reimagining relationships
Home   Store   Free GIS   Education   Free Shapefiles   Census   Weather   Energy   Climate Change   News   Maps   TOPO   Aerial   GPS   Learn GIS

DOWNLOAD SHAPEFILES: Canada FSA Postal - Zip Code - U.S. Waterbodies & Wetlands - Geographic Names - School Districts - Indian Federal Lands
Zip Code/Demographics - Climate Change - U.S. Streams, Rivers & Waterways - Tornadoes - Nuclear Facilities - Dams & Risk - 2013 Toxic Release Inventory TRI

ANWR Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; What is at stake; removed USFWS website; photos, maps, descriptions

tools for survival plans Maps Food Water Health Gardening Energy Housing Security Communications Livelihood

Money Making Tips Work from Home Make Money Used Lumber & Building Materal Beginner's Guide Buy/Sell Gold Electronics & Computer

GIS Shapefile Store - for Beginners & Experienced GIS Users Alike. Geographic Names Information System, Nuclear Facilities, Zip Code Boundaries, School Districts, Indian & Federal Lands, Climate Change, Tornadoes, Dams - Create digital GIS maps in minutes.

Toxic Release Inventory TRI Shapefiles

Canada FSA Postal Code Shapefile

GNIS Shapefiles 2,000,000+ Points

Nuclear Energy Facilities in the U.S.

Download Zip Code with Demographics Shapefiles

Download U.S. Streams & Rivers Shapefiles

Download Water Body & Wetland Shapefiles

Download Zip Code Boundary Shapefiles

Download School District Shapefiles

Download Indian & Federal Land Shapefiles

Download Climate Change Shapefiles

Download Tornado Shapefiles

Download Dams & Risks Shapefiles

Follow Mapcruzin.com on Twitter Follow on Twitter

Didn't find what you are looking for? Email me and I'll find it for you.

Progressive Links

Federation of American Scientists

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Union of Concerned Scientists

Alternet

Reader Supported News

Common Dreams

Truthout

Huffington Post

Media Matters

Think Progress

Grist Environmental News

Climate Shift Blog

MapCruzin Consulting
Data Research and GIS Specialists.

GIS Tutorials

GIS Basics

GIS Terminology

Of Interest

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Maps

Climate Shift - The effects of climate shift on the future of planet earth and its inhabitants.

Right to Know or Left to Wonder?

Hazardscapes - Toxic and Nuclear Risks in your backyard.

War & Environment

Worst Case Scenarios: Terrorism & industrial chemicals.

U.S. Backs Out of Pollution Register Treaty Group
Fair Use Statement

Sponsors

<-- Return To Right-to-Know or Left-to-Wonder?

Source: ENS

U.S. Backs Out of Pollution Register Treaty Group

GENEVA, Switzerland, November 25, 2002 (ENS) - The United States today pulled out of a United Nations conference to finalize an international agreement that will provide the public with greater access to information about sources of pollution. The treaty will require participating countries to collect and publish information on the quantities of pollutants released from certain industrial sources.

The U.S. delegation announced at this morning's session that it would not formally join the negotiations of a working group to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, also known as the Aarhus Convention.

Sponsors

A source familiar with the U.S. position said the United States believes the proposals for pollution release and transfer registers do not go far enough.

One of the primary U.S. concerns is that that several European countries favor a system that reports waste without specifying specific pollutants, rather than one that details individual pollutants.

The U.S. delegation withdrew because it does not see the model emerging from the meeting as a good global model, the source said.

The Aarhus Convention's working group on pollution release and transfer registers is meeting this week in Geneva to hammer out the final details of the public information protocol.

It will cover information on the disposal, storage, recycling and treatment of industrial pollutants. The information will be compiled into publicly available pollutant release and transfer registers.

According to its statement, the U.S. delegation believes that the text of the resolution does not adequately address several areas, including public access to chemical-specific information concerning transfers of wastes.

While the United States has neither signed nor ratified the Aarhus Convention, a U.S. delegation had participated in talks leading up to this week's meeting, which is the seventh meeting of the working group on pollutant release and transfer registers.

Environmentalists are upset with the U.S. withdrawal because it is one of a few nations that already has a well established system of pollution reporting. The U.S. Toxics Release Inventory was set up in 1986 and is a publicly available database from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It contains information on releases of some 650 chemicals and chemical categories from industries including manufacturing, metal and coal mining, electric utilities, hazardous waste and others.

Sponsors

"This is very disappointing news. The U.S. departure increases the likelihood that this new right-to-know law will be a weak instrument, and unfortunately strengthens the EU [European Union] countries' hand," said Friends of the Earth pollution researcher Mary Taylor, speaking on behalf of the coalition of nongovernmental organizations European ECO Forum.

"Issues now at risk include draft text concerning the public's right to know about on-site disposal and off-site destinations of hazardous wastes," Taylor said.

U.S. State Department officials declined to comment.

Friends of the Earth and other environmental groups sounded warnings ahead of this week's meeting as they believe several European countries are looking for ways to weaken the new protocol by excluding some chemicals and radioactive waste.

The majority of issues must be finalized during this meeting, including the final list of chemicals and whether the disposal or storage of hazardous chemicals on-site should be included.

There is also debate over whether some chemicals linked to cancer should be excluded from the registers, and the exact list of industries and activities to be covered is yet to be determined.

Most Parties to the convention are opposed to including nuclear facilities under the treaty.

"The protocol should be a step forward for many countries, but the lack of ambition - particularly from the EU - is dismal," Taylor said.

"The public should have the right to know what chemicals are being discharged by companies and where they are being stored," she said. "Protecting certain sectors such as the nuclear industry from public scrutiny, or avoiding the inclusion of cancer causing chemicals, is scandalous."

In addition, environmentalists are specifically concerned that parties aim to exclude from the registers beryllium, chromium VI and styrene.

Beryllium is a lightweight metal commonly used in electronic appliances, golf clubs and non-sparking tools. It is found in coal, oil, certain rock minerals, volcanic dust, and soil. Beryllium is toxic and can cause lung cancer and skin disease.

Chromium is produced by burning coal and fossil fuels; it is used in stainless steel plating, chrome plating and leather tanning. Manufacturing or disposal of products or chemical containing chromium, releases chromium VI, a carcinogen, into the air, soil and water.

Styrene is a synthetic chemical used in rubber, plastics, insulation, fiberglass and auto parts. It is considered a possible carcinogen, and some studies of people who work closely with styrene have shown that breathing it may cause leukemia.

The Aarhus Convention was signed in 1998 by 35 countries from Europe and Central Asia and is named for the Danish city where the signing occurred. It is open to countries within the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) as well as to states having consultative status with the ECE. This includes the United States and Canada.

The convention requires signatories to provide environmental information to the public unless it would adversely impact international relations, security and national defense. It covers the energy sector, the mineral and chemical industries, waste management, industrial plants, dams, quarries, and the release of genetically modified organisms.

By June 2001, 17 countries had ratified the convention, and it entered into effect on October 30, 2001. Five more have ratified the treaty since then.

The United Nations touts the Aarhus Convention as a new kind of environmental agreement, one that links environmental rights with human rights. It acknowledges that humanity owes an obligation to future generations and establishes that sustainable development can be achieved only through the involvement of all stakeholders.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has hailed the Aarhus Convention as the "the most ambitious venture in the area of environmental democracy so far undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations."

"Although regional in scope, the significance of the Aarhus Convention is global," Annan said. "It is by far the most impressive elaboration of principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, which stresses the need for citizen's participation in environmental issues and for access to information on the environment held by public authorities."

Annan has described the Aarhus Convention as a giant step forward in the development of international law in the environmental field.

It is the first international, legally binding mechanism for access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice in environmental matters.

This meeting of the convention's working group on pollution release and transfer registers will continue through November 29. The final version of the protocol is expected to be formally voted on by the convention's parties at a May 2003 meeting in Kiev, Ukraine.

Find out more about the Aarhus Convention online at: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved.

<-- Return To Right-to-Know or Left-to-Wonder?

Didn't find what you are looking for? We've been online since 1996 and have created 1000's of pages. Search below and you may find just what you are looking for.


Michael R. Meuser
Data Research & GIS Specialist

MapCruzin.com is an independent firm specializing in GIS project development and data research. We created the first U.S. based interactive toxic chemical facility maps on the internet in 1996 and we have been online ever since. Learn more about us and our services.

Have a project in mind? If you have data, GIS project or custom shapefile needs contact Mike.

Contact Us

Report Broken Links

Subscribe for Updates

Follow on Facebook
News & Updates

Find: Maps, Shapefiles, GIS Software & More

MapCruzin Blog for updates, questions and answers
Blog Updates

More Blog Updates

Downloads

Google Earth Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Maps
Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0
State GIS Shapefiles, Maps & Resources
GIS Shapefiles & Maps
GIS Programs, Tools & Resources
Free World Country & Regional Maps
GIS / GPS Careers and Job Positions
Disease Outbreak Maps
TOPO Maps
Extreme Weather & Disaster Maps
Free World Maps from the CIA Factbook
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ANWR Maps
Oil and Gas Maps
Africanized Honey Bees
Renewable Energy Potential Maps of the United States
Terrorism Maps
War Maps
Google Maps
Weather Maps
GPS Resources
Historical Maps of the World
Google Earth
Library of Congress American Memory Map Downloads
Toxic Chemical Pollution Maps
Climate Change Maps
Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Maps
Census Shapefiles
World Maps

Issues

Environmental Justice
Data Sources
Greenwash & JunkScience
Statistical Resources
Wireless Dangers
Surviving Climate Change
Global Right-To-Know
Creating Living Economies
Books of Note
Toxic Klamath River
Federal Lands Maps
TRI Analysis
TRI Webmaps
EnviroRisk Map Network
Community-Based Research
Right-To-Know or Left to Wonder?
Chemical Industry Archives
21st Century Warfare
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology
Globalization/Democracy
National Parks and Public Lands
Trade Secrets/Toxic Deception
GIS Books
Our Projects
Other Projects
1999 Archive Environews
Environmental Books
Environmental Links
Redwood Coast Information
Recycle, Salvage, Reuse

Resources
Shapefile Store
Free GIS Software
Free Map Downloads
Free Shapefiles
Free Remote Sensing
Free Topo Maps
Free GIS Tutorial
Free GPS
ToxicRisk.com
ClimateShift.com
Maptivist.com

About MapCruzin - Cookies, Privacy, Fair Use and Disclaimer - Advertise on MapCruzin.com

Copyright © 1996 - 2019 Michael Meuser, All Rights Reserved
MapCruzin is a Pop-Up Free Website -- Best Viewed With ANY Browser