• Cruise Ships Called Floating, Polluted Cities
  
• Lawsuit Challenges Delayed Smog Standards
  
• Subpoenas Seek Protection for Task Force Papers
  
• New Rule Would Speed Drug Approval
  
• Aqua Satellite Has a Glitch
  
• DOE Pledges Millions to Cleanup Cold War Sites
  
• New Panel Will Advise EPA About Superfund
  
• 26 New National Trails Named
  

Cruise Ships Called Floating, Polluted Cities

Cruise ships can carry up to 5,000 passengers and produce waste equivalent to that of small cities, yet they are not governed by the same anti-pollution laws as municipalities of comparable size on land, notes the report, titled "Cruise Control: How Cruise Ships Affect the Marine Environment."

"Cruise ships are like floating cities, carrying thousands of passengers and generating tons of waste and trash each trip. However, unlike cities, cruise ships have largely escaped pollution regulation," said Catherine Hazlewood, acting director of the clean oceans program for The Ocean Conservancy. "We believe it is time to bring the industry in line with accepted pollution control practices."

Ships generate sewage, solid waste, oily bilge water, air pollution from diesel engines and onboard burning of large volumes of trash, and other pollutants. Cruise ship impacts have skyrocketed as the industry has grown.

The pollution generated in one day by one large ship can include 37,000 gallons of oily bilge water, 30,000 gallons of sewage, 255,000 gallons of non-sewage wastewater from showers, sinks, laundries, baths and galleys, 15 gallons of toxic chemicals from photo processing and dry cleaning solutions, tens of thousands of gallons of ballast water containing pathogens and invasive species from foreign ports, seven tons of garbage and solid waste, and air pollution from diesel engines at a level equal to thousands of automobiles.

In 1998, 223 cruise ships carried 10 million passengers through some of the world's most sensitive ocean ecosystems. Since then, the industry has grown by an average of 10 percent each year, and is expected to bring more than 49 new vessels into service by 2005.

"Cruise Control" calls attention to the issues of pollution, and unregulated discharges, and suggests solutions that will protect valuable marine resources, both in U.S. waters and abroad.

The report recommends a series of government actions, including:

• Regulating all cruise ship discharges
• Amending the Clean Water Act to prevent discharges of raw sewage and toxic chemicals
• Requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop effluent limits, stronger air emission limits and mandatory ballast water treatment programs
• Establishing and enforcing no discharge zones to reduce the impact of cruise ship pollution on special ocean sites
• Increasing funding for the EPA and U.S. Coast Guard enforcement, including aerial surveys and surprise inspections

"The time has come for a sea change in our ocean ethic," said Roger Rufe, president of The Ocean Conservancy. "For so long people have been allowed to dump anything at sea without any real consequences, people need to feel the same level of responsibility for our seas as they do for their own backyards."

The Ocean Conservancy has sent a copy of the report to EPA officials along with a letter urging them to respond to a petition filed two years ago by The Ocean Conservancy, the Bluewater Network and 52 other environmental groups, asking the EPA to identify and regulate cruise ship pollution.

The Ocean Conservancy called the EPA's May 1 proposal to set air emission limits for new vessels "grossly inadequate."

"We hope this is not an indication of the EPA's thinking on how to regulate the discharges from cruise ships that are polluting our oceans," said Roger Rufe, president of The Ocean Conservancy. "We want all discharges from cruise ships regulated with no exemptions."

Lawsuit Challenges Delayed Smog Standards

The groups, including the American Lung Association, Sierra Club, Environmental Defense and Natural Resources Defense Council, said they plan to sue EPA to force the agency to begin implementing the ozone standard adopted by the agency almost five years ago.

The groups also plan a public campaign to press the EPA to help state and local governments to lower harmful levels of smog by adopting federal emission standards for some of the key sources of smog, including diesel powered construction and industrial equipment, and power plants.

"As we enter the summer smog season, it's high time for EPA to stop foot dragging and take prompt action to protect our health from the dangers of smog," said John Kirkwood, president and chief executive officer of the American Lung Association.

As a first step, Kirkwood called on EPA to identify parts of the nation with unhealthy air quality. EPA data shows that more than 120 million people live in areas with unhealthy ozone levels.

"EPA has said it may wait until 2004 to take this step," noted Marti Sinclair of the Sierra Club. "That's just not acceptable. Every year of delay means more suffering for our families."

The ozone standard was strengthened in 1997 in response to scientific evidence that children and other vulnerable groups suffer harmful health effects from exposure to ozone at levels found in many communities.

"The medical evidence demonstrating that smog is a threat to public health has only become stronger in the past five years since the smog standard was adopted by EPA," said Joe Goffman of Environmental Defense. "Recent studies have linked high ozone levels to school absences, asthma attacks and decreased lung function in children."

Enforcement of the standards has been delayed by lawsuits filed by the coal, oil, chemical, trucking and electric power industries.

"But the Supreme Court unanimously rejected industry's arguments in February 2001," Walke noted. "And last March a federal appeals court shot down remaining legal challenges to the standards."

Frank O'Donnell of the Clean Air Trust noted that while state and local governments have primary responsibility to develop plans to achieve the standards, the federal government can help. He noted that the EPA has authority under the Clean Air Act to devise a new multi-state plan to reduce smog forming emissions from electric power plants.

"EPA also should move promptly to close the dirty diesel loophole that permits diesel powered construction equipment to emit more pollution than diesel trucks and buses," O'Donnell added.

Subpoenas Seek Protection for Task Force Papers

Subpoenas began arriving Thursday at the offices of Enron, Shell Oil, Exelon Corporation, Peabody Energy, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, the National Mining Association, and the Edison Electric Institute. The action is part of efforts by the Sierra Club to discover how these groups influenced Vice President Richard Cheney's energy task force, which drafted the White House national energy policy last year.

In order to ensure that no documents related to the energy task force are destroyed, this first wave of subpoenas requires these groups and companies to preserve all such documents. These companies and groups are not parties to the Sierra Club suit, but may have information critical to resolving whether the task force violated the law in holding closed door meetings.

The Sierra Club is asking for a full accounting of what happened in meetings of the energy task force, including who was in the room, what proposals were made by energy industry executives and lobbyists, what documents were submitted by the energy industry, and which task force documents were reviewed by industry representatives.

"The public deserves to know who was calling the shots when the Cheney task force made important decisions affecting clean air, clean water, and the future of America's energy supply," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "When so much is at stake for every American, our energy policy should not be decided by energy executives in a back room."

"These subpoenas send a clear message to Enron and others that destruction of documents will not be tolerated in this case," Pope added.

The Sierra Club suit charges that by refusing to tell the public about the influence energy industries had in crafting national energy policy, the Cheney task force violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The Sierra Club is asking the court to require Vice President Cheney and other defendants to disclose to the American people what went on in the meetings that helped craft the national energy policy.

The conservation group's lawsuit has been consolidated with a similar suit filed by Judicial Watch.

The Bush administration's energy policy has been criticized as relying on fossil fuels and other technologies that pollute the air and water, stripmine natural places and fail to reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

Last week, District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected a request by Vice President Cheney and other administration officials to dismiss the lawsuits filed by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch.

New Rule Would Speed Drug Approval

FDA regulations require that drugs intended for human use be tested on humans before they are approved for distribution and sale. But in an effort to speed up the development of weapons to combat bioterrorism, the agency said Thursday it has amended its new drug and biological product regulations to bypass this requirement in certain cases.

Instead, drugs that are intended to reduce or prevent serious or life threatening conditions may be approved for marketing based on evidence from animal studies "when human efficacy studies are not ethical or feasible," the agency said.

The agency said it is taking this action because it recognizes the need for medical tools to protect or treat individuals exposed to diseases or chemical weapons through terrorist attacks.

This new rule will apply when "adequate and well controlled clinical studies" cannot be performed on humans because they would involve administering a "potentially lethal or permanently disabling" toxic substance or disease to healthy human volunteers.

"The terrorist attacks of last fall underscored the acute need for this new regulation," said FDA deputy commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford. "Today's action will help make certain essential new pharmaceutical products available much sooner - those products that because of the very nature of what they are designed to treat cannot be safely or ethically tested for effectiveness in humans."

The last time the FDA made such a radical change was a decade ago when the agency decided to approve new drugs to treat HIV and AIDS without the standard, lengthy review process. The FDA said at the time that its normal review was delaying the availability of drugs that could save lives.

Under the new rule announced Thursday, drugs and other products used to reduce the effects of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear substances may be approved for use in humans based on evidence from animal studies and any additional supporting data. Products evaluated under this rule will still face existing requirements for establishing the safety of new drug and biological products.

The FDA proposed the new regulation on October 5, 1999 - almost two years before the September 11 terrorist attacks. The final rule was released Thursday, and will take effect June 30, 2002.

Aqua Satellite Has a Glitch

The Aqua satellite, which lifted off May 6, is intended to monitor global precipitation, evaporation and the cycling of water, and discover whether human induced climate change is altering the water cycle. But now its radiometer, one of six state of the art instruments carried by the satellite, has stopped communicating with scientists on Earth, the "New York Times" reported today.

Aqua is the latest in a series of Earth Observing System spacecraft, which aim to improve weather forecasting and monitor climate change. It compliments the Terra satellite, launched in December 1999. Aqua is a joint project among the United States, Japan and Brazil.

David Steitz, a spokesperson for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) told the "New York Times" that the problem is believed to be isolated to the single device, and that the team running the satellite still hopes to get the radiometer up and running.

Meanwhile, another new environmental satellite is expected to lift off on June 24.

"The NOAA-M satellite will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world," said Conrad Lautenbacher, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The satellite will enable continuity of data for monitoring events such as El Nino, droughts, volcanic ash, fires, and floods," Lautenbacher added. "In addition, it will support of the international COSPAS-SARSAT system by providing search and rescue capabilities essential for detection and location of ships, aircraft, and people in distress."

NOAA-M is the third in a series of five Polar orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) with improved capabilities for collecting meteorological data. The data will be used by the National Weather Service for its weather and climate forecasts.

The polar orbiting satellites monitor the entire Earth, tracking atmospheric variables and providing atmospheric data and cloud images. They track global weather patterns affecting the weather and climate of the United States.

The satellites provide visible and infrared radiometer data for imaging purposes, radiation measurements, and temperature and moisture profiles. The polar orbiters' ultraviolet sensors also measure ozone levels in the atmosphere and are able to detect the ozone hole over Antarctica from mid-September to mid-November.

DOE Pledges Millions to Cleanup Cold War Sites

In Nevada, the DOE has agreed to spend an additional $33 million to speed cleanup at the Nevada Test Site. Under the agreement, the DOE, National Nuclear Security Administration and Nevada officials will work to complete cleanup operations at the site by 2010, instead of the previously planned 2020.

"This agreement provides the framework necessary to accelerate cleanup and it is a major step to effectively reduce health risks and expedite the environmental cleanup of the Nevada Test Site," said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. "Working with the states and other regulatory agencies, DOE is proposing a new way of doing business, leading to greater accountability, responsibility, and opportunities for both the Department and the states."

In New Mexico, the DOE pledged to complete cleanup at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque by 2006, and finish cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory by 2015. The plan also includes increased funding for accelerated shipment of transuranic waste from Los Alamos to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, which would be completed by 2010.

The DOE plans to spend an additional $11 million at its New Mexico field office, $54 million for Los Alamos, $8 million to $25 million for Sandia and $14 million to $210 million for WIPP.

In Idaho, the DOE will set aside an additional $110 million for cleanup at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), and work to complete cleanup operations at INEEL by 2020.

All of the cleanup agreements were reached under the agency's Environmental Management Accelerated Cleanup Program, whose goal is to streamline operations by working with states and regulators to target and reduce the greatest health and environmental cleanup risks at the country's Cold War nuclear weapons production facilities. The DOE has also signed agreements with the Hanford Site in Washington state and the Oak Ridge sites in Tennessee.

The DOE has now pledged a total for $759 million out of the $800 million dedicated to the accelerated cleanup account. Secretary Abraham has requested additional funds from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for future cleanup projects.

"Accelerated cleanup agreements will accomplish results in a manner that is safe, protective of human health and the environment, and in compliance with state and federal environmental laws," Abraham said.

New Panel Will Advise EPA About Superfund

"I am forming this advisory group to spur a national dialogue on the Superfund program," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman. "Today, Superfund exists alongside other cleanup programs, such as state voluntary cleanups, that did not exist when the statute was created more than 20 years ago. As we move forward as a country on addressing contaminated sites, we need to consider how all of these cleanup tools can work together in a more effective and unified fashion."

Whitman has come under fire for the Bush administration's plans to reduce scheduled Superfund cleanups, from more than 80 per year under the Clinton administration to about 40 per year under President George W. Bush. In March, Whitman testified before the House that the EPA does not have enough money to keep up the pace of cleanups, as the tax that supported Superfund expired in 1995.

The new advisory panel will be a subcommittee to the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT). NACEPT was formed by the EPA in 1988 to provide a forum for public discussion and independent advice to the agency.

Council members include senior level decision makers and experts from academia, business and industry, community and environmental advocacy groups, federal, state, local and tribal governments, regulators, and environmental justice, labor, non-governmental and professional organizations.

The EPA will ask the subcommittee to consider the scope of the national Superfund program against a backdrop of other federal and state waste cleanup programs. The dialogue will aim to consider how the nation's waste programs can work together to assure citizens that polluted sites will be made safe for future use.

The subcommittee will examine three major issues: the role of the National Priorities List in cleaning up the worst Superfund sites, the role of Superfund at so-called "mega sites," where cleanup costs are expected to exceed $50 million, and measuring program performance.

The first public meeting of the subcommittee will be held June 18-19, in Alexandria, Virginia. A final report from the subcommittee is expected within 12 to 18 months. More information is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/SFsub.htm

26 New National Trails Named

National Park Service (NPS) Director Fran Mainella and Interior Secretary Gale Norton promoted use of trails as "pathways to health" to reduce Americans' weight problems.

"The American Hiking Society sponsors National Trails Day nationwide on June 1 each year but we wanted to kick off the celebration early with an announcement of new trails and a special recognition of the crucial role of partnerships in promoting health through trails," said Norton. "Our celebration is twofold because partnerships build trails and trails build healthy Americans. Promoting trails for health is part of a larger effort by the Bush Administration to promote community partnerships aimed at encouraging physical fitness."

Each new trail will receive a certificate of designation and National Recreation Trail markers. There are now more than 800 National Recreation Trails located in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, totaling more than 9,000 miles.

Following the designations, Norton presented the first certificate and plaque representing the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail Park to the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks.

After the presentation, hikers from the American Hiking Society, National Recreation and Parks Association, Student Conservation Association and home schooling students joined the Secretary for a short walk along the C&O Canal towpath and adjacent Capital Crescent Trail.

The 185 mile long towpath is part of a national historical park administered by the National Park Service. The National Park System includes 763 miles of paved trails and more than 12,000 miles of unpaved trails.

The Capital Crescent trail is managed in a partnership between the National Park Service and Montgomery County, Maryland.

"These trails exist today because of the conservation successes of individuals and groups that sought to make a difference," said NPS superintendent Doug Faris. "Likewise, national recreation trails are a tribute to those who cared enough to turn their concern into action."

A list of the 26 trails and more information about the National Trails System is available from the National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program at: 202-565-1193