Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Indonesia�s Environmental Impact Management Agency (BAPEDAL) met last week in Jakarta to initiate a long-awaited "Sister Region" program. International Program Coordinators from EPA�s regional offices in Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle and Directors of each BAPEDAL regional office developed a joint letter of intent for a program of technical information sharing and training to be accomplished under a long-term Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between BAPEDAL and EPA. A tentative signing date for the MOU was set for late June 1998. Though travel for this initial Sister Region meeting was funded through US-AEP�s interagency agreement with EPA, BAPEDAL will fully fund the MOU activities.

A US-AEP NGO-Business Environmental Partnership grant is enabling Save the Environment Foundation, a prominent women-led NGO in Nepal, to team up with General Paper Industries (GPI) to encourage cleaner production techniques in the Bansbari facility. The factory, an employer of 125 local citizens, conducts periodic system cleaning in preparation for changing dyes. The cleaning substantially increases the demand for water and causes a discharge rate many times greater the normal rate, overwhelming the system and causing wastewater to flow directly into the nearby river. During a meeting on April 28, the partners presented �lessons learned� to representatives from the media, USAID, the U.S. Embassy, The Asia Foundation, and the Nepal-U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Industries. As a result of the partnership, GPI reports that it is now re-engineering its system and adding new technical dimensions, such as percolation and surge tanks, to prevent any damage to the river. The director of Save the Environment Foundation emphasized that collaboration with GPI�s general manager "was whole-hearted and most cooperative at all stages." The NGO-Business partners are currently planning a replication scheme after visits to paper factories in Pokhara, Narayanghat, Janakpur, and Bhaktapur. US-AEP�s NGO-Business Environmental Partnership is managed by The Asia Foundation.

More than 80 industrial representatives and government officials attended the "Technology Transfer Seminar on Industrial Air Emissions" on April 29 in Manila. The event, made possible through the combined efforts of US-AEP�s Office of Technology Cooperation in the Philippines, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA), and the Philippine Environmental Management Bureau, was part of a TDA grant project to reduce stationary air emissions in Manila. Speakers from U.S. companies, the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service, the Asian Development Bank, LandBank, and the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources discussed specific air pollution reduction technologies that can be employed and financing schemes available to local firms. The Asian Development Bank also presented in detail its planned industrial and vehicular air emissions project to the group. Through its partnership with California�s Environmental Protection Agency, US-AEP is providing assistance to the Philippine government to prepare for this upcoming project. US-AEP continues to work with TDA on a second phase of the grant that is being implemented by Ecology and Environment, a consulting firm from Seattle, Washington.

EPA conducts quantitative risk assessment training in Chennai.

Three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) experts in risk assessment�Drs. Jim Cogliano, Aparna Koppikar, and Pat Cirone �provided training to 20 representatives of local government, research institutes, and NGOs of Chennai, in the technical aspects of gathering data for a quantitative risk assessment study. The workshop, held March 31-April 3 and co-sponsored by EPA and USAID, was the first step in conducting a Comparative Risk Assessment in one zone of the city. The study will measure and rank the exposure of environmental risks to the local population. Participating organizations include: Corporation of Chennai; Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board; Chennai Municipal Development Authority; Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board; Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute; Madras Institute for Development Studies; and Exnora. The four-day event resulted in a risk assessment work plan and a schedule for additional seminars to be taught by those trained during the first workshop. US-AEP�s Tech Rep in Chennai, Sundaresan Subramanian, was on hand to explain the involvement of US-AEP and EPA in Chennai on environmental projects and training programs.

April 29 marked the launch of the United Nations Development Programme�s (UNDP) Private Sector Participation in Managing the Environment (PRIME) project in the Philippines. This four-year project aims to enhance private sector initiatives to minimize industrial environmental impacts and strengthen the role of the private sector in environmental management to complement government regulatory mechanisms. Conchita Silva, Regional Manager of US-AEP's Clean Technology and Environmental Management (CTEM) program in Manila, has been asked to sit on the project�s technical working group for environmental management systems, one of four program modules. The other three modules include developing a Business Agenda 21, an eco-industrial park to demonstrate industrial symbiosis, and environmental entrepreneurship.

Shield Environmental Associates, Inc., sponsored by the American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC), was awarded a US-AEP Environmental Technology Fund grant to market its environmental consulting expertise to Indian industry (including petrochemical and petroleum) and state and central government entities. Shield Environmental, based in Lexington, Kentucky, will work with an Indian counterpart to bid on contracts for hazardous waste management studies, environmental impact studies, pollution prevention analyses, and storm/groundwater analyses. Shield Environmental is the first project sponsored by ACEC to win a Tech Fund grant. US-AEP�s Environmental Technology Fund is managed by the National Association of State Development Agencies (NASDA).