Studies of basins in eastern China from Chinese, Russian, and English language literature sources were initiated.

- A report on studies of the petroleum geology of South Asia, including Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Burma was completed and submitted for publication.

- Update studies of oil and gas resources of Indonesia were submitted for publication.

Completion for publication of a report on studies of oil and gas resources of eastern Siberia was submitted for publication; this provides the first English language synthesis of the petroleum geology of that region.

In Fiscal Year 1985, the United States intensified its efforts to cope effectively with international environmental, natural resource, and population issues. Many Americans and American public interest groups view these global issues with growing concern and feel, with justification, that actions taken now, positive or negative, will affect the well-being of future generations. The United States collaborated closely with its international partners to try to ensure that well-coordinated programs were carried out to reverse environmental and resource degradation and to assist other nations, particularly developing countries, in dealing with their segment of these world problems. Taking into account both the seriousness and urgency of many of the problems, and budget constraints facing the entire international community, particular attention was paid by U.S. Executive Branch agencies to the need to promote greater efficiency, cost-sharing, and better concentration of technical and funding resources on the highest priority needs and opportunities. Some progress was made in this respect.

In the area of environmental protection, for example, the Administration took additional steps in working with the Governments of Canada and Mexico to attempt to resolve air and water pollution problems along our borders. The U.S. also played a key role in two ministerial-level conferences that helped establish priorities for the international environmental issues for the coming years. At the London Economic Summit Environment Ministers meeting in December 1984, ministers or their representatives identified priorities for continued cooperation in the environment. These priorities were later confirmed by their heads of State when they met in Bonn in May 1985. In June Environment Ministers of the OECD countries identified a similar listing of priorities for their cooperation. They signaled the need to address the new generation of environmental issues arising from chemicals, toxic substances, and hazardous wastes and drew a strong link between environmental and economic issues. They also concluded that environmental improvement and sustained economic growth were essential, compatible, and interrelated policy objectives for their countries.

Additionally at the multilateral level, the U.S. participated in negotiations on (but did not sign) an SO2 protocol to the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), and signed the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, which was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The U.S. continued as the major contributor (well over one-third of the annual amount) to UNEP's voluntary Environment Fund, and succeeded at the May 1985 Governing Council in maintaining budgetary realism and establishing priority for programs of primary interest to the United States.

As "lead country," the U.S. began operation in July 1985 of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) "Switchboard Program" to improve access to information on existing chemicals, while the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) worked with other countries and international organizations to improve notification of export of potentially hazardous pesticides and transboundary movements of hazardous waste. Bilateral cooperation continued with environmental authorities in other countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, the U.S.S.R., China, Yugoslavia, and the European Community.

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With regard to conservation of natural resources, the United States remained actively involved in the Man and the Biosphere Program, despite U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO, with support from a broadening network of federal agencies. U.S. efforts to promote integration of environmental and natural resource concerns into Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) projects and to prevent adverse environmental impacts were intensified. State and AID joined Treasury in reviewing MDB projects on a regular basis. The U.S.-Panama Joint Commission on the Environment (JCE) reinforced its efforts to focus attention of both Governments on the critical importance of rehabilitation of the Panama Canal watershed.

The report submitted to Congress in December 1984 by the Departments of State and Interior on Conserving International Wildlife Resources: the United States Response concluded that the U.S. government (as well as the private sector) plays a lead role internationally in wildlife conservation, through a very broad range of efforts and via a variety of mechanisms. The report, and its companion U.S. Strategy on the Conservation of Biological Diversity (see chapter 14), provide recommendations and options for upgrading existing U.S. capabilities. U.S. support for and implementation of the 90-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) continued, with U.S. election to the Chairmanship of the Technical Committee at the CITES Conference of Parties in Buenos Aires. Accession to the Wetlands Convention, initiated during the period, will provide an effective vehicle for U.S. assistance to conservation of wetlands areas to the south of our borders, where more than half our birds migrate.

Technical agencies of the Department of the Interior, i.e., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Mines, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce, carried on a very wide range of multilateral and bilateral cooperative activities in international natural resource conservation, including research, resource and climate assessments, technical assistance, and training. Mechanisms for cooperation include: the Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere; the World Heritage Convention; U.S.-owned counterpart funds derived from P.L. 480 assistance; programs funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development, and funding provided through international organizations and by foreign governments.

In FY 1985, the United States supplied over half the assistance to population programs contributed by developed countries, with emphasis on encouraging developing countries to adopt sound economic and population policies, consistent with respect for human dignity and family, as well as religious and cultural values. Other donors have pledged to increase their level of assistance in coming years. U.S. population assistance, implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development, is part of a comprehensive program which focuses on the root causes of development failures.

Environment and Pollution

Acid Rain

Transboundary air pollution is a major problem in many countries, especially in North America and Europe, and concern is growing about its present and potential effects on lakes, forests, crops, buildings, and human health. Significant research programs are underway in several countries, which indicate that acid deposition (both wet and dry) can be caused by a number of pollutants, including sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic compounds.

Acid rain in North America continues to be a major source of concern to both the U.S. and Canada. The two governments agree that acid rain is a serious environmental issue and that a limited amount of damage to certain sensitive surface waters has occurred. They differ as to the present degree and cause of this damage and the potential for additional damage. In March 1985, Canada announced a major new program of emissions reductions for SO2 and NOx, with a goal of reducing allowable SO2 by 50 percent by 1994. Actual reductions would be smaller (approximately 35 percent). Auto standards for NOx will be tightened to equal current U.S. standards by the 1988 model year.

The U.S. operates the world's largest program to control air pollutants. In the past decade or so, the U.S. has spent upwards of $150 billion to achieve clean air. The Administration is, therefore, reluctant to undertake the enormous cost of additional emissions reductions targeted specifically against acid rain until fundamental scientific uncertainties are resolved. Meanwhile, the U.S. has committed large sums of money to study the effects of SO2 and NOx on air quality in North America and to determine the extent to which they contribute to acid rain.

Efforts to resolve the acid rain issue in North America have been underway for a number of years. In March 1985, President Reagan and Prime Minister Mulroney named two Special Envoys who are now preparing a report on transboundary air pollution. The two leaders will then consider the report and decide at their next summit meeting in March 1986 what further steps, if any, should be taken. In addition, the Secretary of State and the Administrator of EPA meet periodically with their counterparts in Canada to discuss the acid rain issue.

The U.S. Government has been expanding its National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP), a ten-year interagency domestic research effort that began in 1980. NAPAP's FY 1985 budget amounted to around $65 million, and the Administration has presented to the Congress an FY 1986 budget proposal of $85 million. One element of the National Program is coordination with related research activities in other countries. An International Activities Task Group (Group J), chaired by the Department of State, has encouraged international cooperation on acid deposition research and monitoring. Although Group J was formally disbanded in September 1985, an informal working group continues to

coordinate international activities. Also, a State Department official is on the Acid Precipitation Task Force and the Interagency Scientific Committee of NAPAP.

Group J's major task was the initiation and development of a series of cooperative acid deposition research projects (now numbering about 25) with Canada. Each year NAPAP and its Canadian counterpart, the Federal-Provincial Research and Monitoring Coordinating Committee (RMCC) meet to review existing projects and propose new ones. One important project is CAPTEX (Cross Appalachian Tracer Experiment), a joint effort to develop information about long-range paths of air pollutants over eastern North America. The other joint projects are important in providing the U.S. with a better understanding of air pollution in North America.

In March 1985 NAPAP and relevant West German ministries reached agreement on a number of U.S.-F.R.G. acid precipitation research projects. A major focus of this cooperative arrangement will be research on forest decline in both countries. Such research is of increasing importance to scientists and policymakers in the United States because of growing concern about forest damage in this country. Other countries, such as France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have expressed interest in the possibility of cooperative acid rain research agreements with the United States.

On the multilateral front, the United States is a member of and actively participates in the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP), which entered into force in 1983. During 1984-85, an ECE Working Group negotiated an SO2 protocol to the LRTAP Convention that requires signatories to reduce their sulfur dioxide emissions or related transboundary fluxes at least by 30 percent by 1993, using 1980 as the base year for calculating the emissions reductions. At the third session of the Executive Body of the LRTAP Convention in July 1985, 21 Parties to the Convention adopted and signed the protocol. United States was not able to sign the SO2 protocol because it did not provide credit for U.S. emissions reductions prior to 1980 and did not take into account the special type of air pollution regulating mechanism in the United States. Nevertheless, the United States supports other countries acceeding to the protocol in order to reduce transboundary air pollution in their regions.

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The United States is also participating in an ECE Working Group that began considering in October 1985 the possibility of an NOx protocol under the LRTAP Convention. The United States, which has had much experience in the field of NOx technology and controls, supports greater international harmonization of NOx standards.

Another important activity under the LRTAP Convention is the Cooperative Program for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP). The United States, Canada, and other countries continue to cooperate closely with EMEP because of the importance of developing more accurate data on transboundary air pollutants. The United States is making a voluntary contribution of $30,000 to EMEP during 1984-36.

Ozone

On September 4, 1985 President Reagan sent to the Senate, for its advice and consent to ratification, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The Convention was signed by the United States and twenty other