Env21
 

S/No	Title	Synopsis
I. Subject Area : Environmental Policy
1	EU makes industry liable to recycle old goods	The European Commissioner has asked makers of electrical goods to recycle worn out products.
2	Indonesia plans to boost use of unleaded gasoline	The Indonesian government plans to boost the use of unleaded gasoline in order to reduce pollution.
II. Subject Area : Environmental News
3	Hong Kong tackles pollution	Hong Kong and its neighbouring province of Guandong have launched a groundbreaking joint effort to tackle the region's serious environmental problems.
4	Denmark wants brominated flame retardants to be substituted	The Danish EPA has asked for brominated flame retardants to be replaced with alternative chemicals on environmental protection and human health grounds.
5	FDA toughens GM foods oversight	FDA said that it would increase regulatory control over genetically modified (GM) foods. However, it will not require manufacturers to label products that contain GM ingredients.
6	Controversy over the use of "Bisphenol A"	Worldwide Fund (WWF) for Nature has reported that the chemical "Bisphenol A" (BPA) would adversely affect wildlife and human health, particularly the health of babies and small children.
7	Californian oil industry and air regulators grapple over diesel	Environmental regulators in Southern California are planning to phase out the use of diesel fuel in new public bus systems and to require new vehicles to use alternative fuels such as natural gas and cleaner burning gasoline.

Env22
 

S/No	Title	Synopsis
I. Subject Area : Environmental Policy
1	Germany to phase out nuclear power	Germany is first major economic power to officially announce that it would phase out the use of nuclear power.
2	Britain sets policy on waste movement	The British government has set out its policies regarding the import and export of waste, which will come into force on 1 Nov 00.
3	EU states to strengthen limits on air pollution	15 EU countries agree to tighten the emission limits for health damaging air pollutants.
II. Subject Area: Environmental Health
4	USEPA warns of danger of insecticide, Diazinon	USEPA may ban home use of Diazinon after a safety and health assessment.
5	USEPA rules on Parathion	USEPA has lowered safe tolerance levels for the use of the insecticide, Parathion.
III. Subject Area : Environmental Technology
6	Bio-diesel meets US Clean Air Act requirements	Alternative fuel made from renewable resources, such as soybean oil has become the first and only alternative fuel to have successfully completed the health effects testing requirements of the US Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
IV. Subject Area : General Environmental News
7	Kentucky City switches to hybrid Buses		Plans are in place to purchase 16 hybrid electric buses to replace the older more polluting diesel models.

Env23
 

S/N	Title	Synopsis
I. Subject Area: Environmental Health
1	Pesticide linked to neurological damage	USEPA has revealed that contact with Chlorpyrifos, a pesticide can cause neurological damage.
2	EPA classifies Atrazine as "possible" carcinogen	USEPA has found that Atrazine is actually more toxic than previously believed, and has now classified it as a "possible" carcinogen.
3	Eating Great Lakes fish may delay pregnancy	Studies from the University of Buffalo have shown that women who regularly eat fish from Lake Ontario, known to be contaminated with PCBs and other hormone disrupting chemicals, may be about 25 percent less likely to become pregnant than women who do not.
II. Subject Area: Environmental Technology
4	Polyurethanes promise effective manhole shaft rehabilitation	A system developed in Germany offers an efficient solution to fix the leaking manhole shafts. This system is an effective and inexpensive alternative to replacement, since it does not involve any expensive excavation work.
III. Subject Area: Environmental Management
5	EPA seeks to ease rules for clean gasoline	The USEPA has proposed new rules to make it easier for oil firms to use ethanol to produce cleaner burning reformulated gasoline for the Midwest market.
IV. Subject Area: Environmental Policy
6	EU passes Water Law to ban worst river pollution	The EU has passed a law that will pave the way for a major cleanup of Europe's rivers, lakes and coastal regions and ban industries from discharging hazardous substances into rivers.

Env24
 

I. Subject Area : Environmental Policy and Management
1	EPA Program to reward Environmental Achievers		EPA has introduced an incentive program to encourage companies to go beyond federal environmental mandates.
2		Ultra low sulphur diesel to be available in Hong Kong	Ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) is expected to be available in Hong Kong as early as this August.
3	Japan considers diesel-truck-emissions clamp down		Sales of diesel cars and medium-sized diesel trucks will be effectively banned under the strict emission standards for NOx and particulates being considered by Japan's Environment Agency.
II. Subject Area : Public Health
4		Cancer linked to living near traffic	Colorado researchers believed that living close to busy roads could cause leukemia and other childhood cancers.
5		More Japan firms take action over food poisoning	The food-poisoning scare spread further last week when Morinaga Milk Industry Co Ltd, Japan's third-largest dairy products supplier, closed a production line after some 20 schoolchildren fell ill after drinking the company's milk.
III. Subject Area : Environmental Technology
6	Sunny Los Angeles to launch major solar power effort		Los Angeles could soon turn its legendary sunshine into power with an initiative that will boost solar energy use.
7	CA ARB could call for particulate filters on diesels		The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has released its plan to make owners install particulate-filtering equipment on their diesel-powered vehicles.

Env25
 

S/N	Title	Synopsis
I. Subject Area: Environmental Technology
1	Process packs depleted uranium in plastic	Scientists at the United States Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory found a new process that converts depleted uranium to a form that is stable and safe for long-term disposal or reuse.
2	Biodegradable wax paper, an alternative to petroleum-based wax paper	Scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service have developed an inexpensive way to make biodegradable coating, replacing petroleum-based wax on paper.
II. Subject Area: Environmental Policy
3	Pennsylvania mandates big cut in smog causing emissions	The Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approved new clean air regulations which require a 75 percent reduction in ozone-causing nitrogen oxides coming from power plants and other large industrial boilers.
4	Europe to ban powerful insecticide on crops	The European Commission is expected to approve recommendations by the European Union's Standing Committee on Plant Health to ban lindane, a powerful insecticide, on crops.
5	New target levels for benzene and CO	The European Parliament is in the process of enacting the first European Union legislation requiring states to act on health hazards posed by ambient levels of benzene and carbon monoxide.
III. Subject Area: General Environmental News
6	Guide provides energy efficiency options for commercial buildings	The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) published a new guidebook that contains recommendations on how to reduce energy consumption and improve the performance of building systems.
7	Panel concerned over plasticiser in some medical devices	A panel set up by the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program is concerned about the use of a particular plasticiser in some medical devices.

Env26
 

S/N	Title			Synopsis
I. Subject Area: Environmental Technology
1		NASA satellite technology to monitor vehicle emissions	A US company is adapting National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) atmospheric remote sensing technology to develop a system to monitor motor vehicle emissions.
2		Algae being studied as a means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions	Ohio University researchers looking for an inexpensive method of cutting carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants are turning to the common green algae for CO2 removal.
II. Subject Area : Environmental Policy and Regulation
3		New rule to control air toxics in emissions of mobile sources	The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a proposal to control the emissions of hazardous air pollutants from mobile sources.
4		EU moves to monitor noise pollution and may set limits	The European Commission (EC) has proposed a scheme for all the 15 EU countries to measure noise levels in their major cities and formulate noise abatement plans.
III. Subject Area: Environmental Pollution
5		Mystery gas a potent greenhouse threat	An extremely durable (1000-yr-life) synthetic gas, that reportedly is 18,000 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, is increasing in the earth's atmosphere at a rate of about 6% per year.
IV. Subject Area: General Environmental News
6		New scientific study pushes EPA to limit mercury emissions	The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it now had the scientific backing to proceed with long-planned rules aimed at reducing the amount of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Env27
 

S/N	Title		Synopsis
I. Subject Area: Environmental Technology
1	UV radiation for cleaner, greener, safe water		Researchers at the University of North Carolina say UV radiation can become an environment-friendly alternative water disinfection method.
2	Nutshells and tyres can clean up mercury emissions		Researchers at the University of Illinois have come up with a way to use old tyres and pistachio shells to remove mercury emissions from power plants.
II. Subject Area: Environmental Management
3		US EPA's move to reduce emissions from heavy-duty trucks and buses		The US EPA has issued a final rule to reduce harmful diesel emissions from heavy-duty trucks and buses.
4		Australian New Zealand Food Standards Council's labelling scheme for foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs)		Australian food and consumer groups have welcomed the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC) decision to tighten rules on the labelling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
III. Subject Area: Environmental Health
5		Nappy manufacturers plan standardised tributyltin (TBT) testing procedure		Following a report on the presence of TBT in disposable nappies, manufacturers have begun talks with several European laboratories in an effort to agree on a standardised test for TBT.
IV. Subject Area: Recycling and Waste Minimisation
6		Greater demand for recycled aluminium in 2000		Demand for scrap aluminium has trended upward since the mid-1990s and, despite a slowdown in recent years, is rebounding again in 2000.

Env28
 

S/N	Title	Synopsis
I. Subject Area: Environmental Technology
1	GM and Exxon advance fuel-cell technology	GM and Exxon announced that they have made advances in the technology to power fuel cells using gasoline.
2	Use of 36V battery will reduce vehicle emission	Car industry experts predicted that the adoption of the 36V battery in cars would help to reduce vehicle emission levels significantly.
II. Subject Area: Environmental Management
3	Ontario to spend C$240 million to clean up water	Ontario plans to upgrade its water and sewage treatment plants in the wake of an E. coli outbreak that killed six people in a small farming community.
4	Cities turn to natural gas buses	Facing tougher federal air quality regulations, cities in the United States are turning increasingly to buses powered by natural gas.
III. Subject Area: General Environmental News
5	Use of residential pesticide links to Parkinson's disease.	A recent study found that home pesticide use and exposure is associated with an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
6	Microbial pest control	The International Programme of Chemical Safety has evaluated the use of Bacillus thuringiensis as a biological pesticide, including controlling mosquitoes in their first publication on biological pesticides.

Env29
 

S/N	Title	Synopsis
I. Subject Area: Environmental Technology
1	Toyota's diesel purification system can reduce air pollution	Toyota Motor Corp. has announced the development of a new diesel after-treatment purification system that can sharply reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter simultaneously.
II. Subject Area: Environmental Management
2	Maine moves to pull in old, polluting vehicles	Beginning in November, the state of Maine in the US will be implementing a pilot program to issue vouchers of value between US$1,000 to $2,000 for each old vehicle that the owner scraps, as an inducement to remove old polluting vehicles from the roads.
3	U.S. biotech food rules likely to get tighter	The United States is on track to require more information from food makers before genetically altered foods are put on sale.
4	"Green Paper" and environmental impact of PVC	A new European Commission "green paper" discussed the possible measures to deal with the environmental impact of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
III. Subject Area: Environmental Pollution and Public Health
5	Cars' catalytic converters discharge ammonia	The catalytic converters, credited with reducing pollutants from automobiles, may also be emitting large quantities of haze-causing ammonia.
6	Canada starts fund to combat Arctic pollutants	Canada had established a C$20 million (US$13.5 million) fund to help developing countries reduce the production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which are rapidly building up in the Canadian Arctic.
IV. Subject Area: General Environmental News
7	Five Taiwanese may be sentenced to life imprisonment for dumping toxic waste	A prosecutor indicted 22 people and sought life sentences for five of them for their alleged involvement in the dumping of cancer-causing toxic waste oil into a southern Taiwanese river.

Env30
 

S/N	Title	Synopsis
I. Subject Area: Environmental Management
1	SCAQMD calls for retrofitting of school buses with emission controls	The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has proposed that the California Air Resources Board (ARB) and SCAQMD establish a joint project to accelerate development of technologies to reduce particulate emission from school buses.
2	U.S city promotes the use of electric bikes	Officials in Santa Cruz, California, are urging people to get out of their cars and use electric bicycles within the city.
3	USEPA reinstates "one-hour" ozone standard	The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reinstated the "one-hour" national ambient air-quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone, citing continuing litigation over the 1997 revised "eight-hour" standard.
4	USEPA dioxin draft guidance issued	The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a draft guidance aimed at helping facilities comply with strict reporting requirements for dioxin and dioxin-like compounds (DDlC).
II. Subject Area: Environmental Pollution and Public Health
5	New algal toxin identified	A new algal toxin, produced by cyanobacteria not previously reported as producing toxins, has been identified following a water quality alert in South Australia in late April.
6	Protecting groundwater	UK-based WRc has launched a three-year research project which aims to improve the protection of valuable groundwater resources from ammoniacal-nitrogen pollution.