Editors' Summary: To practice environmental law in the 1990s, it is necessary to be familiar with international trade. Trade concerns affect every aspect of environmental law from agricultural subsidies to the disparate impact of pollution abatement regulation on pricing. The following two Dialogues present an overview of the issues and insight on the relationship between international trade and the environment. The first, by a member of the Trade and Environmental Committees of the U.S.

MARK C. SCHROEDER: Let me begin by putting in context the activities and mission of the U.S. Department of Energy. I will then review the current state of regulation of radionuclides and source, special nuclear, and by-product material, and will conclude with a discussion of the future directions at the Department.

Everyone would agree that the national defense and foreign policy have been exclusively in the federal domain, and that they typically do not admit of state intervention.

Editors' Summary: On November 15, 1990, President Bush signed into law the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the first comprehensive changes to the Act in 13 years. During the intervening months since its enactment, EPA has geared up, streamlined, and commenced its rulemaking processes to accommodate the regulatory burden the new law places on the Agency. As amended by the 1990 amendments, the Clean Air Act instructs EPA to promulgate 27 rules during each of the first two years.

Editors' Summary: On November 15, 1990, President Bush signed into law the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the first comprehensive changes to the Act in 13 years. During the intervening months since its enactment, EPA has geared up, streamlined, and commenced its rulemaking processes to accommodate the regulatory burden the new law places on the Agency. As amended by the 1990 amendments, the Clean Air Act instructs EPA to promulgate 27 rules during each of the first two years.

Editors' Summary: On November 15, 1990, President Bush signed into law the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the first comprehensive changes to the Act in 13 years. During the intervening months since its enactment, EPA has geared up, streamlined, and commenced its rulemaking processes to accommodate the regulatory burden the new law places on the Agency. As amended by the 1990 amendments, the Clean Air Act instructs EPA to promulgate 27 rules during each of the first two years.

Editors' Summary: In this second of a three-part series on the Clean Air Act and the 1990 amendments, the authors analyze the background of several key Clean Air Act sections, including the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) program, new and modified source review, the national emission standard for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) program, acid deposition control provisions, and mobile source controls. The authors explore the evolution of the PSD program from its origins in Sierra Club v.

Editors' Summary: This Article is the third in a three-part series on the Clean Air Act and the 1990 amendments. The authors analyze the new permit program mandated by the 1990 amendments, which requires the creation of a state-administered permit program. The authors also analyze the enforcement mechanisms available under the Clean Air Act that are applicable to stationary sources, and the administrative procedures and judicial review provided for in the Act.

Editors' Summary: At the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992, participating nations agreed that the compatibility of environmental protection and economic development is critical to sustainable development.

Editors' Summary: EPA's final decision on its proposed WEPCo rule, which addresses how new Clean Air Act provisions apply to electric utilities, is expected soon. This Article provides a glimpse into the regulatory machinery needed to deal with implementing just one aspect of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: whether an electric utility's proposed renovations at one of its facilities constitutes a "modification" triggering new source performance standards and new source review programs.

Editors' Summary: Environmental issues often involve collective choice about the kind of society we want. Choosing a President and a Congress on November 3 is one way we make that choice.

With that in mind, the Environmental Law Reporter called the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee. ELR asked each for the environmental platform positions adopted at the 1992 conventions. Reprinted below is what each party sent. ELR has not edited the text.