ACCESSION NUMBER:00000

FILE ID:97062401.txt

DATE:06/24/97

TITLE:24-06-97 TEXT: CLINTON/GORE RECORD OF PROGRESS SINCE RIO EARTH SUMMIT

(U.S. lists five years of environmental achievements) (2910)

United Nations -- As world leaders began a review of the commitments, goals and accomplishments in sustainable development and environmental protection since the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the United States has released a report of its own accomplishments in the past five years.

Included in the six-page list handed out June 23 were: efforts to ban ocean dumping of radio-active waste, the U.S. Climate Studies Program, moving the environment into the mainstream of U.S. foreign policy, development of an environmental technology export strategy, financing f sustainable development programs overseas and a phase-out of 12 dangerous organic pollutants.

Following is the White House text of the "Progress Since Rio" list:

PROGRESS SINCE RIO THE CLINTON/GORE RECORD

The Clinton Administration is working at home and abroad to implement the commitments, goals and vision of the Rio Earth Summit. The following is a snapshot of the Administration's efforts.

PROTECTING OCEANS

-- The U.S. was the first nuclear power to fight for a ban on ocean dumping of low-level radioactive waste. This resulted in a global ban.

-- The U.S. fought for an international action plan to cut land-based sources of marine pollution, agreed to at the Washington Conference in 1993.

-- Through the International Coral Reef Initiative, the U.S. is working with more than 70 other nations to protect the world's coral reefs.

-- The U.S. helped shape the U.N. Agreement for Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks, an important new global agreement to protect ocean fisheries.

PROTECTING WILDLIFE AND BIODIVERSITY

-- Shortly after taking office, President Clinton signed the Biodiversity Convention, which still awaits advise and consent to ratification by the U.S. Senate.

-- The U.S. led efforts to create a 12 million square mile international whale sanctuary off Antarctica.

-- The U.S. imposed trade sanctions against Taiwan for trade in gravely endangered rhinos and tigers.

-- Through technical assistance and training, the administration's Partnership for Biodiversity is helping nations, including Brazil, Ecuador, Uganda, India, Guatemala, Tanzania, and South Africa, preserve their wildlife.

-- To make the U.S. Endangered Species Act more effective, the Administration is setting up "Habitat Conservation Plans" -- voluntary partnerships for endangered species recovery. These public-private partnerships protect species while allowing for development.

-- By the end of 1997, 400 Habitat Conservation Plans will be in place, protecting some 18 million acres.

-- The Administration has fought efforts to undercut the Endangered Species Act.

FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE

-- The U.S. shaped the international climate change negotiations with a call for binding emissions targets, flexibility in meeting those targets and the participation of all nations.

-- The U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation has 23 projects in 11 countries, ranging from renewable energy technologies to forest conservation.

-- The U.S. Climate Studies Program has assisted more than 55 developing nations inventory their emissions, analyze their vulnerabilities to climate change, and address these impacts.

-- President Clinton is fighting for more than $1,000 million in funding for renewable energy' and energy efficiency programs.

-- Under the Climate Change Challenge Program, more than 70% of U.S. utilities have voluntarily committed to reduce their emissions.

-- Under the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, the administration is working with U.S. automobile manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency by a factor of three, by the year 2004, without compromising safety or performance.

-- The President has put in place standards to significantly reduce methane emissions from U.S. landfills.

SAFEGUARDING FORESTS

-- The U.S. helped craft the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. Agreed to by over 80 nations, the recommendations go beyond the provisions of the Rio Forests Principles in protecting forests.

-- The U.S. provided technical assistance to Surinam to help evaluate large, proposed logging concessions for primary forests.

-- The United States is working with Indonesia, the nations of Central and South America, China, Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, Japan and our North American partners to save valuable forests around the world.

-- President Clinton developed the Pacific Northwest Forest Plan, the first wide-scale implementation of ecosystem management in the U.S. Similar efforts are proceeding in other parts of the country.

BUILDING A NATIONAL CONSENSUS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

-- The President created the President's Council on Sustainable Development. The PCSD brings together business, environmental and community leaders to advise the President in pursuing a national sustainable development strategy.

-- In 1996, the PCSD released a national sustainable development action plan. This comprehensive strategy report is now being used in implementing sustainable development at the local, regional, national and international levels.

LINKING NATURAL SECURITY AND NATIONAL SECURITY

-- The President is puffing environment in the mainstream of U.S. foreign policy.

-- The U.S. State Department has created twelve regional environmental hubs to address transboundary environmental problems that require regional solutions.

-- As part of the Administration-led Middle East peace process, the United States chairs the Multilateral Working Group on Water Resources.

-- Together with the G-7, the United States is working to improve safety at Soviet-designed nuclear reactors and is helping safely to close the reactor at Chernobyl.

PROMOTING ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES

-- The President's environmental technology export strategy combined with efforts of the private sector, and state and local partners, helped U.S. environmental exports reach $14,500 million in 1995, an increase of 50 percent over the 1993 level.

-- The President created the Environmental Technology' Trade Advisory Committee to strengthen the link between the government and the envirotech sector.

-- The U.S. Agency for International Development's Initiative for Environmental Technologies is working in partnership with the private sector to assist developing countries meet environmental challenges.

-- The Department of Energy's Industries of the Future Program is leveraging R&D resources for increased energy efficiency and more efficient environmental protection for seven sectors of the economy -- forest and paper, steel, aluminum, metal casting, glass, chemicals, and petroleum refining.

-- The Administration developed the National Environmental Technology Strategy. The strategy is guiding the development of new technologies for environmental protection and management toward five goals; performance, flexibility and accountability, innovation, commercialization, sustainable communities and collaboration between sectors.

-- The President established the Center of Excellence for Sustainable Communities. This Department of Energy program helps communities implement sustainable development strategies, in particular energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts.

-- Vice President Gore started the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, which links students with teachers and scientists working on environmental experiments and research. More than 100,000 students in 3,400 schools across 47 countries participate.

-- On Earth Day 1993, President Clinton announced the "Greening of the White House" initiative -- a comprehensive, multi-year project that will improve the energy efficiency and reduce the waste produced by the nation's home.

HELPING FINANCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ABROAD

-- Under President Clinton's Africa Trade Initiative, roughly 50% more products from African nations will enter the U.S. duty-free.

-- The U.S. worked with Canada and Mexico to ensure that the North American Free Trade Agreement protected environmental and public health standards.

-- The U.S. led the way in forging alongside the NAFTA the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and the creation of the Commission on Environmental Cooperation.

-- The U.S. leads efforts to promote environmental standards and assessments at the multilateral development banks.

-- The U.S. leads efforts to promote common environmental guidelines for export credit agencies.

-- In the past five years, the U.S. has supported local conservation of Indonesia's rich biological diversity; helped create solid waste disposal systems in Lima, Peru; helped Ecuador develop an independent solid waste disposal system; assisted tie Czech Republic establish a market-oriented lending for environmental infrastructure projects; helped provide 20 million Egyptians with wastewater treatment services; reduced pollution from Mexico's Manzanillo power plant; and, assisted Senegalese farmers manage fragile lands and increase their incomes and food security.

-- In 1995 alone, U.S. AID responded to 38 requests for disaster assistance to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters including 20 floods, three epidemics, two hurricanes, four droughts, a volcanic eruption, a mudslide, and one locust outbreak.

-- The Administration's microenterprise initiative is funding roughly 150 microenterprise institutions, in 40 countries, directly assisting roughly 20 million people improve their standard of living.

-- In Agadir, Morocco, the U.S. worked with local authorities to build over 1,000 environmentally sound housing units, provide thousands of former squatters new skills and create microenterprise employment opportunities. The Agadir initiative was selected for one of 12 U.N. Awards of Excellence In Improving the Living Environment.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL TO EMPOWER WOMEN

-- During his first weeks in office, the President reversed the Reagan and Bush Administrations' "Mexico City Policy" of arbitrarily withholding international funding from nongovernmental organizations that provide information on family planning.

-- The Administration's efforts led the way to an historic global consensus on population issues at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development. In Cairo, the Administration led efforts to permit families to freely determine the number, spacing and timing of their children.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL FOR EXPANDING THE PUBLIC'S RIGHT TO KNOW

-- The Clinton Administration increased the number of facilities that must report their toxic releases by roughly 30 percent. These 6,600 new facilities bring the total number of facilities that must provide the public information about their releases on a community-by-community basis to 31,000.

-- Seven new categories of facilities, including coal and metal mining, and waste treatment, have been added to the right to know program.

-- The Administration added 286 new types of toxic releases that facilities must report, nearly doubling the list of toxics covered. Over 100 of these toxics are known to be cancer causing.

-- President Clinton issued Executive Orders requiring both federal facilities and industries that the federal government purchases goods from to provide the public with information about their toxic releases.

-- On June 12,1997, the Administration agreed to work with Canada and Mexico to help citizens throughout North America have access to continent wide information on toxic releases.

-- The President and Vice President required home sellers and landlords to disclose known information about lead-based paint hazards and give buyers and renters an optional period for lead inspections.

-- The Clinton Administration enacted a law requiring major food stores to provide consumers with information about health risks from pesticide residues found in the foodstuffs they sell. The law also requires that stores provide information about ways that these risks can be avoided.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL TO PROVIDE CLEAN WATER

-- The President signed the Safe Drinking Water Act requiring stronger health standards that will eliminate dangerous contaminants from drinking water, and requiring constant monitoring to ensure the safety of drinking water.

-- The President required that drinking water standards protect those most vulnerable to water contamination, in particular children and the elderly.

-- The Clinton Administration expanded tough controls on lead plumbing and fixtures. The President and Vice President have stood their ground, preventing Congressional efforts to rollback safe drinking water laws.

-- The President required drinking water systems to report to the public contamination found in their water.

-- President Clinton required drinking water suppliers to immediately notify their consumers whenever contamination levels exceed the federal standards.

-- The President -- for the first time ever -- authorized $10,000 million in loan funds to help local communities improve their drinking water systems.

-- The Administration provided subsidies to disadvantaged areas to assist them in meeting the costs of improving their drinking water systems.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL FOR FOOD SAFETY

-- The President signed the Food Quality Protection Act, establishing clear, consistent, health-based food safety standards for all pesticide use on all foods for all health risks.

-- The Clinton administration has' taken dozens of dangerous pesticides off the market, while simultaneously speeding up the availability of safer replacements.

-- The President issued strict new standards to prevent deadly E. coli bacteria contamination in meat.

-- The President enacted special provisions to protect infants and children from pesticide residues.

-- The President and Vice President have defeated Congressional efforts to rollback our food safety laws.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL FOR BETTER AIR QUALITY

-- The Clinton Administration required that within three years chemical plants must reduce toxic air pollutants by 90 percent.

-- The President, in 1995, issued a standard to reduce air pollution from 165 oil refineries across the nation. This standard will reduce the toxic pollution from these facilities by 60 percent.

-- The President has strengthened the air standards for municipal waste incinerators - cutting dioxin emissions by 99 percent and sharply reduce other dangerous pollutants, such as mercury and lead.

-- The Clinton Administration greatly strengthened the air emissions standards that apply to solid waste landfills. This standard is the smog busting equivalent of removing 3.5 million cars from America's roads.

-- The President is calling upon Congress to pass the National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act, "NEXTEA." NEXTEA is a six-year, $175,000 million investment program to improve America's transportation infrastructure, including a 30 percent increase for efforts to combat smog and congestion, improve mass transit systems, support scenic byways and recreational trails.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL TO CONTROL TOXICS

-- The U.S. led the international community to negotiate a phase-out of 12 dangerous persistent organic pollutants, including DDT and PCBs.

-- In just the last four years, the Clinton administration has cleaned up 279 toxic waste sites; as many as the two previous administrations cleaned up in 12 years--the Administration's work accounts for 64 percent of the total 434 toxic hotspots cleaned up under the program.

-- Under the President and Vice President's leadership the Department of Energy has in three years completed 119 interim and 75 large-scale environmental cleanups at contaminated nuclear facilities.

-- The President's "Fast Track Cleanup" program has dramatically accelerated the clean up of closed military bases, speeding the revitalization of affected communities--saving more than $100 million in costs and cutting 80 years off cleanup schedules at over 70 installations.

-- The Clinton Administration has vetoed efforts that would have shifted the cost of cleaning up dangerously polluted sites from those who caused the pollution onto the American taxpayer.

-- The President and Vice President have defeated efforts to cut hack on our environmental cleanup programs.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL TO SAFEGUARD OUR PUBLIC LANDS

-- The U.S. "Parks in Peril" program has improved on-site management in 28 Latin American parks covering 7.8 million hectares. The program has also fostered the development of democratic civil societies by strengthening 19 NGOs.

-- The President created the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument protecting 1.7 million acres of redrock canyonlands, natural arches bridges and plateaus, and forest areas over 1,400 years old.

-- The President pushed for and signed legislation that created or improved roughly 120 national parks, trails, rivers and historical sites.

-- The President fought for and signed the California Desert Protection Act establishing the largest wilderness area in the continental United States --protecting more than 3.6 million acres of wilderness and 3.9 million acres of desert in three new national parks.

-- The President and Vice President have committed $1,500 million over seven years to efforts to restore the Florida Everglades. The Administration has committed to acquire over 100,000 acres of land necessary to save the "River of Grass."

-- The Clinton Administration is crafting an agreement with private mining interests to prevent mining activities in the vicinity of Yellowstone National Park the world's first national park.

IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21'S CALL TO PROTECT OUR WATERS

-- The President refocused the Conservation Reserve Program to encourage more environmentally protective practices. Farmers in the reserve program reduce sediment in our nation's waters by 90 million tons per year.

-- The President has fought efforts to undercut protections for America's vital wetlands.

-- President Clinton will designate ten new American Heritage Rivers in 1997.

-- The Administration's Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative will clean up 121 miles of tributaries in five states.

-- In an historic first, the President's 1997 budget calls for the removal of two dams off the Elwha River, opening up more than 70 miles of wild water for roughly 250,000 native salmon.

REINVENTING ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

-- The EPA alone has already eliminated more than 15 million hours of paperwork and redtape for business seeking to comply with environmental laws.

-- The President has initiated targeted reforms of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act designed to cut unnecessary redtape from the program.

-- The President and Vice President's efforts are eliminating some 1,400 pages of obsolete rules, 10 percent of the total.

-- President Clinton's Project XL rewards businesses that are meeting environmental laws with the flexibility necessary to go beyond compliance -- if a business can find a better, cheaper way to improve environmental performance Project XL provides them the means to do so.

-- With seed money from the Administration, cities across the nation are participating in pilot projects to redevelop brownfields -- abandoned contaminated industrial sites. Forty brownfields pilot programs are moving forward, and the Administration's 1997 budget expands this effort.

-- The President has proposed a new brownfields tax incentive that would leverage $10,00 million in private sector clean up investment, and help clean up 30,000 brownfields sites.

-- The Common Sense policy allows EPA to waive or reduce penalties for small business, first time violators of environmental laws if they find the problem, inform the agency and fix the problem. The policy gives a 180-day grace period to correct certain violations without a penalty.

END