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Reports on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's disclosure on December 17, 2004, that about a third of Americans live in counties that do not meet standards for microscopic particles of pollution. Deadline set by the agency for affected states to develop plans to bring their problem counties into compliance; Provisions of the Clean Air Act; Measures proposed by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to reduce emissions of particulate matter and other regulated air pollutants.

Focuses on the environmental agenda of U.S. President George W. Bush's Administration and the Republican Party after Bush's re-election. Proposals to revamp laws on air pollution and endangered species; Energy bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration; Emphasis of the administration's environmental conservation efforts.

Reports on the downsizing of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation since 1994. Environmental Advocates of New York's argument that the job cuts weaken oversight and allow more violations; Agency's insistence that the state was continuing to enforce environmental laws.

Reports on the implementation of regulations to prevent global warming in the U.S. through the reduction of emissions and fuel consumption. Cost and benefit analysis for the regulations; Implications for the automobile industry; Environmental policies.

The article reports on changes made by U.S. President Donald Trump that weakened the National Environmentl Policy Act, including limiting public review of federal infrastructure projects to speed up the permitting of freeways, power plants and pipelines.

Reports that New York City, in an effort to reduce harmful emissions while raising the fuel economy of its huge fleet of vehicles, is set to impose strict environmental standards on cars and vans it buys, and to require that diesel trucks and buses be modified. Outlook for the City Council to approve a wide-ranging package of environmental bills intended to reduce tailpipe emissions; How the additional costs of using clean fuel and modifying existing engines with filters will be offset by savings in fuel consumption and lower health care costs; Implications for the city; Other changes, including antipollution devices for school buses; The city's focus on cleaning up diesel engines that have been identified as major sources of pollution.

Reports on the implications of the decision of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to consider counting fish raised in hatcheries when determining if some species are going extinct. Role of lawyer Mark C. Rutzick in changing the government's policy on endangered Pacific salmon; Criticism of members of the scientific community on the policy's impact on the federal species law.

The article reflects on the legislative changes of China's environmental protection law approved in April 2014 that would include stronger enforcement powers including the right to detain persistent violators and to fine polluters heavily than before.

Vienna, Va. LAST week, seven miles from the nearest road, setting up camp on a hillside looking west toward the blue-gray peaks of the North Cascades in Washington State, I found myself thinking about government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WASHINGTON -- The League of Women Voters is typically thought of as an earnest, civic-minded organization best known for hosting sober candidate debates and distributing studious voter guides to keep the citizenry informed. But two senators facing elections discovered this month that the group had decided to take its informational role to an entirely new level. Senators Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, and Scott P. Brown, Republican of Massachusetts, found themselves on the receiving end of a hard-hitting, big-money television campaign taking them to task for votes to limit the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THREE years after George Bush told us he wanted to be remembered as the ''environmental president,'' he has done little to earn that distinction -- unless one regards his catch-and-release policy on bonefishing as a major environmental initiative. We know the excuses by heart: a Treasury that is broke, an economy too fragile to bear the weight of new environmental regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In a tense standoff, BP continued to spray a product called Corexit in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday to break up a vast oil spill despite a demand by federal regulators that it switch to something less toxic. The Environmental Protection Agency had set a Sunday night deadline for BP to stop using two dispersants from the Corexit line of products. The oil company has defended its use of Corexit and taken issue with the methods the agency used to estimate its toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that it would not require power plants or other industrial sites to obtain federal pollution permits for emitting greenhouse gases before next January. The statement formally affirms an agency announcement last month that it would phase in the regulation of climate-altering gases over several years, starting with the largest sources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WHEN Andrew Pattison was looking to pursue a graduate degree in sustainability, he drew on his post-college experience working as a conservation biologist in upstate New York. Butterflies were his thing, and he produced numerous recommendations about what should be done to protect them. ''I found that quote-unquote important people who were decision makers would read the reports I filed and then not follow them,'' Mr. Pattison says. Those frustrations led him in a different direction. ''I knew I wanted to study the way decisions were made on environmental policy,'' he says. He also knew where many of the important decisions were made: in cities. With energy and climate policy, he says, ''the problem is global, but all politics are local.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It's hard to believe that the 1872 mining law is still with us. Signed by Ulysses S. Grant four years before the invention of the telephone, the law sets the rules for mining hardrock minerals like gold and copper. Useful in the days of westward expansion, it is a disaster now. It demands no royalties from the mining companies and provides minimal environmental protections. Its legacy, if it can be called that, is a battered landscape of abandoned mines and poisoned streams. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In one of the first tests of a new Pennsylvania law intended to make state records more readily available to the public, the State Department of Environmental Protection was ordered on Tuesday to copy and mail out documents to people who request them, rather than force people to come to its offices in Harrisburg. The test arose after E. Michael Zubey, a lawyer representing a company that wanted to know about water and sewer actions in Berks County, filed an open-records request on Jan. 13. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE country's largest companies pump millions and millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, earning billions of dollars while doing so. Last week, two senior House Democrats outlined a plan to cap carbon dioxide emissions and force companies to trade carbon emission credits; this would turn what was long unregulated into a tightly controlled commodity. The Environmental Protection Agency wants a piece of the action as well and is preparing to exert regulatory control over greenhouse gases through the Clean Air Act. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Bush administration said Wednesday that it was abandoning its pursuit of two proposed regulations relaxing air-pollution standards for power plants, surprising both industry and environmentalists by ending its pursuit of one of the last remaining goals set out by Vice President Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force in 2001. The Environmental Protection Agency's public affairs office sent out a brief statement by e-mail announcing that it would not pursue the changes in how power-plant emissions are measured, which would have allowed increases of hundreds of thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, the building blocks of smog and fine-particulate pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A Clinton administration rule that banned the building of new roads on undeveloped tracts of federal forests was invalidated once again on Tuesday by a federal judge in Wyoming. Judge Clarence A. Brimmer of Federal District Court upheld a request by the State of Wyoming to issue a permanent injunction against the mandate, saying that it violated two national environmental laws and left forest managers unable to do their jobs properly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Environmental Protection Agency announced that it intended to ban the use of the pesticide carbofuran, citing its harmful effects on children and the environment. The agency said the risks associated with exposure to carbofuran in food and water exceed levels established by the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. In 1991, Congress banned the granular form of the pesticide, which was blamed for the deaths of more than a million birds. In humans, the pesticide can cause long-term damage to the body's neurological and reproductive systems. The chemical is used to combat pests that feed on rice, cotton, corn, soybean and sugar cane crops, particularly in China; the agency says it is not widely used in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ethanol industry, until recently a golden child that got favorable treatment from Washington, is facing a critical decision on its future. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive regulations requiring the oil industry to blend ever-increasing amounts of ethanol into gasoline. A decision is expected in the next few weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article comments on the environmental policies of several U.S. states, which are pressurizing the U.S. government to take immediate steps. It reflects on the carbon dioxide emissions regulations issued by New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer. It is reported that the California government has filed a lawsuit seeking its own emission standards on automobiles and light trucks.

The article focuses on the examination of the environmental cleanup work in New Jersey. Lisa P. Jackson, New Jersey's commissioner of environmental protection's plan is to overhaul the department's $60 million cleanup program, which is responsible for monitoring of more than 16,000 contaminated sites.

The article focuses on the steps that firms need to take to counter challenges facing them in doing business while complying with environmental regulations. Firms that are into the development of energy sources find it hard to get investors, suppliers and customers while being environmental friendly. They should focus on changing ideas and should not shirk from even asking the founder of their business to go. They should look for a new executive who has new ideas to run the business.

Comments on the legislative struggle to look for ways to improve fuel economy in cars and address the environmental problems associated with automobiles in the U.S.

Discusses a little known environmental regulation called the Berkshire Scenic Mountain Act, a bill passed by the Massachusetts State Legislature and adopted by the town of Richmond in 1974 to protect its watershed resources and preserve the scenic qualities of the mountainous area. Reference to the fact that in Richmond, Massachusetts landowners who hope to build in a protected mountainous zone must meet a number of guidelines: their projects must not be visible above the ridge line, tree-cutting must be limited to one-quarter of an acre, and it cannot cause erosion or flooding that would damage water quality; Controversies between residents who want to build and the town's Conservation Commission.

Reports that a court-appointed monitor told a federal judge that officials of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection tried to impede investigations of possible violations of federal health, safety and environmental laws in regards to the city's water supply. Charges that one employee who voiced concerns about equipment and emergency response procedures was ordered to leave a site as inspectors were arriving to conduct interviews about compliance; Other examples of alleged obstruction by the agency; Comments from acting commissioner, David B. Tweedy on the need for an open culture in the agency.

Discusses how the Environmental Protection Agency filed a complaint against DuPont, charging the company with withholding evidence of its own health and environmental concerns about chemicals used to manufacture Teflon. How Teflon constituents found in rivers, soil, wild animals, and humans have violated federal environmental law; Claims from DuPont that it met its legal reporting obligations; Possibility that DuPont will be charged up to $25,000 a day from the time the company learned of potential problems until January 1997; Investigation of whether the substance called perfluorooctanoic acid is harmful to human health.

Reports on the efforts of Russia to win support for membership into the World Trade Organization from the European Union. Support of the environmental treaty on emissions known as the Kyoto Protocol; Plans of Russian President Vladimir Putin to integrate Russia into the global economy; Requirement for the leading industrialized countries to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases; Consideration of the global support for the Kyoto Protocol markets; Impact of the agreement on Russia's trade talks with the U.S.

Reports on the delay of a legislative bill promoted by New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey which aims to protect almost a million acres of natural resources in the northwestern part of the state.

Criticizes the Bush administration's policy on counting fish, and its attempt to circumvent the Endangered Species Act. Protection of the habitats where endangered species live; Elimination of the distinction between wild salmon and hatchery salmon.

Reports on the petition by North Carolina to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enforce other states in the U.S. to cut down power plant pollution. List of U.S. states petitioned for clean air; Estimation of EPA regarding nation's population who will be living in areas in violation of the Clean Air Act; Expected date for the agency to respond to North Carolina's petition.

Reports that David Anderson, the environment minister of Canada, has indicated that his country would emulate California's new law aimed at curbing automotive global warming emissions if carmakers did not agree to make significant reductions. Negative reaction of automakers in California to the global warming law; Canada negotiating with automakers and representatives of other industries.

Reports on the plan of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release proposals that closely track the amendments of U.S. President George W. Bush to the Clean Air Act. Identification of the main pollutants released from burning fossil fuels; Expansion of the current pollution trading systems for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides; Criticism regarding the proposals.

Reports that General Motors and DaimlerChrysler are dropping lawsuits against California over a landmark clean-air regulation that requires the production of millions of low-emission cars and trucks. How the move creates a temporary environmental truce between the auto industry and California; Background on the so-called ZEV mandate, which spurred development of hybrid vehicles; Implications of the dropping of the legal challenge for automakers; History of the challenge to the zero-emissions mandate.

Examines the environmental policy of the United States President George W. Bush administration. Similarity of Bush's approach to that of former President Ronald Reagan's; Efforts to tie environmental protection to other goals, such as economic growth and increased energy production; Role of regulation in implementing these policies; Overview of major changes in the areas of air, water, land, energy and global climate; Policy shapers; Criticism of regulations. INSET: Policy Shapers, Well Known and Little Known.

Reports on the legal challenge filed by nine states in the Northeastern U.S. to air-pollution rules for power plants and other industries. Concern that these rules would bring more acid rain, more smog, more asthma, and more respiratory disease to Americans; Defense of the rules by the Environmental Protection Agency; Opinion of the nine states that the rules represent the most serious effort at rolling back the Clean Air Act.

Reports that the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush announced changes that would loosen industrial air pollution rules. Statement from the administration that the initiatives would encourage plant improvements that would clean the air; Criticism of the changes by environmentalists, Democrats, and Republicans; Plans from attorneys general in six states to sue; Description of how an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made the announcement; Written statement by EPA administrator Christie Whitman; Specifics of the changes; Implications of the policies for plants that are exempt from the 1977 Clean Air Act; Application of the rules at industrial plants, oil refineries and manufacturing plants.

Reports on the criticisms of Democrats in the U.S. against the enforcement of the environmental laws by the administration of President George W. Bush.

Editorial. Comments on the National Environmental Policy Act of the U.S.

Focuses on the efforts of developing countries to restrict the freedom of American research. Example of the ownership controversy surrounding United States company Abbott Laboratories' development of a painkiller modeled on the active chemical in Amazon rain forest frog secretions; Consideration of wild animals, plants and crops as `genetic resources'; Role of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 in allowing nations sovereignty over their genetic resources; Effects on scientific developments; Outlook.

Informs that New York Governor George E. Pataki has announced plans to strengthen the state's enforcement of environmental laws. The action coming after two years of criticism from US Environmental Protection Agency; Focus on laws limiting air pollution from large sources such as factories and power plants.

Reports on the financing of the campaign for the adoption of the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act. Source of funds for campaign; Quotations on amount of funds raised for campaign; Reason for criticism by Democrats of contributions to campaign by powerful interest groups.