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3 Envtl. Pol'y & L. 1 (1977)

handle is hein.journals/envpola3 and id is 1 raw text is: __ Tl_ D With this issue EPL introduces a new cover design, as announced earlier. The colors remain the same but we now carry a photo high- lighting a current environmental issue. Our first image shows the breakup of the oil tanker Argo Merchant. Built in 1953, this vessel has been involved in 18 accidents and ran aground twice before the December 1976 incident. Since then there were at least 14 major oil tanker spills and the places and sizes of the oceans' oil carpets change daily. While we do not now report on this subject, we anticipate covering preventative measures as soon as they are articulated. Ques- tions are being raised in national parliaments but little has been achieved. One of the more recent negative developments involves the crew of a polluting tanker who has been permitted to evade all responsibility, leaving their environmental degradation behind in France to return to the DDR. EPL's next issue will report on the US Senate Hearings held on oil tankers. Also we will inform our readers about the new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) campaign christened The Seas Must Live and about civil liability for offshore drilling activities. * * The environmental aspects of the Final Act of the Helsinki Confer- ence on Security and Cooperation in Europe (see 1 EPL 2 at 108) which had received no attention yet, were discussed at length at the meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Europe. EPL was pleased to learn of the bilateral agreement between the USA and the USSR and trusts that one day it can report on a similar success for the Final Act policy issues. * * * A desperate energy problem has arisen in developing countries where people are compelled to destroy their forests for firewood to cook and to heat their homes as well as to export for foreign exchange. The IUCN General Assembly meeting in Zaire discussed the need for a treaty to protect tropical forests. No resolution was taken at the IUCN General Assembly meeting and the matter was referred to the Board for further consideration and recommendations. The result of experts consultations revealed that the majority agreed on the necessity of an international accord. The drafting of an enforceable agreement will not be an easy task since it will involve making a compromise between sup- plying wood and food and maintaining the forests' ecological balance. * * * A short but sincere mention to our 1976 Editor, D. S. Zalob, whose fond attention to this enterprise has enhanced its growth. Zalob re- turns to lawyerly pursuits and its challenges stateside. We wish him the very best. Heather Mitchell, former counsel to the Canadian En- vironmental Law Association, has now joined EPL staff Environmental Policy and Law, 3 (1977) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Prix Elizabeth Haub (Extrait d'une Lettre au Ridacteur, r6f. Remise du Prix Elizabeth Haub, EPL 2:2, p. 78) J'ai lu avec le plus vif intdrdt le compte-rendu qu'a publid la revue Environmental Policy and Law de la s6ance de remise du Prix Elizabeth Haub. Je tiens A vous f6liciter trbs vivement et d vous remercier pour la bonne grice avec laquelle vous avez donn6 la publici- t6 d cet dv6nement qui, je crois, le mdri- te d'autant plus que les choix qui ont 6 faits et notamment le v6tre indi- quent l'esprit de l'initiative dont l'im- portance sur le plan de la diffusion des iddes me paraft considerable. Paul Foriers Recteur Universit6 Libre de Bruxelles Shoulders to the Wheel (Re: E. Blair & F. Hoerger, Toxic Substances Legislation - Regulators vs. Science, EPL 2:2 at 84, 2:3 at 138) In their critique of current efforts to regulate chemical substances for the sake of environmental protection, the authors make several valuable observa- tions, but proceed to apply these points in a misleading fashion to the then- proposed and recently adopted US Toxic Substances Control Act. They note that the marginal benefit of in- creasingly stringent environmental con- trols becomes increasingly expensive, particularly when approaching a require- ment of absolute prevention of pollu- tion or risk. It is reasonable to object to a comprehensive demand for absolute safety, but the Toxic Sub- stances Control Act does not insist on such complete protection. Blair & Hoerger criticize the Act's frequent reference to a standard of unreason- able risk as ignoring consideration of economic and other benefits, but the very use of a standard of reasonable- ness as well as several more explicit references in the Act make clear that a (continued p. 48) 1

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