var.

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

          Defining Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Great Lake
          Contaminants and Research Needs
          http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/toxteam/pbtrept/
                   Defining Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Great Lake
          Contaminants and Research Needs is the final report on phase I of
          a joint project by the Michigan Department of Environmental
          Quality and Michigan State University. A model for scoring and
          ranking PBT chemicals was developed and tested, with input from
          an advisory committee drawn from U.S., Canadian, and State
          governments, industry, and academia. A summary of the report is
          viewable, and both the report and a spreadsheet version of the
          model are downloadable.

          Compliance Online
          http://www.ieti.com/taylor/compliance.html
                    Compliance Online is the Internet newsletter for
finding your way
          through the maze of environmental regulations.  This site
          contains an archive of newsletter issues back to Jan. 1996.
          The most recent online issue is Sept./Oct. 1997, Vol. II, Number
          9/10.  The newsletter contains environmental tidbits, highlights
          a site of the month, and includes a user survey.  Links are
          provided to the sites mentioned in environmental tidbits.


          "Rep. John Moss, Champion of Open Government, Dies [Obituaries]."
          Washington Post, 6 December 97, B6.
               Former Democratic Congressman John E. Moss died in San
               Francisco at the age of 82. Moss is remembered as the father
               of the Freedom of Information Act and other measures
               designed to open government and keep it accountable to
               voters and consumers. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader called
               him "`almost the prototypical Congressman in terms of
               serving the people.'"


Goldman Announces OPPTS Reorganization, Focuses on Consumer
Safety, Right-To-Know.  Daily Environment Report, December 11,
1997, ppA-8-9.

     In an unexpected memo to staff, Assistant Administrator Lynn
Goldman announced her intention to reorganize EPA's Office of
Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances.  The reorganization
will increase the efficient delivery of programs and devote
attention to high-priority areas.
     A new Office of Consumer Safety and Right-to-Know will be
created under the reorganization, which will be led by Stephen
Johnson and Susan Hazen.  Some functions of both the pesticide
programs and the toxic substances programs will be moved to the
new office.
     OPPTS staff were shocked by the news, because they had just
completed a reorganization in April.  Unidentified staff members
called the plan "awful," saying that it "flies in the face of
this administration's pledge for openness at EPA."
     "We haven't finished moving or training staff in the most
recent reorganization," said one OPP employee.
     Some staff members did support the idea of creating a new
office for right-to-know issues, based on the fact that
initiatives such as the Toxic Release Inventory have experienced
such growth.