to significant changes in the U.S. regulatory system. Chemical Manufacturers Association spokesperson Jeff Van noted, "While Project XL is a good idea, it will never do more than operate at the margins because of what it is not allowed to do. The enforcement wing of EAA has flexed its muscle and prevented things from happening." A new General Accounting Office (GAO) report, Environmental Protection: Challengee Facing EPA'' Efforts to oeinvent Environmental Regulation, also points out the limitations of such "regulatory reinvention" efforts. Peter Guerrero, director of GAO's environmental protection issues, testified to a House subcommittee in November about barriers outlined in the report. Guerrero said, "Today's environmental laws impose requirements that have led to, and tend to reinforce mciny of the existing regulatory and behavioral practices that EPA is seeking to change" "We need national standards to protect the environment, but at the same time we need flexibility in the laws to encourage problem solving," said DeWitt John, director of the National Academy of Public Administration's Center for Economy and Environment. "You can do that with a system that focuses on performance." John is coauthor of the NAPA report Resolving the Paradox of Environmental Protection, published in September 1997 which recommends the adoption of an "integrating statute" that would affirm strong regulation while authorizing perimental cLDprociches cind con solidated monitoring ing requirements According to the NAPA report, "Project XL can help demonstrate ways to make wider use of facility-specific regulation feasible." The report recommends that EPA provide companies with flexibility to reduce the cost of compliance. Noting that corporations have held back on creative approaches because of fear of regulatory enforcement, John believes "legislation is necessary to enable EPA and the states to allow flexibility." JANET PELLEY
EUROPEAN NEWS A revised set of tougher standards for tropospheric ozone has been crafted by the European Commission's environment directorate. The proposals were hammered out following a meeting with industry, environmental groups, and national experts in October. A 1992 directive on ozone requires the commission to propose revised, stricter rules by March 1998. The proposed air quality standards are based on new World Health Organization guidelines that set an eight-hour limit value for ozone of 120 micrograms per cubic meter (pg/m3). That value would be an interim target for 2010, allowing a number of violations of the standard, which would be gradually reduced. The environmental group European Environmental Bureau criticized the proposals, advocating a much stricter target nearer to 80uq/m3 The directorate hopes the proposals will be formally adopted by April Opening the European Union's eco-management and auditing scheme (EMAS) to a broader range of industries was endorsed in November at a meeting of government officials. The European Commission proposal would increase the complementarity of EMAS and ISO 14001, the international environmental management standard. ISO 14001 is more popular than EMAS in some EU countries, and the commission's environmental directorate wants to encourage ISO-certified companies to obtain EMAS registration as well. At the meetin,, Austria called for EMAS requirements on regulatory compliance to be tightened. Austria also stressed that a requirement for companies to aim for environmental standards based on the "best available technology" principle should be maintained in the revised regulation. The commission is due to propose a revised version of the 1993 EMAS regulation this summer. Environmental technology suppliers have agreed to set up a European trade association to promote the industry and participate in EU policy making. The organization—the European Committee of Environmental Technology Suppliers' Association—was created at a Nov. 17 meeting of environmental technology trade associations from a majority of EU countries plus Switzerland. Adrian Wilkes of the Environmental Industries Commission, U.K., was elected as the group's first chairman. The association will straddle pollution control equipment suppliers and cleaner technology suppliers, according to Wilkes. One of the association's first targets will be to lobby the EU policy-making machinery for stricter environmental legislation. Environmental progress in Central and Eastern Europe will be a key issue at the Fourth Pan-European Conference of Environment Ministers, scheduled for June in Denmark. "It's very important we get them into the stream," said Danish EPA official Karsten Skov at an October planning meeting for the conference. The "Environment for Europe" conference is being held under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Also on the conference agenda are a European biodiversity and landscape strategy, a phase-out of leaded gasoline, environmental financial aid, and public access to environmental information. European companies lead the world in ISO 14001 certifications, according to German environment agency calculations. Of the more than 2300 certificates issued to date, more than half (1300) are in Europe. The United Kingdom tops the list with 440, followed by Japan (425), Germany (320), and the Netherlands (230). On a per capita basis, the top eight ISO 14001 countries are all European Union members. —Reprinted with permission from ENDS Environment Daily, Environmental Data Services, ,td., London (http://www.ends.co.uk,
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JAN. 1, 1998 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 1 3 A
