INTERNATIONAL
Cooperation with the Joint agreement on environmental protection between U.S.-U.S.S.R. has been reaffirmed Four years ago this month, the US. and the U.S.S.R., the world’s leading industrial powers, signed a bilateral agreement promising cooperation on environmental protection (€S&T, July 1972, p 585). “The achievements of the program represent one of the most important outgrowths of our policy of detente with the Soviet Union,” EPA Administrator Russell Train told a House subcommittee last November. Train is chairman of the US. side of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Joint Committee on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection. Notwithstanding the differences in political, economic, and social systems, the agreement established 39 projects in 11 major areas of cooperation. To date, four annual review meetings have been held alternating between Washington, D.C., and Moscow, the site of the first meeting. The most recent meeting in Washington, D.C., was held
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Environmental Science & Technology
last October: the next one is scheduled for Moscow in September-October. Exchange of specialists and information under most of the 39 projects began in 1973. In 1974, more than 50 meetings took place, and tangible evidence of what environmental specialists working together could provide began to emerge. In 1974, for example, US. specialists began critiquing the initial Soviet designs of two full-scale 200-megawatt flue gas desulfurization scrubbers for oil- and coal-fired electric power stations currently planned for construction in the U.S.S.R. starting in 1978. One uses a magnesia scrubbing process; the other uses ammonia as the active agent for removing SO2 emissions. Train says, “Our specialists will have full access to the performance data of these scrubbers which, if constructed in the U.S., would each cost $20-30 million.” This past summer, U.S. and Soviet
scientists, using US. and Soviet equipment at Rylsk in the U.S.S.R., conducted a first in a series of joint measurements of the effects of pollutants such as aerosols in the stratosphere, a subject of increasing concern because of the potential effects on weather and human health. This summer, a similar experiment will be conducted in the U S . It is important to note that project leaders have great latitude in determining both the direction and scope of their work and in implementing commitments to each side. The information gained is also of value to other global neighbors. Last May, for example, a joint symposium was held on the handling,treatment, and disposal of wastewater sludge. The proceedings have already attracted the interest of British specialists, which shows that bilateral work can assist environmental efforts in other countries. However, the symposia are not limited soley
Principals. Brown, Kazakov, Train, and/zraei(i to r) at the signing of the Memorandum of lmpiementationon Oct. 3 1, 1975 to the specialists. Since the inception of the Environmental Agreement, Train has constantly emphasized the importance of participation by the US. private sector, including the business community, academia, and citizen environmental groups. In Februaty, 1975, the US. Oepartrnent of Commerce mounted a well-attended technical exhibit on water pollution in Moscow. ES&T advisory board member Frank Sebastian attended. This February, Commerce held a highly successful exhibit-seminar in Moscow involving U.S. firms specializing in air pollution monitoring and analysis systems. More than 5168 000 worth of instruments were sold off the floor and projections for additional sales are excellent, according to Dept. of Commerce estimates. All told, during the period December 1974-October 1975 more than 100 meetings of working groups, projects, symposia, joint research cruises and experiments, and exchanges of individual specialists have taken place under the 11 major areas of the agreement. The participants Chairmen of the two sides are EPA administrator Russell E. Train for the U.S. and Academician Yuriy A. lzraei for the U.S.S.R. izrael is also chief of Hydromet, the Hydrometeorological Service that is responsible for the monitoring and analysis of air and water pollutants. This service has no regulatory nor enforcement function. Executive secretary on the U S . side is Dr. William A. Brown; his counteroart for the Soviets is Dr. Yuriv Ye. Kazakov. In Seotember 1972 and aaain in December'1974, during the third"meeting of the Joint Committee, President Podgorny and administrator Train met for one and one-half hours. Podgorny emphasized that environmental matters are receiving increased attention and action in the Soviet Union. During the course of the fourth meeting, both chairmen of the Joint Committee (Train and izrael) were received by President Gerald R. Ford. During the last meeting in Washington,
D.c.,the principals adopteda Memorandum of Implementation setting forth comprehensive plans for the remainder of 1975 and 1976. At this signing they reaffirmed the earlier statement of September 1972. These discussions were not only on general problems of environmental protection of mutual interest to the two big superpowers; they were of interest to other countries and international organizations interested in preserving a healthful global environment. The number of delegates from the two countries for the last meeting in Washington, D.C., totaled 24 forthe U.S. and 19 for the U.S.S.R. All told, however, there are more than 500 scientists and specialists participating in one way or another with the agreement. Future concerns Apart from the intensification of technology, the two nations have agreed to explore cooperation in the field of governmental education at all levels. This could include the exchange of educational experts, information, and materials to improve the quality of environmental education in both countries. The Joint Committee for the agreement, for example, also approved a program for cooperation on biosphere reserves for implementation this year. This project will contribute to the implementation of the "Man and the Biosphere" International Program conducted under the auspices of the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Joint Committee also approved the initiation of negotiations to be held in the U.S.S.R. this year for a Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds and their Habitats, which may later be expanded for wild Fauna and Flora. For decades, scientists and specialists of the two superpowers had no sustained access to each other. But with further implementation of this Agreement, an unusually wide range of positive opportunities for cooperation is opened not only to the mutual benefit of both nations but other global neighbors as weii. SSM
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Volume 10, Number 5, May 1976 415
