RCED-96-140); • "Air Pollution: Limited New Data on Inspection and Maintenance Program's Effectiveness" (GAO/RCED-96-63). The reports are available through GAO at (202) 512-6000.
NEWS BRIEFS A controversial $12.4 billion Army program to incinerate the stockpile of aging U.S. chemical weapons was criticized in a risk assessment released in March. The assessment by Douglas CrawfordBrown, director of the University of North Carolina's Institute of Environmental Studies, reinterpreted data from the Army's original risk assessment for the proposal to build and operate incinerators to burn 31 000 tons of chemical agent stored at nine Army depots. Crawford-Brown's study found the total cancer risk to be much higher than the Army's estimate of six chances in one million for the most-exposed individuals Instead he found a c a n r p r riclf r»f 57 to 1 OAA npr mil
lion The difference results from assumptions in the Army's stnriV ronrprnina rpleases Hnrinp nnspt rnnHitinns rnnsiimntinn r>f . w Kppf a n j rarrinnop nicity of liniHpntifipH 1 Crawford-Browns assessment looked at alternatives and found that the risk dropped to a low of 0.013 per million if the chemical agent is separated from the weapons, neutralized, and stored rather than separated and burned. The report is available through the Kentucky Environmental Foundation at (606) 9867565. Industry and state and local governments spend 86 million hours a year complying with federal environmental reporting requirements, according to a study by the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) released in April. Echoing other reports (ES&T, May 1996, p. 199A)) CMA found EPA's reporting requirements have grown despite the agency's goal of cutting paperwork. Looking at major statutes the report said the Clean Water Act required the most reporting time (29 8 million hours) followed by the Clean Air Act (9 3 million) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (7 2 million) The reauirements fall hardest on industrv is available from CMA at (703) 741-5802
Urbanization is the focus of "World Resources 1996—1997," the 10th annual report from the World Resources Institute, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Along with assessing the world's resources, the report concentrates on trends in urbanization and other areas that shape the world's social and physical environment. The report is available through WRI (202) 638-6300 or on the Web at http://www.wri. org/wri/wr-96-97/. Corporations and trade associations lobbying for legislation to change Superfund gave $6.5 million in 1995 campaign contributions to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a report by Citizen Action, a consumer and environmental organization. This is an increase of more than $1 million over 1993 the most recent nonelection year and most comparable to 1995, the report said. The increase went to Republicans up 118% over 1993 versus Democrats whose share dropped by 45% Citizen Action said For copies of the port call (202) 775-1580 Superfund, vehicle inspection and maintenance, and state revolving funds were topics of reports and statements recently released by the General Accounting Office. The following five reports were issued in April: • "Superfund: How States Establish and Apply Environmental Standards When Cleaning up Sites" (GAO/RCED-96-70FS); • "Superfund: The Number of Potentially Responsible Parties at Superfund Sites Is Difficult to Determine" (GAO/RCED-96-75); • "Superfund: Non-Time-Critical Removals as a Tool for Faster and Less Costly Cleanups" (GAO/TRCED-96-137); • "Clean Water Act: Use of State Revolving Funds Varies" (GAO/T-
U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the largest volume greenhouse gas, increased 4% from 1990 to 1994, whereas emissions of methane, nitrous oxide, and other gases that contribute to global warming remained relatively constant, according to an EPA report released in April. Required under the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the report found that carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1.2% in 1991 but quickly recovered, driven by an improved economv The report says enercv generation is responsible for nearlv all greenhouse gas emissions The Inventory ofUS Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 799fl— 7994 is available from the National Center for Environm e n t a l Publications and Information fax (513) 489-8695 A compilation of EPA enforcement actions at federal facilities in 1993 and 1994 is discussed in "The State of Federal Facilities: An Overview of Environmental Compliance at Federal Facilities." Nearly 1000 enforcement actions were taken over the two years following 2678 inspections, according to the report. It is available from EPA; call (202) 564-2578. The promise of a cleaner environment for Mexico through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has failed, according to a report published by the Institute for Policy Studies and written by a network of researchers and organizations. The report discusses NAFTA's first two years. For copies of "NAFTA's First Two Years," call (202) 234-9382, ext. 227. The entire compendium of 755 research reports by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in its 23-year history are available on a five-volume CD-ROM collection, OTA announced in March. The collection (S/N 052-00301457-2) is available through the Government Printing Office for $23; phone (202) 512-1800.
VOL. 30, NO. 6, 1996/ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE S TECHNOLOGY/NEWS " 2 4 7 A
