn. President Reagans's three appointees to the NRC voted in favor of the project, allowing the DOE to be exempt from certain licensing proceedings. Commissioner John F. Ahearne, a 0013-936X/82/0916-0539A$01.25/0
Bennett: EPA had a sound argument Stationary sources in nonattainment or "dirty air" areas may no longer use the bubble policy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that EPA acted illegally last October when it extended the bubble policy to areas that do not yet meet clean air standards. The bubble policy was used by the Carter Administration only in attainment areas. EPA Assistant Administrator Kathleen Bennett said, "We are disappointed with the appeals court's decision, as we felt that EPA had a sound legal argument." An industry-backed amendment on airborne hazardous pollutants was narrowly defeated by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Instead, an alternate amendment sponsored by Reps. James J. Florio (D-N.J.) and W. J. Tauzin (DLa.) was passed. This amendment sets a four-year deadline for EPA to finish studies on 37 substances
© 1982 American Chemical Society
that the agency has named as potential airborne carcinogens. These include dioxin, PCBs, coke oven emissions, and formaldehyde. After the vote, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said: "The odds are against our doing a clean air bill this year." Rule changes being considered by the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining could lead to strip mining on private lands inside 26 national parks, according to the National Park Service. If the changes are adopted, 1.7 million privately owned acres inside the parks could be open to surface coal mining and an undetermined number of acres adjacent to the parks could also be used for mining. The rule change is one of several options being considered by the Office of Surface Mining. Interior Secretary James G. Watt has said repeatedly that he will not allow development in the national parks. The proposed changes are scheduled to take effect by Nov. 15, unless a court injunction delays implementation.
STATES Acting on EPA's behalf, the Justice Department has filed its first suit under the Superfund law. It has sued 25 companies and individuals to force them to help clean up the now-inactive Chem-Dyne waste facility in Hamilton, Ohio. The department has also reached a $2.4million out-of-court settlement with 100 other companies that used the facility. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemical and industrial wastes including arsenic, benzene, and PCBs are stored there. The Justice Department said that groundwater contaminated with the wastes is believed to be moving toward Hamilton's drinking water wells located three miles southwest of the site and that chemicals at the Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 16, No. 10, 1982
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