International Joint Commission: Transboundary air pollution reduction; progress by U.S. and Canada; comment request,

[Federal Register: December 11, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 238)]

[Notices]

[Page 68497]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr11de98-85]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2941]

International Joint Commission, Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909

An Invitation to Comment on the 1998 Progress Report of the Air Quality Committee under the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement.

The International Joint Commission invites public comment on progress by the United States and Canada in reducing transboundary air pollution under the 1991 Agreement on Air Quality. The Commission will provide a synthesis of the comments to the two governments and the public as directed by the Agreement.

The Governments of the United States and Canada signed an Agreement on Air Quality on March 13, 1991. The purpose of the Agreement was to establish a practical and effective instrument to address shared concerns on transboundary air pollution. The 1998 Progress Report reviews acid rain control programs, monitoring, prevention of air quality deterioration and visibility protection, notification of significant transboundary air pollution, cooperation on ground-level ozone and particulate matter, and scientific and technical cooperation.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Governments established a bilateral Air Quality Committee. This Committee is responsible for reviewing progress made in the implementation of the Agreement, preparing and submitting periodic progress reports to the Governments, referring each progress report to the International Joint Commission, and releasing those reports to the public. The 1998 Progress Report of the Committee is now available and may be obtained from:

Acid Rain Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 6204J, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, Acid Rain Hotline: (202) 564-9620. Environment Canada, Inquiry Centre, 351 St. Joseph Blvd., Hull, Quebec, K1A 0H3, (819) 997-2800.

The full report is also available at the following sites on the World Wide Web:

http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/lawsregs/airus.pdf http://www.ec.gc.ca/special/airqual.html

Under the Agreement, the Governments assigned the International Joint Commission the responsibility of inviting comments on each progress report of the Air Quality Committee. The International Joint Commission invites comment on any aspect of the 1998 Progress Report. Please send comments in writing by February 26, 1999, to either address below, or contact us if you have any questions about the comment process.

International Joint Commission, United States Section, 1250 23rd Street, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20440, Telephone: (202) 736-9000, Fax: (202) 736-9015, Email: commission@washington.ijc.org International Joint Commission, Canadian Section, 100 Metcalfe Street, 18th Floor, Ottawa, ON K1P 5M1, Telephone: (613) 995-2984, Fax: (613) 993-5583, Email: commission@ottawa.ijc.org

Dated: November 30, 1998. Gerald E. Galloway, Secretary, United States Section.

[FR Doc. 98-32914Filed12-10-98; 8:45 am]

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