The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has announced a new policy that allows industries, farmers and others to buy and sell the right to release pollutants into US waterways.

Under the Water Quality Trading Policy, polluters that discharge industrial, municipal or agricultural contaminants into waterways are allowed to reduce their discharges below federal clean water standards, then sell the unused portion of their allowance as credits to polluters trying to meet water quality standards.

The market-based incentive is aimed at improving the environment, and increase the pace of cleaning up polluted rivers, streams and lakes and reduce the cost of improving water quality.

But the Natural Resources Defense Council, a coalition of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists, says the policy violates the Clean Water Act by not encouraging the protection of all waterways. The group also said the policy fails to require polluters to reduce emissions over time, helping them evade compliance and allowing them to trade toxic pollutants, such as mercury, that build up in the environment.

The European Union proposed new regulations to reduce pollution from diesel engines and from paints and varnishes.

The proposed rule on paints aims to cut by half the levels of the volatile organic compounds that escape into the atmosphere and are blamed for health problems such as eye irritations, sore throats and breathing problems.

The rules will be phased in from 2007 if approved by the European Parliament and governments of the 15 EU nations.

The Commission is also proposing to tighten legislation on diesel engines in tractors, barges and construction equipment. The proposal would extend current rules by obliging manufacturers to install filters on new diesel engines with the aim of cutting emissions of harmful particles by 90 percent up to the end of 2011.

According to a draft report presented to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, flares are said to be responsible for 22 tonnes a day of volatile organic compounds, a key precursor to smog.

In a move to reduce flare emissions, San Francisco would issue new rules early this year to require refineries to monitor emissions from their flares, which is a previously underestimated source of air pollution.

The measures would be a preliminary step before development of rules to reduce flare emissions.

Since the refineries had been required to submit information on their gas flows to their flares, regulators have seen a drop in the flare emissions.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of Pennsylvania has announced that it will adopt the new federal guidelines for portable fuel containers, which require gas cans to be more spill-proof and less likely to release harmful vapours into the air.

The gas cans are designed to prevent the formation of ground-level ozone, also called smog. The newly designed gas cans will have the following features:

1. have only one opening for both filling and pouring
2. have an internal automatic shut-off valve that stops fuel flow from the can when the receiving fuel tank is full
3. automatically close and seal when not being filled or pouring
4. constructed of a material that minimizes the escape of any gasoline vapour

It is estimated that the new regulation will result in a reduction of 5,700 tonnes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) per year statewide.

Pennsylvania retailers have until 1 Jan 2004 to sell off their inventory of the older gas cans. However, they can begin selling the new ones immediately.

Mercury is a persistent, bioaccumulative toxin that poses a risk to human health, wildlife and the environment.

Under a US nationwide programme, fluorescent lamp makers are required to label all fluorescent and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps that contain mercury, as well as their packaging.

By end Nov 2003, all lamp makers are required to provide a website and toll-free number for consumers to readily obtain information on recycling and proper management of spent light bulbs. Manufacturers will also spend $10,000 a year for two years to educate residents to keep lamps from being broken or thrown in the trash.

However, advocates question the practicality of only labeling lamps sold in the US. Because mercury is both a local and global pollutant, they urge lamp makers to recognize their responsibility and label all lamps worldwide to reduce mercury pollution and exposure to mercury.

A group of around 20 top carmakers including Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, DaimlerChrysler AG and Ford Motor, aims to jointly develop technology to allow fuel cell cars (FCVs) to cover similar distances as gasoline engine cars.

These auto makers and car parts manufacturers will aim to extend the distance FCVs can run before refuelling to around 500 km by increasing the fuel storage capacity of the cars. Toyota and Honda Motor launched the world's first FCVs simultaneously in Dec 02, but they could cover only around 300 km before refuelling, one of the drawbacks of the environmentally friendly cars.

The group aim to develop, by the end of 2005, fuel tanks which can hold 40 percent more high-pressure hydrogen than current fuel cells.

The German government has unveiled details of a draft law confirming plans to distinguish between "ecologically favourable" and "unfavourable" one-way drinks packs.

A new goal that refillable drinks and "ecologically favourable" one-way containers should account for at least 80% of all drinks packs by end-2006 has been added to the original proposals outlined in 2001.

The Environment Ministry specified that "ecologically unfavourable" drinks packaging excluded laminate milk and juice cartons, as well as wine, spirits and nutritional drinks in glass bottles. All other one-way drinks containers fall under the category and hence face deposits.

The two categories were defined by the Environment Ministry following an assessment of the life-cycle analysis of all types of one-way drinks containers.

In a move to increase the national recycling rate from 30 to 35% and cut the generation of 30 harmful chemicals by 2005, the US EPA's Resource Conservation Challenge, together with its partners, viz. the major national retailers, industry, and recyclers, launched the National Plug-In To Recycling Campaign early this month.

NewYorks's governor, George Pataki, has pledged that New York will obtain 25% of its energy from renewables by 2012, and be a national leader in renewable energy use.

Mr Pataki will direct the Public Service Commission to implement a Renewable Portfolio Standard to mandate the use of solar and wind power, as well as fuel cells.

Most of the increase in green power is expected to result from wind and biomass energy development. Hydroelectricity and other renewables currently supply 17% of power sold in the state, with the balance generated by coal, natural gas and oil.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) estimates that the initiative will generate US$300 million dollars a year in income and local tax revenue to farmers and communities from the installation of wind turbines, as well as create thousands of construction jobs. It is also estimated that the policy will reduce CO₂ emissions by 2 megatonnes a year, as well as reduce the smog and acid rain in New York.

According to an analysis by Cornell University, it is estimated that even if all the best renewable energy technologies, i.e. solar, wind and hydro technologies were fully implemented, the installations would take up 17% of the land and still replace less than 50% of US' fossil-fuel consumption.

The study says that geothermal and biofuels (ethanol, methanol and vegetable oils) are not sustainable renewable energies, since hot springs and geysers tend to decline over 40 to 100 years and geothermal has the environmental liability of air pollution and sludge residues which include arsenic, lead and mercury.

In order to make the use of photovoltaic cells economically feasible, it is proposed that the durability of photovoltaic cells must be lengthened and production costs reduced several times. The report however, warned that the use of toxic materials in the manufacture of some cells and the disposal of inoperative cells could pose a major environmental problem.

Scientists say that they have evidence of two alternating climate cycles, "El Viejo" (the old man) and "La Vieja" (the old woman) in the Pacific, which will give them a better understanding of climate changes around the globe.

While the impacts of these two climate cycles are not as dramatic as the well known "El Nino" effect, they each lasts about 25 years in the world's biggest ocean. "El Ninos", which usually last just a couple of years, are a warming of waters in the central and east central Pacific Ocean, while "La Nina" is a cooling of the same region.

The Transport of London authority has threatened to abolish a loophole permitting 'green' cars to escape the London's £5-a-day congestion charge.

A clause in the charging scheme allows vehicles using alternative fuels to enter central London without paying. The clause has prompted motorists and corporate fleets to convert their vehicles to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The Transport for London authority pointed out that the congestion charge was supposed to stop traffic jams in the capital, rather than merely reducing pollution. The authority has threatened to terminate the exemption if the situation gets out of hand.

London-based Environmental Investigation Agency said in a report that corruption in Indonesia's police and military has contributed to a surge in illegal logging that has destroyed much of the country's forests.

The report, titled "Above the Law: Corruption, Collusion, Nepotism and the Fate of Indonesia's Forests," alleges that the military - through its private businesses - has logged illegally and operated saw mills to pay the daily expenses of troops. It says the police and the courts have failed to prosecute illegal loggers, even when other Indonesian agencies, including the Ministry of Forestry and navy, intervened.

Although Indonesia has taken steps to curb illegal logging, including an export ban announced last year and discussions of swaps of outstanding national debt for money that would go to environmental programmes, most of the efforts have been derailed by corruption, the report says.

The Danish government is reviewing its car-pricing policy "from an environmental perspective". A new range of proposals is expected later in the month. The challenge faces by the Ministry of Taxation however, is in providing environmental incentives while keeping tax revenues steady.

Three years after the launch of the "Lex Lupo" scheme, the two car models that qualify for the rebate on registration fees for eco-friendly cars - the VW Lupo 1.2 3L and the Audi A2 3L - account for only 2 to 3% of small-car sales.

The disappointing figures have prompted car importers to call for "Lex Lupo", which is based on fuel consumption of 25km per litre or better, to be broadened to take in all models on a graduated scale. That is, lower charges as eco-friendly features and/or performance increase.

The UK's Chemical Industries Association (CIA) has announced new targets for cuts in resource use to be met collectively by its members in 2010.

Developed under the CIA's "responsible care" programme, the targets include a 25% reduction in hazardous waste creation, and cuts of respectively 20% and 11% in water and energy use against 2000 levels. Health and safety goals have also been set. Progress towards the goals will be reported annually.

A second round of targets intended to measure improvements in environmental impact and product management is being developed for publication in the autumn. The two groups of targets will be amalgamated with social and economic aims to provide a full set of sustainability goals.