EPA  and
  Western  European Countries
  Bilateral Contacts

 Most cooperative efforts between EPA and  Western
 European  countries place  within the framework of
 multilaterial organizations, such as the Economic Com-
 mission for Europe and the Organization for Economic
 Cooperation and Development. With the exception of
 the  Federal Republic  of  Germany  (described on  a
 separate sheet), there are no  formal environmental
 agreements between the United States and Western
 European countries, but informal bilateral contacts are
 frequently initiated through letter exchanges, and these
 can lead to visits by one side or the other for detailed
 discussions or for on-site  inspections of innovative
 work. Some of these contacts are:

 •  With Norway on means for prevention and cleanup of
 oil spills;

 •  With France on EPA laboratory study of the biological
 effects of thermal effluents and trace metals;

 •  With France on the  biological effects of major oil
 spills, using the damage to the  French coast from the
 Amoco Cadiz as a laboratory;

 •  With Spain on air pollution problems and the environ-
 mental effects of mercury;

 •  With Great  Britain on advanced wastewater treat-
 ment and land disposal of sewage sludge.

   EPA sometimes enters into contractual  agreements
 with European research organizations uniquely qualified
 in  certain areas to conduct specific studies  of environ-
 mental problems. Examples of this are:

 • The International Flame  Research  Foundation  in
 Ijmuiden, Netherlands has done work on improvement of
 combustion process to reduce emissions from power
 plants and industry.

• The Esso  Research Center in England has done work
on fuel cleaning and improved combustion processes.
• The Karolinska Institute in Sweden has studied metal
toxicity.

• The Physics Institute of the University of Vienna has
worked on advanced automatic aerosol analyzers and
investigations of physical properties of aerosols.

• The French Nuclear Research Center at Fontenay-
aux-Roses has used diffusion batteries to study aerosol
distribution and urban atmospheric aerosols.
                                                                            oEPA
                                                                                United Slates
                                                                                Environmental Protection
                                                                                Agency

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