Vermont's Mercury Reduction Act requires manufacturers to label mercury-added products sold in Vermont, Washington. The labeling must inform the user that a product contains mercury and that it is illegal to dispose of it in the trash. The US Supreme Court has recently denied the National Electrical Manufacturers Association's attempt to have Vermont's 1998 landmark law declared unconstitutional.

Germany is about to complete the implementation of the European Union's (EU's) 1998 Biocidal Products Directive (98/8/EC) introducing stricter controls on chemicals such as indoor wood conservation products and disinfectants, about two years behind schedule.

By Jun 2002, both a Biocide Law and a Biocide Ordinance will come into force. The measures will create an obligation to have biocidal products tested and approved by an official agency before marketing them commercially so as to strengthen environmental and consumer protection.

The Bush administration said it would be relaxing costly air pollution rules when US utilities are repaired or upgraded. The move by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came after months of lobbying by US utilities and industry, which have long complained about complex rules on how far they can go to expand or upgrade a plant before having to install costly equipment to control smog, acid rain and soot.

The US EPA has formally sent its New Source Review plan to the White House and would submit it to the Office of Management and Budget for comments in the coming weeks.

Germany's "Old Vehicles Act" to implement the European Union's Scrap Car Directive will come into effect on 1 Jul 2002.

The law forces manufacturers and importers to take back all old cars for end-of-life recycling free of charge to consumers after January 2007. For new cars sold after 1 Jul 2002, this obligation kicks in immediately. For cars that are already on the road and to be taken back after 2007, manufacturers are allowed to build financial reserves on which the government grants tax breaks that are expected to reach about US$235 million a year.

A new South African regulation to increase the minimum thickness of plastic bags has angered local unions and the plastic industry, which say the rules will cost millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.

Owens Corning's Delmar, a leading manufacturer of fiberglass insulation for residential and commercial uses, has earned the 2002 New York State Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention, in recognition of outstanding efforts in protecting New York's natural resources. A total of eight companies were honoured for innovation in energy efficiency and activities that reduce or eliminate the generation of pollution.

Owens Corning's Delmar was recognized for installing an oxygen-fuel glass melting technology, which eliminates direct mixing of ambient nitrogen within the furnaces' burners. Using the new technology and eliminating a nitrogen compound from the molten glass process, the company reduced its nitrogen oxides emissions by more than 270 tons per year.

General Motors, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and Kinko's in the US have all announced clean energy projects as part of an effort to develop corporate markets for green energy through the Green Power Market Development Group.

The four projects announced include:

1. Use of landfill gas from two landfills as fuel for powerhouse boilers by General Motors Corporation. The company is also planning to purchase eight million kilowatt hours (kWh) or more of electricity generated using gas from landfills throughout Michigan;
2. In Texas and Minnesota, IBM is purchasing electricity produced at wind farms for its facilities through utility green pricing programmes;
3. Approximately 350 kilowatts of photovoltaic (solar) systems have been installed on three buildings by Johnson & Johnson; and
4. An additional 42 Kinko's branches have made renewable energy purchases for a total of 80 stores nationwide. This energy comes from a variety of sources like wind farms, landfill gas, geothermal, etc and is expected to create demand for 4.2 million kWh of green energy annually.

Industry experts say that technological advances and a significant price advantage could propel diesel ahead of gasoline as the favoured motor fuel of the 21^st century, forcing oil refiners to change production strategies.

While gasoline continues to dominate the light transport industry in most developed countries, diesel is fast catching up as more vehicle manufacturers develop diesel powered light cars.

European Union legislation has forced refiners to produce eco-friendly, lower sulphur diesels. Germany, the largest motor fuel market in Europe, was using diesel with 500 parts per million (ppm) sulphur a few years ago and will be switching next year to 10 ppm sulphur fuels.

The State and Territorial Air Pollution Program administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control officials in the US have urged the Bush administration to adopt tough federal pollution emission standards for bulldozers, farm tractors and other off-road diesel vehicles to prevent 8,500 premature deaths and 180,000 asthma attacks each year.

Green groups are worried that the Bush administration will propose weaker pollution-fighting regulations that would benefit diesel engine manufacturers at the expense of public health.