As part of its partnership activities with the town of Cabuyao in the Laguna Province of the Philippines, a consortium of Minnesota state agencies and businesses are hosting a delegation from Cabuyao, August 25-28. Through a grant from US-AEP's State Environmental Initiative, Minnesota and Cabuyao have been working closely together since August 1996 to develop a solid waste management plan for the Laguna District�an area of the Philippines that suffers from open dumping and burning of garbage. Following visits by Minnesota partners to the Philippines in late 1996 and early 1997, the Philippine partners are traveling to Minnesota for the first time to meet with Lt. Governor Joanne Benson, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Peder Larson and Trade and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Novak and participate in site visits to observe wetmarket/food waste and medical waste disposal systems, a lined landfill, wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities, integrated waste management, waste collection systems, recycling facilities, and a compost energy recovery system. The State Environmental Initiative program is managed by the Council of State Governments.

Chai S. Gee, Director of the Environmental Engineering Division of the Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT), spent three months (March-June 1997) working with the University of Illinois' research project on advanced water treatment systems, specifically activated carbon filter technology. This technology has been developed to remove odor and taste compounds from potable water sources. The collaborative research efforts between KICT and the University of Illinois' Department of Environmental Engineering�a leader in the United States on potable water research and technology application�aim to develop the activated carbon technology to such a point that it is commercially viable for municipal water stations in both Korea and the United States. KICT is in the fifth year of a ten- year extensive research program on potable water technologies, funded by both the Ministry of Construction Technology and the Ministry of the Environment. In addition to the research undertaken during the fellowship, Gee and his U.S. counterpart, Vernon Snoeyink, outlined future research and financial collaboration between the two institutions. This three-month fellowship was made possible through US-AEP's Environmental Exchange Program, implemented by the Institute of International Education.

Under the sponsorship of the Pueblo of Taos, a group of three Native American companies, Pueblo of Taos Environmental Program and Laboratory, Americans for Indian Opportunity, and National Tribal Environmental Council, received a US-AEP Environmental Technology Fund grant to conduct a technology workshop, demonstrations, and focused business meetings in India. Sectors being addressed include solid waste management (particularly source reduction, resource recovery, recycling, and proper disposal); environmental monitoring and data acquisition; groundwater and surface water (especially river) protection; and development of environmental regulations. The project commenced in July and runs through January 1998.The Environmental Technology Fund is implemented by the National Association of State Development Agencies.

During the month of July, US-AEP's Washington-based Clean Technology and Environmental Management (CTEM) Information Center answered 34 queries. Manager of the center, Kerith McFadden, handled requests from Hong Kong for pollution prevention guides and hazardous waste minimization manuals for the metal finishing and electronic industries, information on preferential purchasing policies for recycle materials, and documents covering pesticide substitution and pollution prevention in agriculture. Malaysia sought information on the environmental impact of vinyl chloride. Singapore requested publications covering the disposal of paint sludge. And Thailand needed information on polystyrene packaging. McFadden also researched, collected, and distributed more than 25 documents on hazardous waste environmental impact statements and the handling of fly ash as a result of requests from India. This brings the total number of requests handled by the Center to 334 since it opened February 1996.

In Chennai, India... -- CHEMTECH South '97 International Exhibition and Conference, September 11-14. -- "Environmental Management in Chemical and Petrochemical Industries" Seminar, September 13. -- "Clean Technology and Environmental Management Seminar," September 15. -- FOODPRO '97 International Exhibition and Conference, December 10-13.