The Council of State Governments�administrator of US-AEP�s State Environmental Initiative (SEI)�hosted the SEI advisory committee April 15-17 to consider 20 preliminary grant proposals. After careful deliberation, the committee designated seven proposals as finalists, each of which supports US-AEP�s efforts in clean technology and environmental management:

• Colorado International Trade Office: Pollution prevention exchanges to encourage use of voluntary business standards in Malaysia.
• Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (Energy, Resources and Technology Division): Demand-side management and technology/policy transfer in the Philippines.
• Illinois Environmental Protection Agency: Pollution prevention accounting practices in the Philippines.
• Louisiana Department of Economic Development (International Trade Division): Waste minimization in Indonesia through technology transfer, targeting the metal fabrication and petrochemical industries.
• Minnesota Technology, Inc.: ISO training and capacity-building in India.
• New Jersey Institute of Technology: Matrix for facility-level environmental accounting in Thailand.
• Pacific Northwest Economic Region, Clean Washington Center: Clean technology and extension systems in the Philippines.

The projects will commence after review and final acceptance by US-AEP�s Secretariat.

With assistance from US-AEP�s NGO-Business Environmental Partnership, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP) has launched its "Environmental Management Manual for Restaurant Operators" (EMMRO) in six key provinces. In addition, HRAP has undertaken six pollution management appraisals of hotels and restaurants in the cities of Manila, Davao, Baguio, and Cebu. The project aims to implement voluntary EMMRO standards nationwide, addressing issues such as water conservation and wastewater reduction, waste recovery and management, energy conservation, business ethics, and the creation of environmental outreach partnerships. Among the results sought: a pool of environmental advocates among restaurant and hotel operators to implement adoption of principles and guidelines; training manuals; and standard monitoring instruments, case studies, reports, and baseline resources for continued governmental, industry, and NGO action. The NGO-Business Environmental Partnership is administered by The Asia Foundation.

A March 4 international Environmental Exchange Program (EEP) seminar in Mumbai, India, enabled 100 environmental professionals�including engineers, regulators, industry representatives, and academicians�to address issues of sustainability in the wastewater field. The seminar was hosted by the Indian Environmental Association (IEA), a 400-member affiliate of the Water Environment Federation and the Air & Waste Management Association (both US-AEP partners). Sustainability was emphasized for treatment of both municipal and industrial effluents, including ways to minimize waste and use of cleaner production technologies. During the seminar, featured speaker Jim Condon, Vice President of Olsson Associates (Lincoln, Nebraska), presented case studies of sustainable technologies. He later visited local wastewater treatment facilities through arrangements made by Bayer India Ltd., and gave a presentation on the execution of a wastewater treatment plant to graduate students at the Indian Institute of Technology. Dinaz Noble, Market Research Coordinator of US-AEP�s Office of Technology Cooperation in Mumbai, arranged additional meetings between Mr. Condon and IEA member companies, which are potential clients for his firm. In addition, Mr. Condon participated in an IEA board meeting and shared his experiences as chair for the Public Education Committee of WEFTEC (the Water Environment Federation�s annual U.S. conference), helping to strengthen IEA's outreach capabilities within India as well as ties between IEA and WEF. EEP is managed by the Institute of International Education.

Suzanne Young of US-AEP�s Clean Technology and Environmental Management (CTEM) program in Bangkok, Thailand, recently attended the Thailand Automotive Technology Conference sponsored by Ford and General Motors. The conference brought together Thai research scientists and engineers, going beyond processing technology to vehicle emissions, ambient air quality, fuels and energy, standards harmonization (ISO), transportation infrastructure, and national policies and strategies. Ms. Young took this opportunity to engage the U.S. automakers in discussions on replicating this conference in other Asian countries; notably, the Philippines, where Ford is planning a major new facility, and India, where Ford is also active. In related activities, Ms. Young has recently identified several automotive supply producers in Thailand who are eager to partner with other like-minded companies on environmental outreach activities.