Presents principal resolutions adopted by the Session of a Special Character (SSC) of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme. Resolutions focus on achievements of Action Plan for Human Environment, new perceptions of environmental issues, environmental trends, and planning/implementation of environmental activities.…

Under a 1980 law, colleges and universities can be liable for cleanup of hazardous waste on properties, in companies, and related to stocks they invest in or are given. College planners should establish clear policy concerning gifts, investigate gifts, distance university from business purposes, sell real estate gifts quickly, consult a risk…

The nation's first comprehensive analysis of a university's environmental impact, at the University of California at Los Angeles, has become a blueprint for prompting environmental change on campuses nationwide. The study documented conditions in the workplace, wastes and hazards, air quality, water and energy use, and procurement practices.…

Factors contributing to the growing federal regulation of United States colleges and universities are explained, and regulation's impact in the areas of student aid, race relations, scientific research, environmental protection, and age discrimination are discussed. It is argued that a balance between institutional autonomy and accountability must…

Reviews the record and actions of the 102nd Congress of the United States with respect to legislation and other issues of interest to the African American community and the Urban League movement. Covers appropriations, family, medical, higher education, environmental, job training, and older citizens legislation. (JB)

Decreases over time in pounds of industrial chemical emissions have led to concerns that nonminority, higher-income communities have benefited disproportionately in reductions in risk. Toxic chemical release data, modeled for toxicity and dispersion in square kilometer units across 45 states, are used to test six sets of hypotheses of potential…

In this paper we address the points raised by groups of scientists who were invited to respond to our initial critique of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) research in this special issue. In that article, we applied six objective criteria to more than two decades of published PCB research and concluded that much of the research was badly flawed. The…

The human response to an environmental hazard can either reduce or exacerbate its impact on health. This article reviews determinants of community-level responses to environmental health hazards. The aim is to identify factors that can enhance a community's capacity to protect itself and to suggest public health strategies that can increase such…

The majority of the literature on contaminated communities indicates that environmental hazards lead to conflict and dissension. In this paper we examine the salient dimensions of conflict and factionalism in a rural Oklahoma community. The community is heavily contaminated from 80 years of commercial mining operations and was one of the first…

The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) of China, the Department of Communications of the Chinese Communist Party, and the State Education Commission jointly released the "Outline of Environment Education Activities in China (1996-2010)" in 1996. This outline clearly stipulates the "gradual creation of 'green…

This booklet is designed to help people make environmentally responsible decisions. This activity booklet is targeted at students as part of a learning campaign to help Canadians improve their understanding of the environment. The imaginary journey From the Mountains to the Sea is a trip along the Eco River following molecules of water from high…

A project assessed the need and developed a curriculum for environmental technology (laboratory analysis and environmental sampling) in the emerging high technology centered around environmental safety and health in Texas. Initial data were collected through interviews by telephone and in person and through onsite visits. Additional data was…

A 1995 General Accounting Office (GAO) study found that about one-third of schools nationwide serving 14 million students reported needing extensive repair or replacement of one or more buildings. This document presents findings of a GAO followup study that identified the differences in the: (1) condition of schools; (2) amount of funding needed…

The purpose of this project was to develop and present a set of recommendations for supplements to the existing Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) that would apply to environments used by children with physical disabilities. The work was subdivided into six phases: (1) review of selected codes, standards and guidelines; (2) review of…

This document presents findings of a study that evaluated the use of both propane and compressed natural gas as alternative fuels for Washington State school buses. It discusses air quality improvement actions by state- and federal-level regulators and summarizes vehicle design, development, and commercialization activities by all major engine,…