International Activity
 on Air Pollution
 at  EPA
Air pollution is a serious problem in many nations. It is
also a problem in international relations, as pollutants
are transported across international boundaries, affect-
ing nations hundreds of miles from the pollution source.
Air pollution may  represent  a threat to the  global
environment as well. Many countries have acted to pro-
tect the ozone  layer from fluorocarbons, and there is
growing concern about the effect on the weather of in-
creases in  carbon  dioxide from combustion  of fossil
fuels.
  Technology for controlling air pollution is being rapidly
developed  in a number of nations.  Through bilateral
contacts and through  multilateral international organi-
zations, EPA is sharing its data on pollution control with
other nations and becoming acquainted with new tech-
nologies and methods developed elsewhere. Joint proj-
ects are under  way with European countries to assess
specific technologies for removing sulfur dioxide and
other pollutants from flue gases. The United States and
Germany are focusing on this problem, and the U.S. is
involved in a similar study under the auspices of the
Committee on the  Challenges of Modern Society. Ex-
changes of information and technology are under way
with  the  Soviet   Union,  Japan,  France,  Spain,
Yugoslavia, and Poland.
  American standards for automobile exhaust are the
most  stringent in the world. EPA has urged other na-
tions to adopt equivalent standards as well as American
testing procedures. These discussions have taken place
primarily within the Economic Commission for Europe
(ECE) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD).
  International concern with the long distance transport
of air pollution  has led  to a number of studies. The
primary concern is with  acid rain,  which is caused  by
burning of sulfurous fuels.
  Acid rain has  killed fish in many lakes in Scandinavia,
the northeastern United States, and Ontario Province in
Canada. Acid rain also stunts the growth of forests and
crops. Following the Helsinki Final Act of 1975,  the
Economic Commission for Europe has studied this prob-
lem and members of the ECE  are expected to ratify a
Convention of Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
at a high  level meeting of environment ministers in
November,  1979.
  Under the auspices of the Global Environment Moni-
toring System of the United Nations Environment Pro-
gram  (UNEP), EPA's World Health Organization Col-
laborating Center on Environmental Pollution Control
has monitored urban  air pollution, and published  a
report on its findings in 1978. EPA has been involved in
a UNEP study of depletion of the ozone layer.
  Transboundary air pollution problems arise as well
between  the  United States  and  its  two immediate
neighbors.  EPA has provided  technical assistance  to
negotiations with both Canada and Mexico seeking
solutions to these problems.
                                                                              
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