NEWS BRIEFS Acid rain continues to harm sensitive lakes in New York's Adirondack Mountains despite reductions in sulfur dioxide (S0 2 ) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from power plants, concludes National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program Biennial Report to Congress: An Integrated Assessment. It is the first National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program report assessing the effectiveness of the 1990 Clean Air Act acid rain amendments. Despite the emissions reductions sensitive Adirondack lakes and high-elevation forests continue to acidifv and their recovery requires additional reductions in sulfur and nitrogen deposition The renort is available at httrW/wwwnnic noaa eov/CENR/ NAPAP/NAPAP 96 htm Nearly 40% of U.S. rivers, lakes, and estuaries are unsuitable for swimming, fishing, drinking, and other "beneficial uses," states EPA in its National Water Quality Inventory: 1996 Report to Congress. Analyzing data submitted by 58 states and jurisdictions, EPA found that agriculture was the leading source of pollution in rivers and lakes. The report also describes several federal and state pollution management programs currently underway to improve water quality The document is available at http7/wwwepa gov/ 305b Air pollution may exert an important effect on regional climate according to research published in Nature (Cerveny et al., August 6, 1998). Arizona State University researchers found that on the U.S. Atlantic coast, weekends have more rain than weekdays. They also found that hurricanes and cyclones show a significant difference between weekends and weekdays. Air pollution from east coast cities shows a similar weekly cycle suggesting a another possible link. A condensed version of the Nature paper can also be found at http:// wwwasu edu/clas/geography/ nature/
Risk is being overestimated, and remediation options are being restricted because U.S. federal regulations make it too difficult to use information about bioavailability in site risk assessments and remediation decisions, according to a report by the National Environmental Policy Institute's Bioavailabilty Policy Project (BPP). Bioavailability: Implications Science/Cleanup Policy describes findings action steps and scientific needs for the use of bioavailability in risk assessments and cleanup decisions The BPP working group included members of the regulated community and scientists For a coov of the $20 report call Courtnpv Clark at 202857-4784
"Smart" electronics and communications technologies can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions while promoting economic growth, report the Electronic Industries Alliance and the World Resources Institute. Taking a Byte out of Carbon highlights the efforts by 14 industry leaders to improve energy efficiency over the last 25 years. For example, Pratt and Whitney's improvements in air traffic control have reduced CO emissions by 3 million metric tons and Mitsubishi Motors has introduced a. new engine technol that releases 30% less CO and 97% less nitrogen oxides For of the report call 202-6622596 To reduce mercury, PCBs, and other persistent toxic substances in the Great Lakes system, the U.S. and Canadian governments must strengthen their enforcement of the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, concludes the International Joint Commission, a binational organization. The Ninth Biennial Report on
Great Lakes Water Quality makes 19 recommendations to eliminate toxics in air pollution, remediate contaminated sediments, and reduce agricultural runoff. The report recommends eliminating specific uses of mercury and methods for destroying PCBs. For a copy, call 202-736-9000 in the United States, 613-995-2984 in Canada or access the International Joint Commision's Web site at http://www.ijc.org. Biotechnology is likely to become increasingly important as industry moves toward "clean technology" and "industrial sustainability," according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The study broadly defines biotechnology as using biological organisms, mainly bacteria, as a means to avoid pollution. For example, industry has begun to use enzymes instead of traditional catalysts in many industrial processes. Because living systems manage their chemistry more efficientiy than man-made factories and their wastes tend to be recyclable and biodegradable they can be expected to be environmentally cleaner according to 1*he r e p o r t For a CoDV of Biotech-
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